Life is transition. From the time we are born, which begins with quite a bang of transition, life changes. We separate from our parents as we push limits as toddlers. We stretch rules as teens as we strive for independence. Work life changes as we start new jobs, lose jobs, search for new careers. Health shifts over time, from often youthful exuberance to getting used to new and disappointing aches and pains in midlife, to downright crises with disease or other challenges. As parents we let our children go, holding back tears, feeling excitement for what is next, and floundering a bit wondering what is next when hands-on parenting changes shape. Transition after transition, all different in nature.

But how different are all the transitions really? In complete transparency, the significant amount of transition I’ve experienced over my adult life has sent me reeling and I battle with sometimes debilitating anxiety and depression. It’s not always a popular thing to talk about, often shrouded in shame and frustration and misunderstanding and vulnerability. But it’s as real as any other disease that occurs among many of us, often accompanying a major transition or it being the transition itself. And as I consider all the many changes in life, some sweet and filled with joy while others threaten to destroy our well-being, I’m struck that transition, regardless of its nature, has significant power, Significant power to draw us closer to the One who holds the plan. In the midst of it all, isn’t that really what transition can do? Sending us running back to our Father in Heaven for His comfort, His strength, and His guidance?

Today is another one of those days of transition. On Election Day, as a nation we collectively face significant transition. It feels as though we have just a little bit of say in what comes next, and this evokes feelings all over the board as we await results this evening and in the coming days. It’s so very easy to feel afraid of what’s next in these times of transition, especially the ones that we see coming. Fear or anxiety can be overwhelming.

Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”

But isn’t this just another opportunity to cling to our God? To recall that He is the one who shaped this world and all people and occurrences in it. Nothing surprises Him nor happens without Him having allowed it, all the while knowing the plans for good, always good, that He’ll work from it? It is so hard to remember in times of often painful transition that God is working. He is doing things we cannot understand on the surface or with our limited view. But He is always here, always next to us, more aware than any of us how we got here and what comes next.

Transition can be a beautiful thing. I know as I battle to stay well and I beg God for relief or hope, all the while He is pulling me closer to Him. Molding me in ways I couldn’t achieve on my own. Working good that lasts forever even if the immediate is so damn painful it’s hard to accept or understand. This is what transition is to me – proof of God’s power working in our lives, bringing us to where He needs us to be, even if He’s dragging us there kicking and screaming.

On this day of transition, and in every transition, please pray with me that we can stay close to God, that we trust above all things His love, His goodness, and His ultimate control. That we lay our hearts wide open for the work He’s doing in us and through us, even in the hard times. No matter what transition comes our way, this Father of ours stays constant and remains in ultimate control, loving us, holding us, and shaping us.

So bring it on transition. Let’s see God’s power at work today and everyday. And self, remember Who you belong to and there is no need for fear.