Five Minute Friday: Adjust

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "adjust."

I think we all are always adjusting. Things change constantly. Kids grow. We change jobs. We move to new places. Adjusting is a major word in all our lives. It just usually happens at a slower pace than it is happening right now.

With these Five Minute Friday prompts, I usually take the word and find it in the Bible and write off that scripture as a prompt. But, when I looked up the word adjust on the Biblehub page, I couldn’t find it.

Does that mean that people in the scriptures never had to adjust? Definitely not!

I can think of a lot of situations where people had to adjust. When Noah and his family got on the ark, they had to adjust. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they had to adjust. When Rahab left Jericho, she had to adjust. When Mary and Joseph left Nazareth to go to Bethlehem, they had to adjust. When the disciples left everything to follow Jesus, they had to adjust.

Throughout all of this adjusting, there is one common factor. God.

God was present throughout all this adjusting. He was sheltering, leading, guiding, protecting, teaching, and delivering people into a new place, in all of those situations.

In the second half of the verse Hebrews 13: 5, the Lord tells us, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” I have this scripture on a big four foot sign I had made to hang on my wall. It was a very important verse for me during a challenging time that came with some big adjustments.

I am in the middle of another big adjustment right now. We just moved to a new city, and are still waiting to find a permanent place to live, but the pause button has been pushed on that. I so wish I had my sign with me to put on the wall.

But I still have it in my mind. He will never leave me, nor forsake me. He is always there leading, guiding, protecting, delivering, and teaching while I adjust.

If you are struggling with adjusting right now, just know you are not the only one.  I am too.  A lot of people are.  But God.

Seasons

This morning I started thinking about seasons. Sometimes you have to completely finish one season before you begin another. But that doesn't mean that God has not been preparing you for the next one all the time.

In December of 1997, I finished up my associates degree at the local community college. Around that same time, I started going to a church pastored by Rhema graduates. In January I started attending a four year university about 45 minutes away. I drove back and forth, commuting for an entire semester. I was in the midst of trying to figure out what I wanted to do, or more importantly what I thought God wanted me to do with myself.

I didn’t really enjoy going to school there. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had switched my major to communications and was just taking random classes. The classes I was taking were unfulfilling. I did make one friend who was a Christian during the time. And I got to eat lunch at this fun bagel place with one of my best friends who was attending college there too at the same time.

Also, during that time, I was developing relationships with people who would eventually help me make my way to Bible school. I started dating a Rhema Bible Training Center graduate. My pastors were Rhema graduates. And I became friends with another lady in my church who was also planning to go to Rhema.

God orchestrated all of that. Without my help.

When I look back on it, it was seriously amazing. It was one of the most pivotal moments of my life. As I followed his lead, it changed my life.

Throughout that winter and into the spring, God was preparing me to go to Rhema. But, I had to finish up the season I was in, which was being with my family, finishing up school, and getting ready to say goodbye to everyone.

After I finished the semester at the university, I filled out the application to go to Rhema. Within just a few weeks, I found out that I had gotten in!!! A new season was beginning.

Maybe you are in the middle of a transition right now. Maybe God is wrapping up one season for you, because you are about to start something new. He is preparing you for it, but you have to finish up and close out where you are nicely first.

Don’t try to jump out of that season into the next. It will go smoothly, and he will make you ready as you listen to the Holy Spirit and you follow his leading.

He is placing people in your path to help you transition from one season to the next. It might not be totally easy, but you will see his hand in it, and it will give you courage and confidence to move forward!

When I write or speak about something, I always want to make sure that I include some story from the Word to go with it.  I didn't think of a specific story while writing this, but I did think about Peter.  He started out as a fisherman, and then became a fisher of men.  If you want to learn more about him, you can read the blog posts that I have written that mention Peter here.

Peter had struggles, he had failures, but he had Jesus.  And Jesus, and those around him, the ones who came alongside him, and the ones who needed him, both propelled him forward.

Many blessings to you on your journey with Jesus!


Beth