Surrender & Strength: Finding God in New Seasons
You know the feeling. When you’re standing at the edge of something new, and your knees are just a little shaky?
Recently I caught up with an old friend and she shared how after 30 years of teaching, she finally packed up her classroom for good. The sweet goodbye party was lovely, the handmade cards from students touched her heart, but when she walked to her car with that final box of belongings? She sat there in the parking lot and cried her eyes out.
Can you relate?
When the familiar shifts to the unknown, we ask “Now what, Lord?” Who am I now?”
Maybe you’re nodding along because you’re facing your own transition. Perhaps you’ve just become an empty nester, or you’re caring for aging parents, or maybe retirement looms ahead like an undefined landscape. These midlife transitions can leave us feeling both excited and terrified all at the same time.
When Our Strength Isn’t Enough
There’s something humbling about reaching a point in life where we realize our own strength simply isn’t sufficient. For decades, we’ve built careers, raised families, juggled responsibilities, and somehow kept all those plates spinning. We’ve been the strong ones, the dependable ones, the ones with answers.
And then suddenly, we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory.
The beautiful truth I’m learning (sometimes the hard way) is that these moments of personal weakness create the perfect opening for God’s strength to shine through. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness… For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Isn’t that just like our God? Taking the moments when we feel most inadequate and transforming them into opportunities for His power to work through us!
Surrendering the Need to Be Strong
For many of us who’ve spent decades being strong for everyone else, surrendering control doesn’t come naturally.
We think we should know exactly what’s next…because we always have before.”
What if this season isn’t about knowing or being strong? What if it’s about learning to let God be strong for you?”
Sometimes we just need permission to not have all the answers.
Practical Ways to Rest in God’s Strength
So how do we actually do this? How do we move from white-knuckling life to genuinely resting in God’s strength? Here are some practices that have been helping me:
- Start your day with surrender. Each morning, I’ve been practicing a simple prayer: “Lord, I don’t know what today holds, but I know You do. I surrender my need to control outcomes. Your strength is enough for whatever comes.”
- Notice the “shoulds.” When I catch myself thinking “I should have this figured out by now” or “I should be handling this better,” I’m learning to stop and ask, “Says who?” Most of the time the expectations I am feeling are entirely self-imposed.
- Embrace the uncertainty as sacred space. What if this undefined season isn’t something to rush through but a holy invitation to deeper dependence? What if God is most present in precisely these uncertain moments?
- Find community with others. Nothing helps more than sharing honestly with others who understand. Whether it’s a small group at church or a few trusted friends, we need people who understand our struggles and also remind us of God’s faithfulness.
God’s Track Record of Faithfulness
When Moses was facing his own daunting transition of leading the Israelites into the unknown, God didn’t give him a detailed five-year plan. Instead, He offered something better: His presence. “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)
That’s the promise we can hold onto as well. The God who has been faithful through every season of your life hasn’t suddenly forgotten you now. His track record of faithfulness doesn’t end with retirement, an empty nest, or any other life transition.
The other day, I was flipping through my old journal from twenty years ago, when my children were small and life felt overwhelming in entirely different ways. I had written: “I don’t how to be a good mom. It feels impossible.What if I mess up my kids?” And then in the margin, apparently added years later, I’d written: “He carried you. He was with you. Remember this.”
I’m keeping that journal on my nightstand these days as a reminder. The same God who carried me through those years, career-building, and constant demands is still carrying me now as I figure out what it means to look ahead toward when so much feels like an unknown!
Your Turn
My friend, I don’t know exactly what transition you’re facing today. But I do know this: your weakness is not a failure. It’s an invitation to experience God’s strength in a fresh way.
So let me ask you: What would change if you stopped trying to be strong enough and started letting God’s strength flow through your weakness? What surrender might He be inviting you into today?
I’d love to hear what transitions you’re walking through and how you’re experiencing God’s strength in the midst of them. Drop a comment below or send me an email: (hello@nancybouwens.com) – we’re in this together!
