Maybe you are going through a change right now and need some encouragement. Scripture is the best place to find God’s comfort because our God is unchanging, and we can rest in Him.
There are many times in our lives when we go through seasons of change. We may physically see the leaves transform throughout each year, or experience a newborn becoming an infant and then toddler. We see it as our hair starts to become more gray and expression lines develop around our own eyes and mouths.
Change has always been something that is difficult for me at first. I like predictability. I love a good surprise that I know is coming. However for those times in life when I am unaware of what’s happening – a move, a graduation, or a new role – it can seem unsettling.
A sweet college student whom I mentor was in tears the other day over some of her older friends graduating and moving away. It was the sweetest sight to see her care and love for her peers. She knew it was just a season, but that time had come to an end quicker than she imagined. Maybe you are going through a change right now and need some encouragement. Scripture is the best place to find God’s comfort because our God is unchanging, and we can rest in Him.
Today we will look at Bible verses for times of transition.
New Things
Isaiah 43:19 - “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 - “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”
It is such a wonderful gift to be reminded that God is making all things new, included us. Our hearts and lives are always being refined and changed when we are seeking Christ in the everyday. He is the one who grows us. The unchanging Lord of the universe is steady, but He is transforming us into His likeness. Frankly, He does not need to change because He is perfect. However, we are all sinners and in need of His saving grace, and we are being transformed into His likeness for the better.
Wherever You Go
Deuteronomy 31:8 - “The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’”
Joshua 1:9 - “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 139:7 - “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?”
It is such a comfort knowing that God is with us wherever we go. We cannot ever remove ourselves from His presence. He is there when we are thriving and there in our most broken moments. He is there when we sin against Him and when we glorify Him in worship.
The Holy Spirit Leads Us
Proverbs 3:5-6 - “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Isaiah 48:10 - “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.”
Zechariah 13:9 - “And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
John 3:8 - “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Sometimes we feel compelled to make a shift or a move and the Holy Spirit is leading us in a new direction. It is very affirming to us in our faith when we can take time to pray and seek the Lord’s work in our hearts. His Spirit lives within the heart of every believer and He does not hide Himself from those who seek Him. We can take comfort that He will affirm and confirm where He is moving. Even though we may not always understand, we can trust His leading. Through His Spirit in us, the Bible, and wisdom from others, we gain so much confirmation as changes and callings come our way.
Believers in Christ Always Have Access to His Peace
Isaiah 26:3 - “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
John 14:27 - “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Since the Spirit lives in us and we have the fruit of the Spirit when we have Jesus in our lives, this means that we always have access to His peace. He promises that He leaves His peace with us and this is not the peace that the world gives, but peace from God – His perfect peace.
You might be thinking, “Perfect peace? I don’t know that I have ever felt that before,” and you may not have. However, the Spirit in us is Perfect Peace, so it is there, we just have to ask Him to give us His peace and choose to cling to it through the changes of life. His peace of salvation and His presence is a great help to us, and is an anchor in the unknowns.
So what is your transition right now? How is God stretching you and making You into His likeness through this? Be encouraged that His Word tells us that He is doing a new thing, that He is with us wherever we go, that His Holy Spirit leads us, and that His peace is always accessible to believers.
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