We naturally want to feel like our life has a deeper meaning and purpose.
When we feel lost or off our path, we enter a period of uncertainty.
This produces a certain amount of anxiety. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It only presents a problem when we resist the change we must make.
If you’re confused, sitting at a crossroads, or feel there’s so much more available for you and your business than you are currently experiencing, I want to shed some light on navigating these times with more trust, faith, and confidence.
Whether you’re navigating a transition in relationship and finding yourself again, embarking on a new chapter in a new city, or feeling called to serve in a bigger and bold way, there are a few things I’ve found useful during these times to feel more grounded and fortify my spirit through the process.
How we respond to change
Years ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with Charles Eisenstein on The Next Level podcast to talk about his book The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. (this is a shorter clip talking about the space between stories)
We talked about what he calls the old story vs the new story and the space that exists between these two.
Where the old story is what we know.
- How we were raised.
- Our past and current set of beliefs.
- Our patterns, habits, and tendencies that reinforce our known reality.
Then there’s the new story.
Which is mostly unwritten.
We talked about how we often look outside ourselves for a sense of certainty, structure, and something to hold onto in times of transition.
What Charles calls the space between stories.
But the very nature of the new story is that it’s not written yet.
Charles said…
“Sometimes you have to leave the old thing without a new thing to greet you.”
I find there’s a lot of truth to this.
As a result, we try to take pieces of the old story in an attempt to feel safe.
Yet these are the very behaviors and patterns we often need to change.
Kris Volloton and Bill Johnson say this beautifully in The Supernatural Ways of Royalty.
“The result of these lies is that we develop patterns of behavior that are designed to protect us in a hostile world.”
Scripturally Jesus says it this way in Mark 2:21-22:
“No one sews a patch of shrunken cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Being new means being new.
Not trying to fit the new into the old.
The interesting thing about this that I’ve seen time in time again in my life and those I’ve guided is that the new almost never shows up in big pieces.
Walking an unknown path, having faith and trust that our actions will lead us in the right direction is not easy.
We can see a picture of where we’re going but the steps to get there are often revealed in small steps.
Follow the small things
The irony about a new direction is that we’re being asked to have an incredible amount of trust and faith.
Yet, in moments of great uncertainty, we can feel inadequate.
Incapable of trusting our own decisions to boldly move forward.
If something is calling you…
- A new service you want to offer that is a true extension of your gifts instead of the council and coaching you’ve been providing.
- You feel compelled to tell more stories and be more transparent in your content and relate with your audience as opposed to “marketing” in the traditional sense of the word.
- You’re being asked to have more faith in something greater than you that animates life.
It’s going to come down to making the choice every day to be more in trust and faith and less in fear.
Start with the small things.
There are so many times in scripture where we’re being asked to have faith in the small things.
Luke 16:10 says,
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much”.
Mark 2:24-25:
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
Your direction isn’t necessarily decided as much as it is discovered.
Seeing the small things as having just as much weight and importance as big opportunities are seeds for greater things.
Even Charles said this beautifully in his book, The More Beautiful Worlds Our Hearts Know is Possible:
“No action is insignificant.”
He illustrates that change isn’t created by a classical Newtonian model where there’s a seeming equal and opposite reaction for the amount of force applied.
Where the size of your impact for instance is dependent on the size of your following or the gesture of making a massive action to precipitate change.
The concept of no action being insignificant doesn’t rely on the size of the action or gesture but the level of meaning in our hearts.
Where the actions of a mother raising a child are just as important as the coach who has millions of followers.
Where the level of validation and importance isn’t defined by impact but by meaning.
Where it feels like the most important thing in the world.
Because it is for you.
So…
Start with the small things.
For me, that usually looks like the things I discount as being insignificant or that I ignore because they seem so simple.
Those have always been the areas I do my best to move toward and act on as opposed to turning away from.
They are powerful seeds for bigger things.
