You are now entering the one stop place for everything, Abiding in the Faith!

By Pastor Jason Sykora

The theme on January 14^th, 2024, was about trusting in God as you make a decision that will impact your life. We all come to a crossroads in life where we decide to transition from where we are to an unknown future.

The senior pastor from my church got up on the podium and began to speak to the congregation. The subject that he was going to talk on came from Proverbs 3:5-6 which tells us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take”. As he spoke these words, his emotions swelled within him. He was about to tell the congregation that his time as senior pastor had ended. The Lord had called him to transition into the next season of his ministry. 

As the pastor continued to share with the church about trusting in God during transitions, 2000 miles away, a Christian singer took the stage during the church service to speak about her recent transition. She had just returned from Tennessee to visit her home church in California. When she left California to write music in Tennessee, she had to trust in God wholeheartedly as she ventured out into the unknown. While in Tennessee, she wrote a song about God writing her story and that He was always one chapter ahead of where she was in life.

We sing about trusting in God when we hear current Christian songs on the radio. We listen to songs like Lauren Daigle’s “Trust in You,” where she trusts God when he does not move as she expects. How about the song from Elevation Worship called “Trust in God.” They trust in God because they know that God has ordered their steps, and when they seek out the Lord, he answers them. How about the song from Cody Carnes called “Firm Foundation (He Won’t).” The song is about trusting in our firm foundation and that God will not fail us. We sing these songs, and they remind us to trust in God before and during the transitions we experience.

We make decisions daily. Some decisions will have minimal effect on our day-to-day lifestyle. What will I eat for dinner, or what kind of tie should I wear to the office today? Of course, my favorite is what kind of coffee flavor I will choose for my morning coffee. Then, we make huge decisions that can impact our future path. We decide who I will marry, what job I will take next, and where to live or go to college. Then it’s their most significant decision: will I place my faith in Jesus Christ and go to heaven?

In Matthew 7:14, Jesus said, “The gateway to life is very narrow, and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

When faced with these moments of decision that can impact our lives for the foreseeable future, we must choose which path to take. The pastor from our earlier story said he was a runner and would run along the many paths that blanket the Twin Cities area. You can see ahead on these paths until the path goes around the bend. As a Christian, he knows that God is with him and is already up around the bend, even though he has not yet reached that point. He can place his complete confidence in this because of the Lord’s words written in Scripture.

When Jesus spoke to his disciples before He ascended into heaven, he told them in Matthew 28:20 to teach the new followers of Jesus to “obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure that I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In this crucial decision to leave the pulpit for God’s next assignment, the pastor knows that the Lord is with him in his decision. He may not understand what lies around the bend, but he knows WHO is with him and WHO holds the future.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is a good passage of Scripture to land on when we begin to experience a transitional period in our lives.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take”.

1. We must trust the Lord wholeheartedly when entering a transitional period.

Trusting in the Lord with all your heart means to place complete confidence in your savior and Lord. Trusting in the Lord does not leave any room for doubt to creep in, even when taking steps of faith. Trusting in the Lord remembers how God delivered us in the past and how he got us through times of difficulty through the times of deliverance.

David knew how to trust the Lord with all his heart when he wrote Psalm 23.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along the right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.”

• We must not depend on our understanding in a transitional period.

This statement is easier said than done, right? It is easy to depend on our understanding when we arrive at a crossroads in life. We must decide to go right or left during these crossroads moments. When we rely on our knowledge, we choose to go left by placing our trust and confidence in our abilities instead of God. We can depend on our abilities to fix our problems or find a way to escape the difficulties facing us by relying on our strength, knowledge, and power.

But then there is God’s way. The Lord wants us to go right instead of left during these crossroad moments. In Psalm 32:8, “The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”

What a promise that the Lord gives to us. He will guide and advise us along the best pathway of our lives. He will watch over us through any transition that we may walk through and advise us on what steps to take as we navigate the pathways of our lives.

The Lord guides us and advises us through many different ways. The first is through God’s written word, the Bible. When we sit down and read God’s word, He will speak to us through the Holy Spirit. The Lord uses the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us, to guide us through our conscience. The Lord may even use pastors, friends, and family members to guide us when we are experiencing a transition.

No matter the method used to guide or advise you, run everything through prayer and Scripture, seeking God and his wise counsel before making any decision.

Pastor and Evangelist Greg Laurie said, “There may be times in our lives when the Lord directs us to do certain things. But there may be many other situations in which we must take biblical principles and live them to the best of our ability. Sometimes, we will need to take steps of faith prayerfully.”

We often do not know the next step of faith until we take it. Then, when we take it, we will find out the next step.”

• Seek God’s will, and he will lead you through the transition.

When we seek God’s will, we want to seek what God has planned for us on the journey. The Bible contains God’s written will for our lives, and when you study the Bible, you can find God’s will for everyone. Then, there is God’s individual will for each of our lives. No matter where we live or the location where God has placed us, God has a specific plan for each one of us. When we seek God’s will as we move forward, God will lead us through the transition.

Mike Graham, a Pastor at my church, told the congregation on Sunday that “Change is an event. But a transition is the experience of the event.” The senior pastor was entering a transitional period, and the church was now facing its own transition. During a transition, everyone experiences different emotions—sadness, loss, and excitement of what lies ahead around the bend.

Here are a few points of application for us to remember during a transitional period.  

1. Trust that God has the best plan for our lives.

I am reminded of Jeremiah 11:29, where the Lord tells Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

God is not surprised by what we will experience or what we are experiencing. He has good plans for your life and your future. We are not alone in this journey. God has promised that he will lead, guide, and advise us. He has told us that He will never lead us nor forsake us. We need to be confident in the Lord’s promise as we navigate forward during a transition.

• Discover with the Lord what lies around the bend.

My daughter asked me once what the meaning of life is. I told her that the meaning of life is to seek and to know God. Living our lives for Christ is the excitement of discovering what God has in store for us during each transition of life’s stages.

The Lord has a great future for us, and our hope is in Jesus Christ. David wrote in Psalm 37:23 NLT that “the LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Each transition will have its ups and downs. The one thing that remains constant through life when you know Jesus Christ is that you are standing on a firm foundation that will never fail you. If you are entering a transitional period or in the middle of one, remember that your path will be determined by how you respond to it.