Seasons always brings about change. Sometimes we are expecting the change, like from winter to spring we are expecting for the trees to bud and for the grass to grow green. Other times, the cold snap hits earlier than we anticipated. Where do you feel like you stand right now in life? Which season are you in? One of transition? One that ended faster than expected? One that seems like it will not end at all? All of these types of seasons shape you, mold you, and prepare you for what is next. Sometimes we need to sit in the uncomfortable and other times we need to be in the midst of the reshaping.
I feel like I have lived in half a dozen seasons since the last time I was here at Samford, but in reality, it was just one really long season. It was uncomfortable sometimes. It was lonely other times. BUT… hear me say this, it was filled with so much purpose. I learned so much about myself and my tendencies. I learned so much about my family and my friends.
Most importantly, I learned how my plans, no matter how perfectly planned I think they are, will always be subject to change. I cannot control everything. In reality, there is very little I can control. During this season, I saw how what originally was not in my plans at all turn into God’s “plan A”. His plans are so much greater than ours and I have learned to place my trust in the Lord and turn my plans over to him.
Relinquishing our plans over to Christ makes me think of when Jesus called the disciples to follow him and leave the familiar behind. In Mark 1, Jesus approached Simon Peter, Peter’s brother Andrew, James, and John. He asked them to leave their nets and follow him. He was calling them to something greater. These four men had no idea where God was calling them or what their future would look like. What would it be like for us to step out in faith and let go of control? The disciples’ whole world changed for the better and they had no idea the journey they were about to embark on. These men who thought their whole life would revolve around fishing, fixing their boats, prepping nets, and selling fish for their livelihood, now lived for a greater purpose. A purpose in which God called them into the uncomfortable with gentiles and called them into a life of pursuing men the way they thought they would be pursuing their careers.
As we all step together into this new season of unknowns, I pray that we can let go of our “perfect” plans and place our future into the hands of our all-knowing God. May this be a time of pressing and reshaping that molds us more into who God created us to be.
