Seasons.... letting go and looking forward

     Seasons in our lives are interesting.  Clarity and strength both come at the strangest times. In the middle of our weakest times and seasons, the Bible says Jesus' strength is perfect in us.

     I know cooking is not the one thing I was born for. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing it and I love blessing others with it, but I know it is not what I was born to do. It's for a season and I am so glad that I am able to see that, because if I am not ready when change comes, I usually don't do very well with it. If I am not mindful of it, I tend to want to hold on to a good, but old time or place.

     Sometimes we get great ideas.  Some are put there by God's design in us. I am learning there is a difference between God's design in you and His design for you. God designed me a certain way. He put desires and wired me in a unique way, just like He wired you to be as unique.  I have things that I really like and desires for myself that are within the scope of God's design. Take my cooking for example. I had an idea to start cooking for friends and, well, friends. lol! It's a great idea and it is helping me and my family right now. I enjoy it. That's the way God made me, but in knowing my season will change before it does, I am prepared and able to let go of a good thing. In letting go of one season, I find an unexpected strength to embrace a new one.

     There are other desires that are rising in me with more of an urgency than just a "want to".  It's more evident with each day, week and month. While I have embraced the season I am in, I am aware that there is another season coming.  It's like my spirit is a large stock pot cooking up something great. As I seek the Lord, the ingredients heat up and some automatically rise to the top. I want to be sure to be mindful of the things that have yet to happen. I don't want to miss out on the new by being busy with the current.  I believe those things that automatically rise to the top of our "stock pot" are not just how we are designed, but what we are designed for and it is His wisdom alone that allows us to see the difference between the two. The season I am in now is only to prepare me for the next and when it comes, I will embrace it.

     I hope that this speaks to you and encourages you in your changing seasons. I pray that you have the wisdom of God in your decisions and as you go about your daily routine. For those of us who are making life decisions right now, I pray that we would hear Jesus clearly and know in our spirit which things we are free to do and which things we are called to do.

     I am glad the Bible says God will fulfill the desires of our hearts. I am glad that God loves us and we have the ability to branch out and do different and great things, but I never want to cling to something, just someOne- His name is Jesus.