Jump Into Change

Embracing New Seasons with Grace and Courage

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On Monday this week, I took what might be my last jump in the lake for the summer. We had a rare streak of hot days this September and when I looked at the 10-day forecast, it became clear that Maine has probably had its last day of true summer heat for the year. My late afternoon dip was ceremonial in a sense… an ode to an amazing summer filled with laughter, campfires, outdoor living, a house full of guests, and way too many s’mores. Because I live in place that in the winter gets more than its fair share of blizzards and six-foot snow drifts, summer is both magical and elusive in its nature, which makes me want to take in every ray of warm sunshine. Like a big, wet beach towel, it’s as though I spend most of September trying to wring out every last drop of the golden hours.

As the ideal weather for warm, lazy moments in the hammock is slowly morphing into crisp, cool air just perfect for apple picking and Sunday afternoon football, I have a choice to face reality or ignore it. Like anything in life, the season is changing to push me out of familiarity and into new priorities. There are moments where I want to resist this natural course. When I’ve wrung out all I can of the season, I am tempted to begin reliving the immediate past instead of looking forward to the slate of fresh, new opportunities before me. Because I’ve become accustomed to warm-weather in the last four months, certain habits, like wearing flip-flops everywhere, are now entrenched. And as we all know, entrenched things don’t lend themselves to being dug up easily. It is so much easier to burrow down, on all fronts — physical, mental, and emotional — and try to maintain the status quo.

When I was younger I used to hate the expression, “All good things must come to an end.” I viewed it as 100% negative and promised myself to never use it in everyday conversation. When I looked up the origin of the saying, it confirms the negative implications. Geoffrey Chaucer is credited with coining the phrase way back in the 1300s. He used it to describe the end of a beautiful relationship. Ever since then, the world has been using it to communicate resignation or acceptance of something going from good to bad, or to signify the ending of something wonderful that can never be again.

Thankfully, my perception of this timeless truth has gradually changed. It took a long time for me to realize that my negative reaction to this saying was rooted in immaturity and selfishness. I previously equated the saying with the other all-too-common refrain of, “That’s not fair!” In other words, we want what we want, when we want it, and we don’t think we should ever have to give up anything unless we choose to do so. (Bonus points if you repeat that last line to yourself out loud while whining like a five-year-old.) But the reality is that God designed our lives and our journeys for change… for progression … for growth.

All change is uncomfortable on some level, even the small stuff. We don’t always recognize it, thank goodness. But when we do acknowledge it, our culture and natural instincts tell us to whine about it. View it as negative. View it as something being taken away from us. Whether it’s a material possession like wrecking your new car or something far more precious like the loss of a loved one, the seasons that come and go in life are always challenging us… our resiliency, our attitudes, our openness, and most importantly our faith. Every moment of change is an opportunity to welcome God’s plan for our lives, which is not headed toward a cruel, impersonal end, but rather something positive and specifically designed for each of us as individuals.  And our belief — or not — in that truth makes all the difference between welcoming the next season or resisting it and letting what is absent turn into a knotty, twisted root of resentfulness or bitterness in our hearts. The condition of our heart is mirrored in our eyes, which in turn colors how we see and process everything.

Instead, the Word of God shows us how to walk in trust and maturity toward growth, rather than dwelling in the past with our fists clenched so tight that we are no longer holding anything of value. When we truly believe to the point of action, we can literally experience the presence of Jesus as He bends down to touch our sweaty, tight fists, look into our eyes, and whisper, “It’s time to open those, dear one. Give me all that you have, you can trust me with your heart, your needs, and your life. When you receive the changes I am bringing, you will find fulfillment for the true desires of your heart and the greatest longings in your soul.”

For many years, I thought I believed. And I did to a certain point. I experienced God moving in my life, but each time I entered a certain kind of season that was particularly challenging for me, my belief was tested and I would crumble and run to my corner with my fists up. Seasons that test me, may not challenge you. We’re all different. What drives us to the corner is different. But Jesus comes to any corner, in any season, and He will keep asking you to open your fists. Put your dukes down. Stop trying to control everything. Stop saying, “It’s not fair.” We may go through three of the same season, 10 seasons, or more, before we finally look up and believe enough to open our hands.

A woman who had her fists clenched is portrayed in the Gospel of John 8:1-11. She was in a terrible season. We know she committed a sin, but we have no idea about the kind of life she had been living or how far she had been pushed into desperation. Regardless of the road she took to get there, she ended up in a heap in the dirt with big stones scattered all around her. After rescuing her from certain death, Jesus got down in the dirt and filth with her to open her hands and her heart to do things differently from now on. He didn’t reveal to her a step-by-step how-to guide, but He entreated her to follow Him and trust.
Jesus was good at unclenching fists of all kinds. Some belonged to people desperate for change and others were the hands of people who had previously refused to welcome any kind of change. The greatest common denominator of them all? Belief. Belief brings conviction, which in turn, births humility, followed by love. Fast on the heels of love comes service. When you love someone, you take action for them, even at your own discomfort or expense. But it all starts with belief.

Each of the disciples struggled with belief on some level, and they had Jesus right in front of them. We’re all quick to disparage Thomas because he refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he saw Him face to face. But would you or I have done any better? Can’t you just see Thomas, or yourself, standing in the corner of the Upper Room where all the disciples were huddled in fear waiting on the Romans to take them to jail? I bet his arms were crossed and his fists were clenched. The new season had come and he hated it. He was unsure. It wasn’t fair that Jesus had been killed. Then his perspective changed in an instant. In John 20:24-29, we read this: “A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe’.” Repeat that last sentence to yourself. Stop doubting and believe. It’s a command and a blessing all at once. I think in that moment, Jesus opened Thomas’ hands, mind, and heart to the next season.

The passage continues, “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’.” You may believe that the disciples had some advantage that you or I don’t, but Jesus assures us that we will be blessed in a way the disciples were not if we believe in what we can’t always see, feel, or hear. We can’t see the future or know what each season holds, but we are called to believe Romans 8:28 when it says that He will use any season for our good and His glory. Hebrews 12:11 promises a peaceful harvest of right living for those who receive and grow in seasons of discipline.

We also have no reason, no matter how much our brains tell us otherwise, to view a change with the assumption that it will bring something we don’t like or that life will be worse than before it came. Nor should we believe the lie that the season of life coming to an end was so good that nothing else will ever again come close to it. That sense of losing out may define what it means to be human, but Jesus came as proof to show us that there is so much more than we can know, fathom, or understand with our limited capabilities here on earth. Romans 8:6 says, “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

As we say goodbye to the summer of 2018, let it be a reminder to you of the good that’s yet to come. No matter what’s in store for your life, the country, the culture, or the world, we can count on a God who loves us more than we can even think or imagine. If you need assurance of that, I encourage you to read Ephesians 3:14-19. And when you do, I encourage you to read it out loud. Stare down your doubts and fears and resolutely proclaim it as often as necessary. Memorize it. And then rest in knowing that it’s a promise that the Holy Spirit will tailor just for you and your season at hand.
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