“Be patient my young Padawan!” For you Star Wars fans, you will understand…
This is the tongue-in-cheek comment I just made to my husband who is really keen to use the new fishing pole he’s just got. The only problem is that the rest of his fishing gear and tackle is floating somewhere on the sea between South Africa and New Zealand. Isn’t that just like life sometimes?
We all wish we could press a button and miss the in-between part of the journey from Here to There. This is especially true when we have been given a word or idea from God. The idea or vision is bursting in our hearts and we can almost taste and smell it. There is great excitement and great hope as we start off. We expect it to happen within weeks, but I have rarely seen that happen. Instead the excitement often wears off as we start to walk up the first incline, and we begin to feel the sun beating down on us. As we trudge up the hill, we wonder what on earth we are doing on the path and why we thought it would be a good idea to start this journey in the first place. But as hard as this is, it is the journey that builds character, resilience and faith.
Now I am not saying that everything must be hard (believe me, I have had a life-changing revelation to the contrary)…but the reality is that life comes with challenges. If we are not equipped to face it and we don’t understand the season that we are in, we will become frustrated and waste a whole lot of energy on activities that will not bear any fruit because they are the wrong activities for that season.
As you know, we have recently immigrated to New Zealand and because we were prepared and understood the season we were going into, we have landed softly and haven’t had a hitch…. Okay, I would love to say that, but the issues we faced were actually not what we prepared for, and they totally took us by surprise. Part of how we overcame it, was recognising the season that we are in. My very South African “man’s man” is now the house husband and is left with cleaning our home and taking care of the kids while I head off to the office. Talk about role reversals.
In the beginning, both of us had to figure it out and make the adjustments. We both had to work through our different expectations and then communicate them to one another without breaking the bond. It wasn’t easy, but the breakthrough came when we could verbalise to each other what was going on (sometimes a bit too loudly in the park as concerned Kiwis looked out their windows in the beginning days). But we kept talking and kept walking because the goal was to figure it out together, and in this new land with lots of uncertainty, we are home and we have to protect that.
That aside, in the last few days Gary has become himself again and is in total peace. The reason? He decided to embrace the season he is in, rather than fight it. He cannot do anything until his tools arrive in the new year and so he is being my rock at home base and I know my family and my new home are being taken care of as I explore my new path.
So if you are in turmoil and you are getting frustrated with your Here, check to see what the season is right now. Seasons are just that – seasonal. It means there is an end and a beginning and this too will end…. In each season there is purpose, so don’t fight it; rather embrace it and leverage it. It is preparation for the next season. Take a good hard look at where you are at, identify what season you are in, ask God for wisdom and strategy for this season and the next, then surrender to it and enjoy it.
Tell me about the season you are in right now?
