How to Tell When the Time is Right

The change of a season is often attached to a change in attitude, both physically and spiritually. We'll take a look at our surroundings and surrender our hearts to what we see. I'm not exempt from doing this myself.

I would look outside and see signs of a new beginning and I would automatically get excited. My heart would lean on the hope that if the seasons could miraculously change, then my outlook on life would instantly change with it. But God eventually revealed to me that I had my own part to do in "renewing my mind" (Romans 12:2).

And then the season would continue to pass and I realized that my attitude would follow the pattern of the season. As Spring enters it's middle stages, the newness of everything blooming begins to taper. My mind was full of hidden potential and so were the seasons. But unless I embraced every season for what it was, I was never going to tap into all that was in store for me at each moment.

My moods were trained to quickly follow the rhythm of the weather patterns embedded in each season. It wasn't until I learned that God Himself had given me the right and authority to "think upon whatever is lovely, whatever is praiseworthy..." That I began to see a change in my seasons. Or maybe it was instead the fact that I had discovered the secret of extracting beauty from each season. I also learned to "call things that be not as though they were" like Jesus did. This was a hard topic for me in the beginning because I felt like I was in denial. I mean you can't say, "the trees are blooming and the sun is shining" if clearly it's gray and snowing outside. In the same way, I felt like I couldn't say "I'm happy," if clearly I'm not.

Nevertheless, God urged me to practice this in my own life. And so every night, I would thank God that the next day would be a joyful one in Jesus' name. I didn't even fully believe the words I was saying at first to be honest. But I did it out if sheer obedience and not really having anything to lose, since my emotions weren't getting any better according to my own "self-help" programs. Those consisted largely of will-power and my own positive thinking. They would work for a little while, as all self-help programs do, but the transformation that God performed within me occurred so much faster than I ever would have imagined. I was at a place were I thought I was "destined to be depressed for the rest of my life." I literally saw no hope. Later on, God revealed to me that it's not that I was ever denying that my current situation existed, but I was denying its right to have a place in my life.

We get to choose what season we live in. We can look at the bare trees, the dead grass, and dread the fact that we're in the winter season of our lives. Or we can look at the truth that God is always at work in our lives and is preparing our hearts for Spring. We can "count all trials joy" (James 1:2) in our life. One version says to "consider" all trials joy. To take consideration of something means to take time and be insightful. It's not that God caused the trials in our life but when we trust that God can bring goodness out of even the darkest parts of our lives and our hearts, then we will see that provision take place.

Sometimes the time is right now and God is asking us to take just one step into the realm that He has called us into. After taking that step, God will further confirm or reject that you are going in the direction He has intended for you to take. But He will never condemn you for taking a step towards Him that you believe He is calling you towards, even if you figure out later that it's not where He wants you to be. This being said, I believe that I have further stepped out into what God has called me to do by expanding on my writing skills. If you like this journal, or any of the others that I have written, you can also check out some more at ericaligocki.wordpress.com.