They say all good things must come to an end…
But they don’t say how to navigate the transition.
In the church, we use this language called “seasons.” We know that scripture is clear that there is a time in place for everything. (Ecclesiastes 3) However, it seems we also approach the conversation of seasons after the fact. Maybe it’s because we always converse around the idea of seasons that we are thrown into without warning – tragedy, hardships, suffering, etc. Or maybe it is because typically the shift happens instantaneously and there is not a long drawn out process of transitioning. We jump at the chance to engage in talk about the new season but the chatter is nonexistent about the time frame between what was and what is to come.
Nobody ever talks about the transition and I want to talk about it.
I did not know it until now but there are instances where we are the ones to turn the page and make the choice to let ourselves stare into the vast blankness of the next page. The prompting to do so comes from the nudging of the Holy Spirit but nevertheless, we chose.
It can manifest differently for everyone. It could be ending a relationship. It could be starting a new job. It could be cutting ties with a friend. It could be moving. It could be changing schools. It could be simply not returning to something that has been prominent in your life for years.
Everything in us knows that it is right, yet the awareness of the deviation that is to come can be devastating. It is equivalent to standing with your feet firmly in a set place, a familiar place, a safe place, and feeling the pressure of the wind that is propelling you to step forward. We would all be lying if we said we didn’t try to push back with resistance but the resistance hurts us in more ways than one. Our resistance to letting the page turn can only be two things.
Fear.
The change brings a sense of instability and our faith becomes shaky. We doubt that we can trust Him with is what to come. We even doubt that what is to come can be good because where we are right is not necessarily a bad thing, it could even be a good thing. The time has just arrived to let what it was be sealed with Jesus stamping it as “this served its purpose.”
Denial
This is scary territory to be in. Denial, at its core, is to be disobedient to authority. It is us saying, “this is not going to happen” or “I won’t let this be true.” We often trick ourselves into thinking that we are throwing up our boxing gloves to fight for something we don’t want to let go of when it is denial taking root in our heart and what we are fighting against is nothing other than the will of God unfolding in our lives.
I can name these things for what they are because they are both places I have been the past couple of months. I am living in the middle of that transition that nobody talks about. I know exactly the new season that is coming and honestly, I have known what it was going to look like since last August. Part of me wants to just say, “okay Lord did it have to be this drawn out?” But I have come to see that this extended time frame has been a chance for me to submit every single day to what the next season will be. It has been a chance for me to work through fear and denial in a way like never before and because of that, I will be better in the days to come.
At this point, most of you know I am heading back to WinShape Camps for Girls for my second summer. What most of you don’t know is that this will be the first time in almost a decade worth of summers at this camp, that my best friend won’t be going with me.
A span of 8 years came with a gap, as she worked camp long before I did, but accumulative, we have spent 8 summers together on this holy ground in Rome, Georgia – from campers to staffers. We knew the moment the final note sounded on our morning production last summer that her time was done but I secretly was already aware that mine wasn’t. We avoided the conversation for months, and by months I mean we just talked about it for the first time last week. I think part of us thought not talking about it would make it not true (denial). The part of me that avoided the conversation like it was a college final was the reality that I did not want to confess the fears that were starting to dominate my thinking.
This might not be your story but I can guarantee you that somewhere along the way something that was familiar to you, something that was safe, something that was known, it came to an end or it became inaccessible. We are people who like what is known. As much as we pray bold prayers of saying we will go into the unknown when we stare face to face with it, we realize quickly that we would way rather settle for the comfort zone that is in our land of familiarity.
Yet, we have to go and as we go we have to grieve what was lost.
I have felt such remorse for weeks about being heartbroken about this chapter of summers at WinShape coming to an end with my friend. I felt guilty because I am positive that it is what is right, as is she. How can one find themselves with tears in their eyes every time they think about camp while knowing confidently it is what is right?
That’s the transition. That’s the phase nobody talks about and because nobody talks about it nobody knows that it is okay to have complete faith in your choices and in God’s plan, yet have a longing in your heart for it to not end.
Sad and courageous can coexist in the same place.
I think about Abraham as he walked up that mountain to sacrifice Isaac because God had asked him to. Embodying such courage, still, there is no way there was not a hint of sadness in his eyes.
I think about Paul as he and Barnabas parted. Their goodbyes and going their separate ways had to have been spoken with a tone of sadness yet paired with steps of courage.
I think about Noah, building the ark with his own two hands and shutting those front doors when the time came. Courageously he braced himself for the storm but all that once was would be no more. There is no way that letting go of it all did not move him towards sorrow.
Oh, dear one, you can step into what is next with courage but what you are stepping away from can still be hard. You do not have to give up your freedom to be sad for the sake of obedience. God knows your heart. He sees the steps you are taking. He sees the willingness you are portraying by taking them and He will not shame you if the steps come with a trail of tears.
But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. 2 Samuel 15:30
David is fleeing from Absalom. Absalom was the third son of King David, by his wife Maacah. Absalom had his servants kill Amnon, his half-brother in cold blood. Out of fear of his father, Absalom ran away to Geshur, where he stayed for three years. Absalom was eventually brought home but was still not permitted to enter David’s presence. This is when Absalom started planning a revolt because he desired to be King. When David got word of the revolt, he decided that the situation was serious and that he should abandon Jerusalem. He gathered his household together and immediately fled to the outskirts of the city.
As he went, he wept, leaving a trail of tears.
He knew it was the choice that needed to be made but it did not dismiss his feelings.
Sad and courageous.
Today as I was thinking through all of this, my mind wandered to Paul. I thought about how many times Paul spent so many days in city after city preaching the gospel and how every time there would reach a moment where he would leave and go to a new place. Don’t you think that Paul had a moment of wanting to say, “can’t I just stay here for a little longer?”
Why did Paul always go?
He knew that the message he was carrying had to spread more. He kept going because the truth of who Jesus was had to reach new places, new people. He knew that his influence where he was had reached its capacity and he must go where he would be the most effective. He knew that going forward meant the gospel doing the same. He knew when the page was turning and he let it.
We have to let it too.
We have to say yes. Even when what is coming to an end was a good thing. Even when what is coming to an end was productive and effective. Even when we don’t want it to end.
We have to say yes because what we are letting go of will free our hands to grab onto something else. We have to say yes because our faith commands us to let Him lead us even when it feels like there is a blindfold over our eyes.
We have to say yes to the unknown because it is there that we will find who we desperately need to know – Him.
The transitions are inevitable. We can stop acting like they aren’t. We can stop pretending that God does not ask us to let the page turn on years worth of memories and things that we love. We can let the page turn and we can let the first words of the new chapter be smeared if needed.
The tears will fall where they may and God will let you land exactly where you need to land.
He led you to the last thing, didn’t He? It was memorable, sweet, and even life-changing. It was good. His goodness follows us all the days of our life.
Where you are headed will be just as good.
Go on.
Be courageous. Be sad.
Let the page fall. Let it turn.
