As a counselor, I spend a lot of time journeying with individuals through various cycles of life. One individual may be dealing with grief and the passing of a loved one, while another individual may be struggling in parenting young children. Regardless of the situations, we all have times of life that are common to the human experience. King Solomon identifies some of these common threads in the book of Ecclesiastes.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace, (3:1-8).
Scripture makes it clear from the beginning of creation, that God has placed us on the earth, in a flow of life. It describes in Genesis 1 how He placed lights in the expanse of the sky to serve as signs, to mark seasons and days and years…
When we trust Him with our lives and don’t lean on our own understanding as Proverbs talks about (3:5-6), we learn how to move from one cycle to the next in a growing and prospering pattern.
However, often times we find ourselves stuck in the pain of the past, unable to move forward into the new things that God has planned for us. We sometimes call this “being stuck in a rut.” These ruts can be formed by our own resistance to change so we hunker down in coping patterns that block us from growing and developing new ways of thinking about life, or the ruts can be passed down to us from past generations and we just accept the blocks as reality that can not be questioned or changed. Either way, we are in a rut, sidelined in crossing over into the blessings that God has prepared for us.
The good news is that built into God’s design is a circular pattern that comes back around. What we perceive as negative change, such as the uprooting, could be the very thing that we need to make room for the “new thing.” Taking the steps to trust and surrender, even though it may not be clear yet what the “new thing” will be, gives God permission to shift things in our lives in order to align us for the blessing that is coming in the next cycle. We see in scripture that death leads to life or rebirth. As Jesus began preparing his followers for his death, he describes this pattern:
He replied to them, “Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified. Let me make this clear: A single grain of wheat will never be more than a single grain of wheat unless it drops into the ground and dies. Because then it sprouts and produces a great harvest of wheat- all because one grain died. The person who loves his life and pampers himself will miss true life! But the one who detaches his life from this world and abandons himself to me, will find true life and enjoy it forever! (John 12:23-25, TPT)
When we begin to flow with God’s cycles, we will begin to recognize when something is coming to an end. In that moment, a beginning is there to greet us.
Steps in Pursuit
- We are in the summer season currently with autumn season coming. In the changing of the seasons, take some time to identify areas of your life that may need “uprooting” so that God can begin to prepare you for the things he wants to “plant”.
- In emotional realignment work, the emotions “holding onto” or “trouble letting go” indicates areas that a person may be stuck in. We all have things that we have trouble releasing. It may be something someone has said that was hurtful, or it could be a comfort food that we run to when stressed. Take some time to intentionally surrender and make room for healing.
- The enemy likes to use dread to keep us resisting forward flow and movement. Part of our worship of God, is believing that he is good and faithful. Psalm 145:8-10 talks about the goodness of God to everyone. Take time this week to thank God for his movement in your life.
If you or someone you know is struggling in a “rut” and having trouble moving forward, I would love to be able to bring support and encouragement. Let’s anticipate change and growth in God’s cycles of life.
Continuing the Pursuit,
Denise
