Every problem, conflict, loss, disappointment, and painful circumstance we experience contributes to our basic training. God uses them to refine us. Through struggle we gain the strength we need for our success. It’s critical then that when we are having valley moments, when life looks bleak, we don’t lose our sensibilities and abandon our faith. In our frustration or anger or sadness, we must not succumb to evil or arrogance or detachment.
We can’t shut down.
Why?
Because God is still speaking.
God remains present in our pain and is committed to teaching us what we need to know for the next step or level in our life. This season of shifting is a time for God to give you the skill set you’re going to need in the next chapter of your life. Everything you’re going through is basic training for everything you’re going to.
Your shifting season is not the time to quit.
Why do we need these seasons of refinement? Because without them, we grow complacent, spiritually independent, and self-absorbed. When we’re comfortable and life appears manageable, we fool ourselves into thinking we don’t need to worry about what’s ahead. We delude ourselves into thinking we don’t need God. Then something happens...You lose your job. You discover your spouse’s betrayal. Your child becomes addicted. Your parents suffer dementia. Then, once again, you realize you need God. You need his power and hope to lift you back on your feet and help you walk again.
The season between what was (pain, hurt, sadness) and what could be (fulfillment, joy, success) is not the time to check out. Instead, it’s the crucial time when God will train you, heal you, and prepare you. But you must be courageous enough to endure.
That’s what I want to share with you in this book. Think of The Shift as a kind of field guide from someone who’s already been exploring the terrain. My life is truly a testament to God’s grace and the unshakable faith found in the calling and purpose that He has placed me on this earth to fulfill.
My hope is that He will use my story to help you walk through the fog of a shifting season in your own life so that you can find your path of divine purpose.
My prayer is that my story resonates with you. That even as I explain the hard work required to survive your shift, you can glimpse something better than whatever you may have lost.
Remember...you are just one shift away from your next great success!
