02/10
Full of Hope or Full of Fear
A NEW SEASON
One of the greatest things about walking with Jesus is the fulfilling opportunity to constantly live on the edge of our seat. Think about the early church who was in a new season of sharing and living out their new found faith. As Acts chapter 2 describes it, believers continued to feel a sense of awe at what God was doing (Acts 2:43). That's God's will for us! New seasons can and should be filled with so much excitement and wonder. As young adults, new seasons are almost the norm as every couple of years, there’s more on the horizon. There may be new classes, new friends, new jobs, new relationships, maybe even a new stage to a current relationship. There can be kids added to your family or a change in friend groups. Maybe you got a job offer halfway across the country, or you started serving in a different area here at church – there will continue to be a plethora of new opportunities in this overarching season of being a young adult. The challenge is for us to navigate it well according to God’s will because excitement may not be the only thing accompanying a new season.
New can also come with hardships that often can distract us from the joy accessible to us. Jesus guarantees us that we will have trouble in life (John 16:33). There are many times where wheat and tares grow together. Even the blessing can often have a speck of trials embedded within it. The challenge for us is to keep our eyes up and continually look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1) and not to second guess the design of where God has us just because the winds and waves of life begin to surge (Matthew 14:22-33). Thus, we can be confident in knowing that we can humbly walk into new seasons equipped and ready for what’s ahead. New seasons often can be especially hard because of the unknown. The unknown has a funny way of drawing out fear and insecurity. There is a temptation to fear how a situation will end and if we will ultimately be okay. There is a temptation to fall prey to insecurity, feeling like we are not enough or don’t know enough to handle this new season.
New can also come with hardships that often can distract us from the joy accessible to us. Jesus guarantees us that we will have trouble in life (John 16:33). There are many times where wheat and tares grow together. Even the blessing can often have a speck of trials embedded within it. The challenge for us is to keep our eyes up and continually look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1) and not to second guess the design of where God has us just because the winds and waves of life begin to surge (Matthew 14:22-33). Thus, we can be confident in knowing that we can humbly walk into new seasons equipped and ready for what’s ahead. New seasons often can be especially hard because of the unknown. The unknown has a funny way of drawing out fear and insecurity. There is a temptation to fear how a situation will end and if we will ultimately be okay. There is a temptation to fall prey to insecurity, feeling like we are not enough or don’t know enough to handle this new season.
There are three things we can do to navigate new seasons well as a young adult:
- Seek wisdom! (Proverbs 4:5). First and foremost from scripture, we have a living and breathing book full of tremendous wisdom in the Bible. Through prayer, we can also seek God’s divine wisdom and direction throughout the day (James 1:5). There are also people God has placed around us who love Him and have been through what we have, there is wisdom in asking questions (Proverbs 11:14). Wisdom can arm us with the tools and confidence to face what’s in front of us. Wisdom can also provide a sense of clarity, courage and excitement.
- Do not fear. God’s will is not for us to shrink back and miss out on the fruit and blessings He has for us. We may feel fear initially but we are called to walk faithfully and trust He will provide for us every step of the way.
- Trust He will be with us. Proverbs 3:5-6 says Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.