I am sure I am not the only one who goes into my closet and pulls out a favorite skirt that I haven’t worn for awhile only to discover that it doesn’t fit. Yikes!
The crunchy, clunky feeling that comes with trying to make the skirt work by pulling it one way or another, adding a decorative scarf at the waist, or wearing a longer tunic might work on some days, but the problem remains that I know it doesn’t fit and I don’t feel good in it. As a result, I am not my best self when I have tried to engineer it to work somehow.
I am also so focused on what is wrong with me that I sometimes cannot see others accurately.
Trying on things that do not fit brings our minds back to Cinderella and the glass slipper and the horrid, jealous stepsisters who insist that their over-sized feet can fit into Cinderella’s glass slipper.
When we are dealing with clothing, we end up with some basic choices. We can get back to the diet and exercise we promised ourselves we would do or we can buy new clothes. In either case, when something doesn’t fit it requires us to look at ourselves more honestly and make a choice.
It would be fairly straightforward if clothing were the only thing that might not fit.
There are habits, lifestyles, hobbies, relationships, and even ministries that might not fit for us or at least might not fit for us for the season we are in. Too often, we handle these much like the clothes solutions. We try to make them work while at the same time knowing that we are spinning our wheels and putting energy where our hearts do not connect.
If we cannot look at the truth and make a healthy choice, we might decide to simply drop out, drift away, or give up. Sometimes we feel frozen in fear or caged and are unable to make a choice or refuse to do so.
The truth is that much as we would like things to be predictable and not change in many areas, that is not reality.
Change is a constant in this life.
It happens with our bodies, our jobs, our families, our friends, our lifestyles, our hobbies, our ministries, and our churches. Some of those changes we welcome and some we cringe about or even hate.
It would help if we could remember the truth that change is continuous in this life. That doesn’t make us bad or good.
It means we are alive and human.
It also means that Christ within us has provision for us in the midst of change whether it is good or not so good.
In each case, change gives us an opportunity. It gives us the opportunity to try something new, reinvent ourselves, grow, develop, and trust at deeper levels. Whether we see it as an opportunity or get stuck depends on what lens we use to look at it and whether we are relying on ourselves or relying on the One who knows and loves us most.
One excellent example comes to mind. When I was serving on a church staff, a woman came into my office that was new to our church. She had looked over the list of ministries operating at the time and shared with me that none of them fit, none of them connected with her heart or passion.
My response to her was to bring me a vision of what might fit for her. When she came back to my office sometime later, she was bubbling with excitement as she told me about a new ministry she sensed the Lord was showing her. There was no question this DID fit for her. The Lord used it to grow her in incredible ways and also used it for His Kingdom to create something that had not existed previously.
How incredibly awesome our opportunities can be when change comes or something doesn’t fit, if we look to the One who knows us best and loves us most and risk following Him.
Brilliant message once again! It is funny that I have finally found certain ways of life that fit me perfectly yet I continue to come under fire as a very bad person because I have found where and how I fit. I am a firm believer that God loves all of us no matter the path we choose…and as long as we move forward in love instead of hatred, how can it be all wrong? Thanks for sharing this message and linking up with me.
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Thanks, Shelbee!! Hope your week is a great one!💕
You are always so affirming! Hope you have a great week, Shelbee!!💕
Thanks so much for linking up with me at my #UnlimitedMonthlyLinkParty 9, open February 1 to 26. My themed party 11 for Handcrafted Jewelry is open February 15 to 25 if you have any appropriate posts.
Beautiful words. Things change in ways we often don’t realize at first.
Thank you for joining the Really Crafty Link Party this week.
Thanks, Teresa! Glad to find you again. For some reason I no longer receive your emails on Mondays.
Pam, I like how you state that it might not fit for us for the season we are in. I’m in a season of life now that things I used to do (good things) don’t fit. There are better things taking their place. This is a great post and brought to my mind some helpful reminders. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for linking up at InstaEncouragements!
We know seasons of our lives change, but they can creep up on us and even when we see one coming ahead it can be hard to predict how it will impact us or what the Lord has in mind for the new season.
I had NO idea that when I retired 5+ years ago that a website, writing three times a week on it or writing a book was in the Lord’s plan. If He had told me ahead of time, I would likely have doubted so thankfully He just led me along!!!♥️
There are times that I am glad change is a constant, and other times I mourn it. But like it or not, change is the norm. So thankful we can always look to God during those times!
So true, Lisa! It’s what we do in the transitions that can make all the difference.♥️
A timely message for me Pam. When something doesn’t fit I can search in the closet for something else instead of looking to Him!
I know that habit as well!!!♥️
I love that God has created us all so unique & that one size doesn’t fit all!
Bless you Pam,
Jennifer
I so agree, Jennifer!!
Have a blessed day! ♥️
We can try and make so many things fit into our lives that really don’t now. I am guilty of this. It reminds me of how we keep doing the same thing expecting a different outcome. Sometimes we need to change, toss, and add something new.
You are so right, Theresa, but somehow we have all bought into the idea that we can do more than is actually God’s best for us.
Love the reminder about your book, Pam.
And I’m in that liminal space as well, both in my closet and in my life, where it’s time to lean into what fits and to leave behind the traditions and behaviors and routines that belonged to an earlier time.
Blessings to you!
Thanks so much, Michele. It’s an interesting season, isn’t it? Actually we experience this sort of season multiple times in life and I believe how we handle these transitions are key to what the Lord has in mind for the next one and how we will travel though it.
Blessings to you as well!💕
What a great response you received from her, Pam! God used you in that moment to gently push her out of her comfort zone and into the blessing of creating something new! I’ll be pinning!
Thanks,Beth! That is the story that became the book I published in 2018 (Bring Me A Vision) that tells how broken she was before and how the Lord multiplied that vision into a non-profit ministry almost 18 years ago to offer hope and help to women and teens who have been trafficked. God is amazing all the time if we just take time to open our eyes.