You have heard it said that life goes in and out of different seasons. I guess I’m rolling out of one season and jumping into the next.
My family recently packed our house of 10 years and headed two hours north to Tulsa, Okla. My husband got a new job opportunity, and after praying about it for several months, we loaded up the cars and headed on a new adventure.
This adventure was met with great reluctance though. For some of you nomads, moving is not that big of deal. But let me tell you. Norman has been our hometown – the place we grew up, went to school, went to the same church. My husband and I fell in love in the local high school; all our families live there and many friends that you make only over a lifetime.
Why would you want us to move, Lord? What could there possibly be two hours north that we couldn’t find here?
Sometimes we go through different seasons simply because time marches on. Babies grow to children, who grow to teenagers, who grow to adults. Our birthdays come around each year and if you put too many of them together, our bodies emphasize the fact that beauty really is only skin deep. Other times, we are forced into a new season by sudden circumstances, pain or death.
Each new season has its own rhythms, lessons, difficulties and growth if we are willing to learn. Yet, the commonality with each season is the unknown. What does the future hold? Will it be good or bad, difficult or easy, joyful or sad. Who knows? Only God knows!
He is the One who holds our future if we would obediently follow. He invites us into new seasons of growth to shape us to be more like Jesus. It may be one of the hardest things, walking into the unfamiliar, but when we follow Him, we can rest assure He has it under control.
As we have started our new adventure, the peace of God has washed over me. I still don’t know what our life looks like in a year or five years from now, I don’t know what plans God has in store for each of my children, for my husband or me, but I know that we have chosen to follow His lead and that’s enough for me. The One who holds my future holds me!
Anyone know this oldie-but-a-goodie hymn written by Ira F Stanphill in 1950?
“I Don’t Know About Tomorrow”
I don’t know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.
I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.
Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.
Every step is getting brighter
As the golden stairs I climb;
Every burden’s getting lighter,
Every cloud is silver-lined.
There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eye;
At the ending of the rainbow
Where the mountains touch the sky.
Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.
I don’t know about tomorrow;
It may bring me poverty.
But the one who feeds the sparrow,
Is the one who stands by me.
And the path that is my portion
May be through the flame or flood;
But His presence goes before me
And I’m covered with His blood.
Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand…
This song reminds us that the only thing we can take to the bank is the uncertainty of life. Yet, as Christians we have Jesus, the author and perfecter of our lives, and He is trustworthy to walk us through the ups and downs of each new season we enter. I pray we learn to follow Him and trust His foresight with each new day, walking continuously down the path that brings glory and honor to His name.
Whatever season you may be in, commit to follow and obey Him no matter where the path may lead and rest in the peace He provides with each new day!
Love you all! – Amy