It's a new day.

Yep, this is my adorable niece!

All of sudden, the season changes. You look up and the thing you have been contending for has come. What will you do when the prayer you’ve been praying for so long has been answered? Who are you in the place of the answered prayer?

In suffering we learn what is in us, what we are made of – we discover a bit more of who we are in the place of suffering. And in rejoicing, we learn what took root in us. What will remain.

We are not in control of the seasons we walk through. We don’t get to say when they begin or when they end.

One of the biggest lies in our culture is that we are the masters of our destiny. We are not. In our humanity, we perceive what God is doing and we choose to move with him. Or, to fight against him. Both decisions will require action – diligent and persistent action (recognizing you are not in control is not an invitation to complacency). Yet one path will yield the fruit of contentment, while the other the painful fruit of striving and grasping at the air.

The choice is often that simple. Will I yield to the season that God has placed me in, or will I resist? Will I go where he is sending me, or will I run away?

So often, I’m prone to run. 

It’s a natural reflex. I remember years ago there was an unusual earthquake in Washington DC and I was in a high-rise office building. Before anyone could tell me what to do, I bolted for the doors. Turns out that was the last thing we were supposed to do. Apparently, in an earthquake you take cover first. You do not run.

We are often invited to stand still in the middle of what feels like an earthquake when our seasons are shifting. Having done all, to stand. (Eph. 6:13)

On another occasion, I was praying with a friend just before a major life transition. While praying she had a mental picture of both a homestead, and of storm clouds rolling in. She started praying: “Yes, Lord, thank you for the storm clouds.”I was like “Uh, rewind! Hold the presses, girl. I’m not welcoming in any storm clouds!” I politely thanked her for her prayers but told her the storm cloud thing was a no because “Um, you may not know this but...I’m Jesus’ favorite.” She laughed and said with a smile: “Connie, the storm clouds may come because you’re his favorite.”

In the storm, we often think we did something wrong to cause it. Yet as friends of Jesus, we are also invited to know him in the fellowship of his suffering. (Phil 3:10)

We ebb and flow through this life, walking through seasons of rejoicing and lament, of struggle and triumph. Yet every day I get to make a choice. It always comes down to the most intimate of questions – will I say yes to the One who is asking for my life?

It's a new day, friends. His mercies are new each and every morning. Great is his faithfulness.

Amen.

Are you in the middle of a season shift? The Unveiled Cohort is a great place to walk out that journey in community with other women.

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