Permission To Transition – Devotional Diva

Sometimes, you need to give yourself permission to transition.

Why?

Because no one else can do it for you.

This past week has been the most amazing spiritual high ever and I feel I may never come down. It’s not an emotional high, but the benefits of walking obediently.

Two weeks ago, I wrote a confession. That I was going to take the rest of the year off from traveling, speaking, and writing my next book.

It’s so weird. Since then God has blessed me even more that I can hardly stand it!

I can’t help but rejoice that the Lord reigns in my life–and I pray yours as well. Those feelings of depression and despair are leaving because the King of King’s has arrived. Here are a few highlights of my week:

1. Reunited with a friend whom I hadn’t seen in years. God used her mightily in my life many years ago to show me that my writing would one day bring people to Christ! Her friendship has given me the permission to transition once again.

2. Attended The Voice of the Martyrs Regional Conference Bound With Them. The voices of those who are and were persecuted have echoed in my heart since that I find myself waking out of the sleep that is American Christianity.

3. Marc and I visited a new church the past two weeks called The Gathering Place. The pastor preached on Exodus 33-34, which was the passage of Scripture God used to reveal to me two weeks ago that I should take the rest of the year off.

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15-16)

When we don’t have His Presence, we have nothing to separate us from anyone else or every other religion.

Confirmation after confirmation this week showed me one thing:

Give yourself permission to transition

When I met with my former friend, I wasn’t expecting her to be in the same spot I was a few years ago when I quit my job. I wanted nothing more than to encourage her to keep going, and yet I realized that God has new things in store for me too–even now as I rest in Him (Isaiah 43:19)!

Transition Doesn’t Always Equal Bad Changes

God has continually been surprising me with new realities.

Transition brings change, yes.

But it’s not always bad.

For instance, after I quit my job Harvest House picked up Not Another Dating Book, and I met my husband Marc. Hello? Sometimes, it’s all I can do to keep up with His Spirit (Amen?). I think the place where I’m at is the best life is and is going to get.

But it’s not.

God has more.

More of His presence.

More of His blessings.

Today, I am giving you the permission to transition. The kind of permission I was waiting so desperately when I quit my job. You might not have someone telling you what to do or that it’s all going to work out–but actually, you do. His name is Jesus and He is waiting for you to come to Him.

Friend, if you are in the midst of a job, relationship, or transition of any kind–I encourage you to check out the promises of God.

Cling to them.

Hold fast.

Hope is real, and He will not let you go even for a second.

If you find anything lingering in your heart squash it for the idol that it is. Smash anything that sets itself up between you and God. Go with God.

Here is something I read this week that changed my life–and I hope it changes yours.

“Recently I heard someone say, ‘God has given me a heart to pastor a church.’ What he meant was he had a desire to become a pastor. Certainly, to pastor a church is a good desire. As I walked away, I prayed that someday God will grant him the ‘desire of his heart‘ (Psalms 37:4). However, his desire to pastor is only as good as his willingness to wait on God’s timing…If he is not content to wait on God, if he is miserable and sins as a result, then his heart’s desire is not set on the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, his desire has become an idol (Ezekiel 14:1-11) or a lust (1 John 2:15-17; 5:21)” (The Excellent Wife, Martha Peace, page 59).

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