Can you feel it? You may not be able to see it yet, but change is definitely in the air! It is like the stirring in the Winter season in preparation for the new life of Spring. Or it is when you can smell the rain in the air before the first sprinkles of rain begin to patter down to touch the earth. It stirs anticipation of the shift between what has been and what’s just on the horizon. I don’t know about you but I love the changing of the seasons. I’m really glad that I live in an area where there is a clear transitioning from one season to the next.
Spiritually speaking, God is always on the move, doing something new in our lives and in the lives of others.
Isaiah 43:18-19 says,
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (NIV)
Did you notice what our part is in the process? Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. As I work with people in healing from past hurts so that they can move forward into the new, often people are stuck dwelling in the hurt or disappointments of the past. They dwell on the words that were said, or the disappointments experienced. Often our wounded souls believe the lie that we need to hold onto those hurts, in order to protect ourselves from future pain. It keeps us from seeing what’s on the horizon and the new things God wants to bring to us.
I think another way of saying it is that we can just be stubborn. I just want to be clear when I say stubborn, I mean stuck. Stubborn = Stuck, no movement and no change. I know because I’ve personally lingered in a season way too long because of stubbornly resisting the new things that need to bring change in my life. So I want to challenge you, as I continue to accept the challenge myself. Let’s not dwell in the past or on the past! Let’s heal from the disappointments and painful memories of past seasons so that we can perceive the exciting stirrings of change on the horizon!
Steps in Pursuit:
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- Take an honest inventory of areas in your life you feel stuck. Are there hurts from previous experiences that you haven’t been able to move past?
- Forgiveness is a Key to movement. Are you forgiving yourself for the choices you have made? Or are you punishing yourself, inflicting self-sabotage on your future?
- Surrender is a Key to movement. Choose an area of your life that you want to see the new thing that God is offering, and take some time to surrender ways you have been holding onto the old.
Friend, you are not going to stay stuck, and neither am I. Let’s move into this season of change with anticipation of all the new life that God has for us!
