The late Dr. Myles Munroe taught that the only thing constant in life is change and that you have to prepare for it so that when it comes, you’ll be a victor and not a victim. With change there is always transition from what is familiar to what is new. And in almost every situation, transition is just down right hard. Even if the end result is good.
Several examples come to mind when I think of transition. First I think of Jesus in the garden praying to the Father to let the cup of dying on the cross pass him. The Bible says the intensity of that moment during his prayer caused his sweat to fall to the ground as drops of blood. But on the other side of that moment, he surrendered, saying not my will, but yours God. And from that transition, Jesus was able to endure the death, burial and resurrection that gave us eternal life.
I think of a laboring woman who hits the transition point where labor is most intense. Anyone who was bold enough (or unfortunate to not have an epidural) to willingly experience that phase of labor, wishes they had made a different choice! The intensity of that phase of labor cannot be described, but you literally want to quit, tap out, shut everything down. But your body has one goal and that is to bring a new life out of the womb and into world.
Sometimes transition ends in a place of permanent disability or lack. How do we cope when change transitions us to an undesirable state? How do we react when the transition was so hard on us that we cannot function in a new situation? We must always remember that God is good, that He cares for us, and that His thoughts toward us are for good and in them we have hope and a future.
If we prepare our bodies for aging by choosing an appropriate diet and exercise or prepare our financial well being for hard times by saving money, we should prepare our spirit for times of change that bring intense periods of transition. We do this by acknowledging before, during and after the transition that God is good; He cares for me and His plan for me is good and within it there is hope and a future for me. Change is a constant in life and we can prepare for it by meditating on the Word of God and experiencing His presence.
If you’re not a big fan of reading the Bible, at least read the Psalms, Proverbs and the Gospels. If you can only focus long enough in prayer to recite the Lord’s Prayer, spend more time in worship and He will meet you as you worship. The Bible says a broken spirit is hard to bear, so strengthen and prepare your spirit for the constant occurrence of change and the transition that comes along with it.
Florencia C. Robertson is a devoted wife and working mom who has authored 2 blogs focusing on the functional application of the 31st chapter of Proverbs and the daily rush hours for working families of 5-9am/pm. She aspires to complete her first fictional book in the near future. Her previous works can be found at byFlorencia.com. You can follow on Twitter @byFlorencia. Florencia is a native of Maryland and currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Oh definitely, the struggle is real. But, when we submit to God’s will, the transition is better on the other side.