Good morning, friends! I wanted to take time to write through my recent experiences with the Lord – always with the hope that they resonate with you and where you currently find yourself. If you’ve read any of the previous blogs, you would quickly find a very evident theme of learning how to lean in to the Lord in each passing season. The twenty-something’s are filled with a roller coaster of emotions – fear, doubt, uncertainty, and yet simultaneously somehow feel the most rewarding. The Lord has been faithful in showing me how to trace His movement on a daily basis. I love writing about the lessons that He is revealing to me and the ways that He is using His Word to strengthen my trust in Him.
Today, I want to focus specifically on entering into new seasons. I want you to think about something for me – call to mind one of your own prayers that you have been praying for awhile. I’m talking about the kind of prayers that you have been praying for years. That you are just now experiencing the fruit of, or maybe you are still waiting, and that’s okay too. Either way, I can relate. I am currently stepping into a season of NEW – new city, new career, new people, new phase of life. It is challenging to describe the gratitude and reward that comes as a result of seeing long-standing prayers answered in “only-God” ways. If you are still waiting on an answer, I want to point your heart to Psalm 27:14 which tells us to “wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
The reality is, new seasons stretch us far beyond our own capacity. It can be unsettling at times when we feel our circumstances and selves changing, even when the change is filled with so much of God’s goodness. And yet, I have found that wrapped up within all the newness, there is Jesus standing strong, secure, and steady. I am reminded of the cruciality of staying tethered to the Scriptures, because it is here that our weary hearts are redirected to the unchanging character of Jesus. Below are a few different passages for you to reference. These have been a steady source of comfort for me and I pray they do the same for you.
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Psalm 31:3, “Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”
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Psalm 33:20-22, “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.”
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Psalm 34:4-5, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”
Earlier this year, the Lord impressed on my heart that I was to begin praying for a spirit of bravery. At the time, I had no idea why. I was pretty comfortable and in a mundane routine, but the Lord knew that I would need a much braver spirit six months from that moment. I tell you this to encourage you to continue pressing into the prayers that you are building for your future self. Do not stop because you see lack of progress or aren’t getting the answers you had hoped for. The Lord does most of His work behind the scenes. He is always fighting for His children, and He is always preparing us for something far greater than we could imagine.
Below is a passage out of John 15. I encourage you to read these verses, then to re-read them, and to continue reading them throughout your days.
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
May we be reminded that apart from God we can do absolutely nothing. This is what the Scriptures tell us, and therefore it is true. It does not say some things or most things or even one thing. The reality is, we can do absolutely NOTHING apart from Him. Therefore, we must preach this truth to ourselves daily so that we do not fall into the pit of self-sufficiency, especially in the midst of a new and blessed season.
I pray that this blog holds something, even if it’s one word or one sentence, that redirects your focus to the face of Jesus. If you’re in the midst of stepping into a new season, or even if you’re not, keep praying, stay near to the Scriptures, and recognize that we can do nothing apart from Christ’s magnificent work within us.