Beauty in the Transition

 

There is no doubt that I find autumn to be the most beautiful season in New England.  Do not get me wrong, there is beauty in new fallen snow, beauty in the buds of spring, and beauty in the waves crashing along the coast in summer.  Yet, there is nothing more beautiful to my eyes than the trees being painted such rich and vibrant colors of red, yellow, and orange.  Autumn also invokes soul-felt feelings for us New Englanders.  This season can be one of transition from the heat of the summer to the chilliness of winter.  This season of transition provides us with such visual beauty.

Our lives can find us in seasons of transition as well.  A few short weeks ago, some of you may have sent your last child off to college, leaving you with a noticeably quiet home.  Others may have entered a season of retirement, and the days of awakening to the alarm no longer provide you with the rhythm in life you once had.  There can be a variety of reasons for a season of transition in our lives – new careers, new relationships, loss of loved ones.  These, as well as others, can be a reason your life may be in a season of transition.

Transitions are difficult.  The familiar is replaced with uncertainty.  Belonging is replaced with isolation.  Confidence is replaced with anxiousness.  It is hard to find a new path.  Maybe you are experiencing a season of transition now.  We can often question what God wants for us during these transitions.  What is the path He has laid out for us?  Friends, this is where beauty during these tough transitions begins taking hold.

Just as God paints the leaves beautiful colors, God paints new experiences on our path.  Our focus needs to be trusting that God has this.  Not just trusting Him in our heads (which can be tough to do as our minds can get the better of us), but more importantly, in our hearts.  When we give our hearts to God’s plan, we know that the difficulty experienced during transitions can be beautiful moments in our lives.  I was lost when I retired.  One of MY main focuses of retirement was to spend more time with my mother.  She passed away 12 days before my last day of work.  One morning, as I sat on my deck at 6AM (my normal work time), trying to figure out what was next, I actually experienced peace, “a peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).  The tough time turned into beauty.  I just needed to give it all to God.

Proverbs 3:6 shares, “in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”  When the uncertainty of transition is in front of us, our focus needs to be in trusting the One who knows the path.  When we give it all to God, the transition can be beautiful.  That beauty can come in so many ways in our lives.  Our job is to be still enough to see it, to feel it and to remember to give thanks to God for it!  Have simple faith that God’s beauty will shine for you – even in the season of transition.

Video that complements this post:  Beauty in the Transition

Dearest Lord, thank you for being the beauty I need during times of transition in my life.  Help me to see the path that You have for me and may I put my trust in You always.  Amen!