Seasons change. I’ve always heard that phrase and people talk about the different seasons they are in. But what does that actually mean? I had no idea. Literally, no idea. But this past week, Emoyeni hosted two pastors from Durban to speak at a pastor’s conference. One of the speakers, Terry, is a life coach and spoke on the different seasons of life. It finally all clicked. He went through spring, summer, fall and winter and gave detailed attributes about each. It was glaringly obvious where I was.
Don’t get me wrong, these past five and a half months have been awesome. I wouldn’t trade them for anything. I have loved being here. But they’ve also been incredibly hard. God was stripping me of myself so much more than thought possible and I felt like my flaws were constantly coming up. It was a time the Lord was pruning me to become the person He created me to be. Like I said, I wouldn’t trade that time for anything.
The past five months have been a winter for me. As Terry was outlining the different seasons, it was so obvious to me that I had just gone through a winter. It was a tough time and a lot of the times I struggled and didn’t even want to be here. But it was a time of incredible growth. Looking back now, God used those struggles and tough times to grow me and change me in ways I didn’t realize. It taught me to lean on Him more than I ever have before and make that a foundation for me.
But the good thing about winter - spring is coming. The past few weeks I’ve really felt the Lord pulling me into something more. He taught me what He needed to during the season, and now it’s time for the harvest to start. I had a crazy dream a few weeks back and Deanne, who has insight on dream interpretation, helped me pull apart what the dream meant. Basically, a large portion of the dream meant I was done with the old season and the Lord was taking me through a transition period and into a new season.
A few weeks later I was having some quiet time with the Lord and saw a picture in my mind of a cactus with a flower growing out of the top. It didn’t make sense to me until Terry spoke about the seasons. God is going to make something beautiful grow out of the tough stuff. The day after I realized that, we drove into Nelspruit and guess what I saw on the road about every five seconds: a cactus with a flower growing out of it. I felt like the Lord was confirming the new season to me. They were everywhere. It was beautiful.
Spring is a time of new beginnings. God releases us into new things and wants us to be well prepared. It’s a time of breaking ground and pioneering. It’s an exciting but challenging season. What God worked in me the previous season will be the foundation to this next season.
God won’t release us into a season until the perfect time. Even through the difficult months, He was preparing me for this new season. He was paving the way. I can now look back on the hard times and thank Him for each moment.
Each moment when I was crying out and He drew me into Him.
Each moment I wanted to leave but He reminded me why I was here.
Each moment I wanted to let my emotions get the best of me and He calmed me and reminded me of His love for me.
I’m holding my hands open and trusting Jesus as He leads me into the open waters. I don’t know what He has in store for me these next five months, but I’m expecting big things to happen. I’m ready for the unknown that is coming. I’m ready for Him to use me in ways He hasn’t before. I’m ready for Him to teach me new things. I’m ready to walk in my true identity as a daughter of the Most High and become the woman He made me to be.
I don’t know what’s in store, but I’m excited.
In Christ,
