I recently wrote the following devotion for MOPS International for their MOPS Next ebook. I’ve been wanting to share it with you!
I wrote it for moms as it relates to the new season of back to school, but its truth is applicable whether you’re a mom or not. So often in this life journey we all face new seasons and challenges that test us, try us and make us grow.
Whatever new season you’re in right now, my hope is that you will find comfort that God is working for you and in you, even if it’s hard to see right now.
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“Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB
Just when I feel like I’ve got things down with this motherhood gig, things change.
Just months after my babies, now seven and five, started sleeping through the night, they got teeth and started crawling. Then they began walking, pulling my house apart and climbing in, on and out of anything possible. They started throwing themselves on the floor when they didn’t get their way. Shortly after, we started potty-training, which in all honesty often made me want to throw myself on the floor! Next came preschool and in the blink of an eye, it’s off to school.
It’s difficult going through so many changes in what seems like just a few years. Sometimes we mamas live in survival mode and many of the days are hazy. I often didn’t realize how God was working during those early years of my mothering. It’s through hindsight that I’m able to connect the dots.
I’ve come to realize through these years of transformation that God is growing my children, but He’s also growing me. Just as children experience growing pains, we mothers experience them as well. This constant wave of change challenges me. It tests me and stretches me in ways I didn’t realize were possible. The testing and trying of my patience, energy and faith is not comfortable. When I look at all I’ve learned along the way of my mothering journey, I see that I’ve had a lot of maturing to do.
Every new season I encounter now begs me to ask these questions, “God, what new thing do you want to do in me? What do you want to teach me?” To really know the answers, I have to look below the surface.
Just as a flower seed transforms and begins to grow underground where no one can see, God does the same thing in us. He’s working in us, beginning to do a new thing that we often aren’t aware of. We must slow down enough to seek Him so that we don’t miss it. Even on the hard days, we must have faith that all of the changes and the growing pains we experience are necessary parts of the process.
As we wait for what will spring forth during this new season, let’s trust that He’s working on something beautiful. Take some time this week to think about what new thing God might want to do in you during your current season. It’s exciting to see what He’s up to next!
