How to Handle Change in a New Season

You’re going to be stretched in your new season. You’ll find yourself being asked by people and by God to do things that make you feel unprepared.

The new season may fit you and where you want to be in your life, career, or ministry, but at times there will be things that you will have to do that will make you wonder if you’re actually in the right place.

We should never be afraid of growth, of being stretched. Someone once told me that I should think of myself as an elastic or rubber band where I have the ability to stretch and stretch and stretch more. The elastic quality is something that God gives. If He’s directing us in the new season of life, work, or ministry, then He will equip us with the ability to be stretched. However, He does require that we be willing to be stretched.

If you go into a new season thinking that if it’s too tough you can always back out, you will miss what you’re supposed to have.

Miss #1

You will miss grabbing on to the new creativity and resources that are a part of the new season. Your focus won’t be fully on what is ahead of you; part of your focus will be on the past. You’ll have one foot in the past and one in the present. You’ll stall and stagnate; there will be no forward movement in the new season.

Miss #2

You’ll miss the maturity that comes when you persevere. The same principle that applies for encountering trials in life applies to encountering new, God-directed opportunities that include challenges. “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1:2-4 (MSG)

Once you’ve moved forward into something new, you can never go back to the way things were. Even if you try to return, it won’t be the same. Other people will have moved on and things will have changed. So why would you destroy a new opportunity just because you’re afraid or things don’t seem to be working the way that you think they should.

Take a minute and remind yourself why you moved forward. Take a deep breath and thank God that He’s with you every step of the way.

Whether you’re in a new season in life and family responsibilities, or in a new job or without a job, or in a different type of ministry or outreach, keep your focus on Jesus and what’s ahead of you. Remember that you’re not alone in this. You have the ability to tap into the wisdom of God through the Bible (James 1:5), and into the wisdom of God through trusted, mature believers.

You can do this. Don’t quit. Keep moving forward toward the maturity that comes from trusting God as you follow His plan for your life.