The two most significant transitions we experience during our lives are birth and death. The former brings us from the womb into the world, the latter from the world into the fullness of our eternal reality. These two events help clarify for us the true nature of every other transition we are likely to face. Why is this important? Increasingly as Nia and I travel and meet different folks across the nations, we hear people expressing that they are in the midst of transition. For some it seems a constant companion. Why is this and what does transition entail? I’d like to share a few random thoughts with you from our journey by referencing the story of the storm on lake Galilee (It would be best to read Mark 4:35-41 before continuing).

Allow what follows to wash over you and speak into your current external and internal circumstances…

³⁵ “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them: ‘Let us go across to the other side.’”  Transition begins as the sun sets on the present day, signalling that it’s time to depart and cross over to new shores: “Winds in the east, mist coming in, like somethin’ is brewin’ and bout to begin, can’t put me finger on what lies in store…” [Bert, in Mary Poppins]. To depart is to do so by faith, to empty one’s hand of what is, without yet seeing what will be. Nevertheless there is promise; for surely as the sun sets on one day it will also surely rise on the next. But to arrive at a new destination you first have to be willing to depart.

^36a “And leaving the crowd they took him with them in the boat.” When the winds of change begin to blow the journey is often internal and largely inexpressible. Change is easily misunderstood and frequently unpopular, and thus can bring with it a sense of isolation. We might even be in the midst of a highly fruitful season, in a place we love and cherish, where logic entreats us to remain and continue, but evening has come and it’s time to leave and cross over. To remain is to plateau and ultimately to diminish.

^36b “Just as he was.” When you emerge from the womb the former source of life and nutrition is now of no use; the placenta and its cord shrivel, die and fall away. To survive is to engage your mouth, stomach, intestine and lungs. When we pass from this life to the eternal we go naked, even our physical expression is shed for the promise of a new supernatural existence. The caterpillar’s many legs are of no benefit to the butterfly, they were only useful in the former more limited existence. It’s time for the horizons to expand.

^37a “And a great windstorm arose.” When we have been comfortable where we are it can take a storm to dislodge us from our preoccupation with our present agreeable existence. A storm might come in the form of financial crisis, conflict, redundancy, illness or even failure. We can easily misunderstand it; blaming others, ourselves, the devil or sin, when in fact God is leveraging our circumstances to unseat us from the comfortable and familiar so that He can move us into the new day. Giving birth is a battle for both mother and child, but the outcome is whole new depths of love, reality and adventure. The storm takes us from the narrow to the broad, from the confines of the womb to fresh wide open spaces of possibility and adventure. Divine chaos is a most favourable environment for divine creativity and revelation.

^37b “The waves were breaking into the boat.” As the old comes to an end and falls away, our attachment to it can leave us feeling like we are drowning, like death. On October 9th 2017 I was faced with the very real possibility that I might be dying. Being confronted with the finality of death brought with it a spontaneous outpouring of grief for Nia and I; the grief of dreams unfulfilled, the grief of not walking my daughters down the isle, the grief of not be a part of the lives of my grandchildren, the grief of not growing old together. Even though death for a Believer is the ultimate baptism, passing from this limited reality into the fulness of our Father’s loving embrace, there still remains an important place for grieving and for comfort. For to grieve is to fully relinquish.

^38b “Do you not care?” Out on the lake in the storm both our place of departure and our destination are out of sight. We find ourselves caught in the no-man’s land between the old and the new. The sunrise eludes us, instead darkness surrounds and disorientates. It is in this often lonely and even painful place of disorientation where we can find ourselves asking “God where are you? Do you not care?” The valley of the shadow of death brings with it the ‘perception’ of abandonment, yet the heart found by Love will not fear as even without seeing it knows: Thou art with me… 

^38a “Asleep on the cushion.” Rest is first and foremost an internal reality – it’s the heart that has been found by Love. Generally we try to maintain a peaceful existence by controlling and orchestrating our outward circumstances: our misguided foundational belief is that peace outside = peace inside. In contrast to this outward approach, sons lean inwardly into the bosom of the One who is Love and enter His rest regardless of outward circumstances. From this place the storm rages on yet seemingly ceases to exist. Those areas of our hearts awake to His reality naturally rebuke the storm and reign over it.

^39a “The wind ceased and there was a Great Calm.” Our Creator reigns over His creation, and that includes his Divine creativity within our hearts. As He baptises our hearts into Love they are raised in Great Calm. Here Trust and Faith naturally abide regardless of circumstance, negating the need for what, why, when, where and how.

⁴¹ “Awe… Who then is this?”  Divine Wisdom comes with the benefit of hindsight. When we are in the midst of major transition we can be overwhelmed, even blinded, by our circumstances. We don’t fully understand the journey until we arrive at the destination and look back and Behold – then we see Wisdom! His heart is unveiled to ours and our eyes are opened to plumb the deeper wells of His Nature. Even the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God greater than man’s strength: Awe & Wonder.

As our hearts progressively discover the Love of God we find ourselves entering into an unfolding windstorm. The winds may be gentle at first, but then we are caught up in their growing momentum. All that is familiar to us, that which we are skilled at and which has given us a sense of control and security, is challenged and stripped away. It was only the illusion of control anyway! Love can never be boxed or confined, it continually expands far beyond our horizons. Love is wild horses, appearing tamed for a moment, only to break free and demolish the barriers that have limited or confined. The Love of God is always unconstrained and immune from limitation, entreating imminent and repeated surrenders. Love is always transitory – not passing or diminishing, though it may pause for a moment – but encompassing, advancing and expanding.