During
the summer and fall after I retired I felt at loose ends. As a teacher I had
always lived with autumn bringing new students, new curricula, new projects,
new dreams and goals. But not this year. My old lifestyle and daily routine of
going to work was behind me. Yes, I was thankful for what God had given me in
the life I left behind. But now I felt adrift.
Life gave me an ending—two
endings. Mom had passed away a few months earlier, and I was still adjusting to
living without her. I found great comfort in the hymn, “Be Still My Soul”,
especially the part, “In every change He faithful will remain.”
What lay ahead was an
uncomfortable unknown. Yet what could I
do except carry on with my summer activities, fall gardening, other family and friend contacts, and daily responsibilities.
There had to be something
more, but what?
In my feeling of lostness, God
graciously led me to a devotional booklet, Minute Motivators for Women,
and there on page 37 was a short reading. "Life is like a river,” I read.
"The current will start pulling you downstream to new adventures...Ask God
to get into the boat and take compete control of your life.”[i]
With this metaphor, the Lord brought
a perspective I desperately needed. I imagined myself pushing my canoe off the
shore to begin paddling into the unknown. But I was not alone. While I was up
front J-stroking, Jesus was my companion, the skillful boatman, steering me into
the unknown waters ahead. The Lord had new plans and a special purpose for me and
would faithfully point me in that direction.
As I visualized plunging into
the river, embarking on the next phase of the river of my life, I needed to
trust God’s purpose and presence in every curve of the river, every eddy and
swirl, every rock-infested spot, every rushing waterfall, and every storm. At
other times as I followed the bends and turns, the river would open up with
wide vistas and long views, where the Lord would give me a fresh vision of what
lay ahead. There I would receive a renewed revelation and vigor of His purposes
for me.
In the months after
retirement, the Lord resurrected my dream of writing. Now that my time was free
from the daily demands of teaching, I began to write more intentionally—developing
my skills and publishing more than I had in the past. Knowing I needed a community of writers, I joined InScribe and
later began a local InScribe writers’ group. Life became replete with the Lord's
faithfulness in leading me into some of the most productive experiences of my
life.
I had landed on a bedrock of
writing—my life now found its orientation.
Since then, the Lord has given
me other changes of seasons, other tributaries of the river of life, each
accompanied by His presence and purpose.
~ ~ ~
In a change of seasons, the
rhythms of life have been broken, with endings and beginnings. Acknowledge the
moments of in-betweenness—the todays of unknowing. Acknowledge that our seasons
of life will carry us forward like the river of time: flowing, flowing, flowing.
Acknowledge that as we paddle with Jesus, one stroke at a time, we can hear
God’s promise: “Behold I am doing a new thing” (Isaiah 43:13 ESV).
Be unafraid to step into your
canoe and embrace moving forward as you paddle into the unknown. The hymn, “Be
Still My Soul,” will remind you that “In every change He faithful will remain.” When the Lord changes seasons, wait and watch as to how the Lord will open up His plans for you.
“Live now as well as in the
days ahead in the power of Christ.”[ii]
Sandi Somers is an outdoor enthusiast--and is very grateful for the gift of loving nature. The description of this canoe trip came from personal experience. Her writing encourages others to pay attention to what the Lord can do in their lives and to become devoted followers of Jesus. She writes from her home in Calgary.
Image by Black Feather
[i]
Stan and Linda Toler, Minute Motivators for Women, (Kansas City, MO: Beacon
Hill Press, 2010, 2014), 37
[ii]
Stan and Linda Toler, Minute Motivators for Women, 37.
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