The Growing Pains of the Transition
Hello Beautiful People!
Often times in life, we reach a moment in our journeys where it seems out of nowhere we're knocked down or being pushed way too soon or too fast. These moments happen especially during transitional moments in our lives.
So what is a transitional moment?
In familiar terms, it's like the "change of plans" as we call it in film and script writing. At first, you feel as though everything is going right and for an extended period, things are going just fine! Then out of nowhere something creeps up on you and you're like "BUT WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?"
I'm actually in that same situation right now-I just moved from home to start graduate school and I'm 100% sure that the area in which I've moved to is probably going to be "home" for me for the next few years. However, in this process, it seems that I'm going through a spiritual and emotional growing pain. Nothing catastrophic has happened. My needs are met and more. I have a great support system here and back in my hometown, but something internally is changing.
I'm at what I'd like to call an "in between" point in my life-most of us are! We're in our late teens, early twenties and we're not fully grown, as we dub ourselves to be, but we're also not the children and adolescents our elders insist we are. We're transitioning and going through that "in-between."
In the spiritual realm, however, God calls this moment of transition and in-between as a kairos moment--it's the moment when God's Holy Spirit is performing a special work in and through us. It's the moment when He's performing a new work in us (Isaiah 43:19), and as He is performing this new work, He's also shaping and molding us, preparing us for the next level.
It's very often that during these kairos-in-between-transitional moments that we'll feel uncomfortable; we'll feel our faith being challenged, our emotional, spiritual and sometimes physical stabilities, too, being challenged. And that's a part of the growing pain of the process!
In Psalm 51:16-17, David simply reminds us that to God, a sacrifice of some sort doesn't matter. History Lesson: before the birth of Christ and His ultimate sacrifice, the people of God would have to bring before Him burnt offerings, often times the burnt flesh of animals when they sinned. The blood shed by that animal covered the sin of that confession. When Christ came and shed His blood, it covered ALL of sin. Hence why you don't smell the burning of animal flesh all day. Now back to Psalm 51-because the ultimate sacrifice was already made, to God, how we give reverence and sacrifice to Him is when we go before Him with a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. In the Message Bible by Eugene Patterson, it reads I learned God-worship when my pride is shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice.
In this passage, David is teaching us that even in that moment when we're down, when our hearts are broken, pride done, faith being rocked, God still sees us. We are to worship Him anyhow!
Why?
Because it's our worship that will get us through our in-between--it's our worship that will build our faith, build our trust and build our stamina during our transition. It is also our worship during these moments that will help equip us for once we are out of our in-between-transitional moments. When God is finished His work during this kairos moment, you'll be prepared to receive what it is that He is bringing you to. This next level that God is bringing you is requiring more, SO MUCH MORE. You will not be able to walk into this next level with mediocre faith, bare minimum trust and low stamina. He's building you!
So though these growing pains of your transition are painful, He hasn't brought you this far to leave you. He is always with you. He reminds us TWICE in the SAME passage of Deuteronomy 31:6-8 that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
As the scripture says, Be strong, take courage and don't be intimidated....He's right there with you. He won't let you down; He won't leave you...Don't worry. So don't worry! God's got you! Before you were even born, He knew you and made plans for you; He knew what you were going to go through and what you were going to need to go through it (Jeremiah 29:11).
Hold on! Your trouble will not last always; you have to come out of it and you will! His eyes are and will always be on His children (Job 36:7); He is a consistent, all knowing and never changing God.
I promise you when this moment is over, you'll be saying the same thing our homeboy David said-It was good for me to have been afflicted so that I might learn YOUR decrees (Psalm 119:71). Your blessing is nothing compared to this season of growth. Stick it out, pick up your cross and walk!
He won't fail you! I pray that you receive peace and rest in knowing that you are already covered and already victorious because of Christ.
Rest!
I love you and so does He!
Praying with you,
xo, Nic
