Restless Seasons
I'm finding in life that the most difficult place to live is "now." The past is filled with nostalgia and good memories and the future is filled with wonder and hope. But now? Now can be messy. Now can be slow. Now can be tedious. I keep finding myself in the restless state of "now." I want to reach into the past and relive good times or step into the future and dream of what might be, but God keeps calling me into the present...and sometimes that's the hardest place to be.
I've been struggling with this strange feeling of restlessness and couldn't quite figure out why. After a long walk and some quiet time, I asked God to help me understand what this feeling was and what I was supposed to do with it. God showed me something about myself:
I hate to be still and wait.
And you know what? It seems that is exactly what He thinks is best for me right now. Go figure.
We need to be still and wait.
So are our lives filled with seasons. Many seasons in many areas, some all at once, some happening at different times on different levels and in different areas of our lives. Just when you feel like you've shed your old ways in one area to make room for new, God beckons and calls you to shed again, in another area of your heart. And so it goes. But don't despise the seasons...they all have their purpose in our lives. And we never fully arrive to perfection, it's a constant ebb and flow of dying to old and receiving the new.
Allow God to do His perfect work in His perfect timing. He's never early...but He's never late. He is just on time. Always. He was, He IS and He always will be. He will redeem your past and He has your future covered. You need only live in the now of today. He is I AM. The God of the present. So sit. Be still. Know that He is God in your past, in your future, but most importantly, in the awkwardness of your "NOW."
I've been struggling with this strange feeling of restlessness and couldn't quite figure out why. After a long walk and some quiet time, I asked God to help me understand what this feeling was and what I was supposed to do with it. God showed me something about myself:
I hate to be still and wait.
And you know what? It seems that is exactly what He thinks is best for me right now. Go figure.
Being still. Waiting. Like waiting for a bad haircut to grow out, it's that awkward "in between" time. You don't want to be where you were, but you're not quite ready to be where you're headed.
You're waiting.
Of course, I feel like it's time to move forward, onward and upward! Let's go! But I keep feeling the steady hands of God on my shoulders as He says, "Not yet. Be still."
You're waiting.
Of course, I feel like it's time to move forward, onward and upward! Let's go! But I keep feeling the steady hands of God on my shoulders as He says, "Not yet. Be still."
Like a long winter, the trees that have been bare and vulnerable are ready for beautiful, bright green leaves. We ache for the sun and warmth of summer, but the winter has it's intended time and purpose. Just as nature has it's seasons, so do we. While that tree is bare there is a transformation happening inside. First, the tree has to shed all of its leaves. It's a time of loss; of shedding the old in preparation for the new. Then there's an awkward, bare, and vulnerable time. The time while we're waiting for the new growth to come. It may be long, it may look bleak, but that time is needed to recoup and restore. So we wait. On the outside, it may seem like nothing is happening, but regeneration is happening...inside. Down deep where eyes can't see. Not human eyes, anyway. Then, when the perfect time has come; a bud! Then a tiny leaf emerges, and it continues until the tree is in full bloom and beautiful with new life! Then, come fall, we all know what happens. The tree will shed its leaves and the process begins all over again.
There are seasons of shedding. On my walk last week, I found a beautiful hawk feather. It made me wonder about the whole shedding process. What if that hawk tried to hold on to all of those feathers? What if he wasn't ready to shed them? He'd be carrying extra unnecessary weight and wouldn't be able to fly properly. Have you ever tried to hold onto something you knew you were supposed to let go? Me too. I read that shedding feathers (molting) can be a stressful time for birds. If it is a singing bird, they say that it will sing less while molting. Have you ever felt like the song in your heart grew quiet? I've been there too. In the wild, birds often find a quiet, dark place to rest as the process consumes a lot of their energy. Birds also need extra nutrients and vitamins during this time to generate new feathers. We can be the same in seasons of shedding in our lives. We need extra "supplements" in our lives from above. We need to be quiet and we need a quiet place to regenerate.
There are seasons of shedding. On my walk last week, I found a beautiful hawk feather. It made me wonder about the whole shedding process. What if that hawk tried to hold on to all of those feathers? What if he wasn't ready to shed them? He'd be carrying extra unnecessary weight and wouldn't be able to fly properly. Have you ever tried to hold onto something you knew you were supposed to let go? Me too. I read that shedding feathers (molting) can be a stressful time for birds. If it is a singing bird, they say that it will sing less while molting. Have you ever felt like the song in your heart grew quiet? I've been there too. In the wild, birds often find a quiet, dark place to rest as the process consumes a lot of their energy. Birds also need extra nutrients and vitamins during this time to generate new feathers. We can be the same in seasons of shedding in our lives. We need extra "supplements" in our lives from above. We need to be quiet and we need a quiet place to regenerate.
We need to be still and wait.
So are our lives filled with seasons. Many seasons in many areas, some all at once, some happening at different times on different levels and in different areas of our lives. Just when you feel like you've shed your old ways in one area to make room for new, God beckons and calls you to shed again, in another area of your heart. And so it goes. But don't despise the seasons...they all have their purpose in our lives. And we never fully arrive to perfection, it's a constant ebb and flow of dying to old and receiving the new.
Allow God to do His perfect work in His perfect timing. He's never early...but He's never late. He is just on time. Always. He was, He IS and He always will be. He will redeem your past and He has your future covered. You need only live in the now of today. He is I AM. The God of the present. So sit. Be still. Know that He is God in your past, in your future, but most importantly, in the awkwardness of your "NOW."
