Transitions

Do you like transitions?  In one sense I’m talking about change.  To one degree or another, we all struggle with change.  Given enough change in life; even the most flexible and spontaneous of us will start to grimace.

But when I use the word transition, I’m referring to those seasons in life where we are moving from one “expression” of who we are to another.  Yes, we are changing, but it’s not the details that I’m focusing on.  What I want to think about a little is the process that is taking place during that time.

I suppose the difference could best be illustrated by the difference between changing jobs (from one company to another) and starting a new career that is different from the one we held previously.  In these times, the familiar is far less common than the unfamiliar.  We have to learn new ways of functioning that will make us effective in our new environment.  Change is in the details of life.  Transition is from one stage or environment to another.  That’s a distinction that I’ve made up, but it serves the purposes of what I’m thinking about today.

I’ve heard quoted on several occasions recently the old adage “change is inevitable; except from vending machines.”  I would say the same is true of transitions as well.  In fact, I believe that we should not only anticipate transition; we should embrace it and look for the next opportunity to move through it.  I draw this from a familiar verse of Scripture in 2 Corinthians 3:18.  “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

In one sense, we are in a continual state of transition.  From the description Paul gives, it is a lifelong process.  Paul told the Roman Christians that they should purposefully pursue this transition by changing how they think (Romans 12:2).

Transitions are all around us.  We strap in for the ride when we get “downsized” at our company and begin the process of seeking new employment.  We transition from one stage to another as we become parents for the first time, or watch our kids go off to school for the first time, or hang on through the tumultuous years of adolescence or see them move away from home to be married or begin their work years.  We transition from youth to adulthood to middle age to the “golden years.”  We transition from single life to married life and eventually (for many of us) to single life again as our spouse leaves this life before us.  Life is full of constant transitions.  Some of the transitions are joyous; some are difficult; even painful.

I guess I simply want to offer a reminder to you today that the process of transition in life means you are still alive and that God still has something in store for you.  He is still in the process of transforming you for future effectiveness.  A quote I found on change applies to transition as well.

He who rejects change is the architect of decay.  The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.  ~Harold Wilson

I want to embrace that.  I do not want to be counted among those who resist being transformed at the deepest level.  I want to pursue transformation.  I want to embrace transition.  It means God isn’t finished with me yet.  I want to be more effective as I serve God in the future than I have even been before.  How about you?