Facing New Seasons of Life with Jesus

Spring is upon us and in full bloom. With spring comes hope and renewal, a brand new season filled with new opportunities.

Outside my living room window, there is a stunning double-blossomed cherry tree full of gorgeous pink blooms. The tree is exceptionally beautiful this year. However, I wonder if the tree seems more beautiful because this past winter was part of a long and difficult season in my life. God has led me through the darkness to the beauty of this new season, and I have found a greater appreciation for life because of walking through some difficult things in a season of pruning.

It has been almost a year since my momma went to Heaven. Although the loss of my momma has been sad and painful because I miss her so much, her death has taught me many things. One of the greatest things I have learned is to stop and appreciate what is right in front of me and to enjoy the little things in life more.

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Through this season, God has shown me many things I used to take for granted. It is easy to get stuck in “What’s next?” mode rather than embracing where you are in this moment. I have always been a planner. There is nothing wrong with being a planner, but you can miss out when you allow the plan to control you, rather than you controlling the plan. I now realize I sped right past a lot of life God intended for me to enjoy.

Life Lessons From My Momma

My momma had a carefree spirit and was always up for an adventure. Momma was fun, and wherever she went, you knew the party would follow. Momma had balance though, and she would often say, “First we work, then we play, then we sleep the night away.”

She would often tell me to stop and smell the roses, and I would reply to her, “Who has time for that?”  I was half teasing her, but the reality is I didn’t think I had time to stop and smell the roses for fear of somehow messing up the plan. 

God has been teaching me the importance of balance in all things and the impact it plays in my life.  Work is important, but so is having fun and enjoying life with the people you love the most. Work will always be there, but people will not. God places people in our lives for reasons and seasons. I’ve always known that life here is temporary, but losing my momma made me face my mortality and re-evaluate what is truly important.

3 Questions To Ask No Matter What Season You’re In

I don’t know what stage you are at in your life, but know that God loves you more than the plan you have and whatever you feel the need to be, fulfill or achieve. Even if you mess up the plan, God will not love you any less. Now, I ask myself these three simple questions each day.

1.) What is your plan for me today?

Just by saying this I am giving ownership of my day to God. I don’t own the plan; God does.

2.) Who do you need me to reach out to today?

Sometimes, it is someone I know, and sometimes it is a stranger.

3.) How can I bring you glory today?

It can be as simple as stopping and taking time to smell the roses.

Facing New Seasons of Life With Jesus

This scripture in James 4:13-17 (NLT) put my planning in a perspective that I couldn’t ignore.

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.  What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.

Wow, did you catch that last verse? I have been guilty of doing that very thing, and it is called evil!

Relying on Jesus

The enemy can take the most subtle things and use them to throw us into a deep pit. I found myself constantly trying to dig my way out to no avail. Why? Because I was too self-confident rather than God-reliant. I wasn’t relying on God to get things done. I was relying on me. It isn’t that I didn’t ask God to be with me. I just wanted God to be with me in what I had already planned to do.

Don’t get me wrong God wants us to be self-confident in Him not without Him. Have you ever found yourself in that place where you have lost that balance in your life of relying on God? We live in a world that constantly promotes “self” so it is easy to do. But, it is also easy to admit our guilt and come back into alignment with God and free ourselves from the crushing weight of trying to carry everything on our shoulders.

Seasons of pruning in our lives can be hard, tedious and overwhelming but it allows us to become more integrated into the divine vine and produce new fruit we otherwise wouldn’t bear. It draws us into a deeper and intimate relationship with God because we learn more about Him.

In the Northeast, winter can be a cold, dark and a harsh season, and it can seem like it will last forever. But, spring eventually comes, and new life emerges once again because God is faithful in every season.

Whose Plan Are You Following?

I’d love to hear from you. Have you seen the changes in the seasons of life and how you respond to God’s call? What questions do you ask yourself to keep your life on track? Join the conversation in the comments below.

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