Jentezen Franklin says it this way:
“Big doors swing on small hinges.”
As challenging and uncomfortable as these times can be they are necessary for us to become new.
Here are a few things that have helped me find peace in uncertainty during seasons of change.
3 Postures for Change
How we approach something greatly influences how we receive guidance and instruction.
Charging head first into change from a place of anger or resentment has a very different effect than if we’re leading from a place of faith, openness, and surrender.
Praying for guidance, walking in faith, and accepting the assignment placed on our hearts.
It takes massive amounts of boldness and courage in a season that’s likely marked with exactly the opposite.
Here are 3 postures to practice daily during this season of change.
1. Keep a surrendered heart
Patterns of protection keep us bound to old ways of being.
Keeping a surrendered heart is a way of being open to experience and feeling the fullness of it all. The heartache, the pain, the glory of God, the blessings that are in our life, the fear, the sadness… all of it.
There is so much beauty in being with what we feel and allowing it to instruct us.
To assert boundaries where necessary.
To forgive where forgiveness is needed.
To grieve what we’ve lost.
For me, keeping a surrendered heart means remaining open even when all we want to do is close and protect.
Keep a surrendered heart.
2. Embrace uncertainty
Constantly seeking certainty in an uncertain time will only exacerbate the suffering. At least that has been my experience.
Embracing uncertainty means living in the mystery of what’s unfolding and trusting yourself and God enough to be made new.
To follow the guidance of what you know in your heart is for you and you alone. Even when you’re “not sure” it’s the right thing to do.
Trusting the small things quenches the thirst of uncertainty.
These often lead to bigger openings.
Trust in life and lean on your faith in something greater than you.
Embrace uncertainty.
3. Expect resistance
It’s not supposed to be easy. That doesn’t mean that it necessarily needs to be hard.
Change of any kind is marked with resistance.
It is the nature of change.
When we know the nature of a thing, we can better come to appreciate the beast as opposed to what we want it to be.
Understanding that the nature of a predator is to hunt it’s prey is critical.
That tells us how to behave in a situation in the wild.
Understanding the nature of change is the same.
We will encounter resistance.
And when you expect something, you can better prepare yourself.
Expect resistance.
Bringing it together
Matters of the heart have deep significance and meaning to us.
This is why it can feel so confronting.
As if a part of us is dying.
If your Season of Change is you pursuing a deeper purpose you can expect the road ahead to be filled with a full range of emotions.
Sometimes feeling as if you just made the best decision ever and being in pure enthusiasm and praise.
And other times dipping into fear and despair wondering why you decided to throw a wrench in this thing called life.
Embrace it all.
Part ways with old patterns.
Make peace with who you are becoming.
Some people will naturally fall off and no longer be in our lives.
Some will stick around.
And others will outwardly judge us.
Some doors will open professionally and personally and others will close.
The anxiety you feel is normal and natural.
Keep a surrendered heart.
Embrace uncertainty.
Expect resistance.
And remember to give yourself grace.
Trust, faith, and confidence are found in taking the small steps.
Until next time,
Here are a few ways I can help:
#1 – Ready to go pro and create systems for predictable cash flow? Working with me 1:1 is the fastest way to do that. Book a time to explore working together here.
#2 – Do you have a system for content creation and idea generation? – Grab my Creator Dashboard here. (FREE)
#3 – Struggling to share your story in a way that connects with your audience? – 10 Days of Personal Story Prompts and Posts
#4 – Want to know what gear I use for my videos? Grab my Gear Guide
1 The NIV Holy Bible, Zondervan, 2003.
2 Johnson, B., & Vallotton, K. (2017). The Supernatural Ways Of Royalty – Discovering your rights and privileges of being a son or daughter of God (p. 27). Destiny Image Publishers, Inc.
3 “Clues to Your Assignment” with Jentezen Franklin” YouTube, uploaded by Jentezen Franklin, May 9, 2013, URL.
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