The world around us is constantly changing, our lives are no exception. Let’s talk about transition, we all go through it!

Meaning:

a change from one form or type to another, or the process by which this happens: (dictionary.cambridge.org)

the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another. (google search)

Hebrew words for transition:

1. The first word for transition is ma’avar, which means to “cross over,” to “pass through” (as in a land or city) or even to overflow (cf. Isaiah 23:10, who speaks of passing through a land “as a stream”) In the word, ma’avar, I see the word, me-avar or “from the past.” We are nurtured by our past relationships with communities, and by their pasts which become a part of us
2. shinui, which literally means “change
3. chiluf, which means to “move on” in the way that the grasses sprout anew after the old sproutings have dried up and passed away.

Signs you’re in transition:

• Relationship changes (breakups and broken friendships/betrayal)
• Spiritual attack & mind battles, usually marked with thoughts of inadequacy and fear
• Lack of interest in daily activities
• Possible depression, mood swings & irritability
• The feeling that there is just “something missing”
• This nagging awareness that there is just something more

PHASE 1: EARLY (LATENT) LABOR/THe process

The first of the three stages of labor is usually the longest, but (thankfully) it’s also the least intense, by far.

During this phase, we experience sporadic periods of discomfort.

Spiritually, this can manifest itself in bouts of emotional strain and exhaustion. Because the process is not necessarily swift, it will require great adjustment and spiritual awareness. Understanding that you are in a season of transition is vital, with that knowledge you are now equipped to do the most difficult thing this process requires – wait. As with a natural pregnancy, you are  expected to wait in anticipation that something will be birthed from your process. That is the faith God wants us to have in Him, so that in our waiting there is preparation for the promise!

PHASE 2: ACTIVE LABOR

You’ll usually be in the hospital or birthing center by this phase (or if you’re delivering at home, your midwife should be with you by now).

Active labor is sometimes excruciatingly painful. Both in the natural and in the spirit, this phase is preparing you for the release that is coming. You are adjusting and getting into position to ensure that your next phase goes well. You are being stretched to capacity so that safe passage of what you are carrying is ensured and you give birth to the promise you have awaited for so long!

PHASE 3: TRANSITIONAL (ADVANCED) LABOR

During transitional labor — the last, most intensive phases of labor —fortunately, it’s also the shortest.

GET IT OUT!!! The urgency of this phase is incomparable at any other state of the process – it’s time to release! You have nurtured, prepared and positioned yourself for the release of what’s in you. Then, and only then are you able to PUSH your destiny out!

How do I not go crazy during a season of transition?

• Don’t be afraid: Joshua 1:9 ESV Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Don’t doubt in the dark, what God told you in the light: Ecclesiastes 7:8-11 ESV Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.

• Don’t try to guess your way through: Proverbs 3:5 ESV Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
• The work was prepared before you were: Ephesians 2:10ESV For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them
• Stay confident! God wants it more than you: 1 John 5:14ESV And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

It’s not about you: 2 Corinthians 1:4-9 ESV Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.