Finding Purpose In Life's Transition By Michele Wilbert
August contains all the last-minute things we squeeze in before school starts.
It tastes like late-night runs for ice cream and ice-cold lemonade after bike riding. August sounds like sprinklers going off early in the morning and kids splashing in the pool just a little longer while grown-ups talk on the porch. It smells like just a little more sunscreen on our nose and shoulders and hamburgers on the grill. It feels like a new notebook and eraser. August finds its purpose in filling this month with all the things we want summer to contain before our calendars begin to fill with more scheduled days. August transitions us to the rhythms of September. As August gives purpose to September, we often discover purpose in transitions. Transitions prepare us for a new season. They give us time to grieve old seasons and set us up for better ways. God uses transitions in our lives to give purpose to the new things He has for us.
Transitions prepare us for a new season.
The Bible is filled with transitions. There is the transition from law to grace, from the hope of a Messiah one day coming to the reality that the promised One, Jesus, came. We find a transition from the promise that the Spirit would come and the truth that the Spirit did indeed come to indwell us and from the day of Christ’s death to the Day of Pentecost. We often see how what seemed like despair gave purpose to what God had next for us. We experience a more hopeful and personal way of living with Jesus as we walk with Him in our life transitions. Personally, a season of loss left our family wondering if we would ever feel hopeful that good could come out that season. We could not see the possibility of better and even best seasons ahead for us. As days of grieving passed, we experienced the ebb and flow of grief. Sometimes tsunami-like and sometimes gentle waves. How do we embrace transitions so we can see them as good in the middle of hard?
God gives us promises that offer hope of eternity with Him (I Peter 1:3-9). It gives us the ability to look forward, but how do we live in the middle of almost but not yet? We have received a promise of His presence (Ephesians 1:13-14;I John 3:24).
In John 16:7, Jesus tells us it is better that He leaves because He will send us the Advocate. The disciples could not fathom anything better than Jesus. But what they would learn is that the Holy Spirit's presence with them was better. The Holy Spirit is given to us as our helper, our comforter, and God’s presence with us always.
God provides comfort and His hope for new beginnings.
What transitions are you experiencing in your life right now? What must you let go of to see the “better” God has for you? Loss doesn’t always leave us, but as we transition from the immediate overwhelming grief, God provides comfort and His hope for new beginnings.
His constant presence reminds us of an eternal perspective that helps us see purpose in transitions and what God has for us is better than anything we could plan or purpose for ourselves. Father, for my sister who is in the middle of pain, provide your comfort. For my sister who is stuck and can’t see what you have to offer her in this season, help her to see your purpose in this time of transition. For all of us wondering what is next, give us wisdom and strength to lean on you for our next steps. In Your Name Jesus, Amen.
