How do you begin to flourish in a season when you feel stagnant and defeated? Your relationships seem shaky, your spouses’ job is trying at best, and you just can’t seem to understand why you are here.  Simply put, life is hard. You pray, seek the Lord, worship, and smile through the pain.  All the while, your insides are crying out ‘God when is it my turn to thrive?’

You watch as other people live fulfilled, seemingly happy lives, while you struggle to finish the dishes without crying.  You want to have a fresh vision for what God will do in your life, with the hope that He really will work out all things for the good.  But you think, how will that happen?  Nothing looks like its changing anytime soon- the new job is on hold, the kids still have years left in this season, and we won’t have the money until 2020 for me to start school.  So you ask, how do I begin to flourish exactly where I’m at?

Living a fulfilling life shouldn’t have to start when all the circumstances fall into place.  You shouldn’t have to wait years until ____ happens to really start enjoying your life.  You are made to thrive- you share the DNA of the Creator of abundant life. So if thriving life is part of your DNA, how do you live it out?

I know the feeling of this tension, it’s actually quite familiar to me.  The last two years have been some of the most stretching seasons of my life. Getting married, moving across state lines, being a part of a city church plant, and shifting from suburban life to city life have been some of the major transitions I have experienced.  It’s been such a crazy whirlwind adventure, and every transition comes with its blessings and challenges.

My husband and I have often joked that this season of life could be perfectly summed up as a ‘pressure cooker.’  Many circumstances of this season have put exponential pressure on us to mature, grow, and develop at an outlandish rate. This ‘cooker’ time has been so powerful for us: we have created a solid foundation for our marriage, we have discovered a greater understanding of ourselves, and we have our pressed into a deeper relationship with God. But with exponential growth comes exponential pain and pressure. And that leads us to the place we are today- asking the Lord for a new season of refreshing and a little less ‘pressure.’

It challenges us in a whole new way to know that the Lord is leading us and our family in a new direction and having to depend on Him blindly to show up in His time.  Joshua and I have been waiting for quite awhile for His leading and direction, and we have often asked, how do we thrive where we are? How do we long and anticipate for more, but be content with what is right in front of us?

I don’t have all the answers- heck I’m in it too! But as I’ve been sharing in the last month about living an intentional and fulfilling life, there are keys that I have used that have helped me navigate to discover a fresh, refueling perspective for the season I’m in. So here are three inspiring questions that can help you begin to flourish exactly where you are:

1. Do I believe I am powerful through Christ?

The enemy wants you to believe that you are a victim of your circumstances and environment. He wants you to feel powerless in your relationships, your life events, and your future. It’s not a matter of just making you feel weak, but taking your feet out from under you. In seasons when you feel overwhelmed, defeated, or simply uncertain you are powerful through Christ to live a fulfilled life.  Uncertain circumstances don’t make you an uncertain person- you can operate powerfully with a certainty in the One who holds all your circumstances.

So ask yourself in this season: do I believe that I am powerful through Jesus?  When fear comes your way, boredom looms over you, or worry springs in your soul- you don’t have to remain a victim tied up by them. At that moment, you can choose to speak life, love, and inspiration into your soul.  That is living powerfully.

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:13 NLT

2. Do I have hope that today gives value to tomorrow?

Biblical hope is the confident expectation that God is working His good.  It is the faith and anticipation that while you may be walking through trying times, it will all come together for a beautiful end reward.  As the Word tells us, hope is the anchor of our soul. In other words, resting assured that God is working His good should be the driving force for how we think, feel and choose every single moment.  While your circumstances are screaming that God isn’t working your messy today into a beautiful tomorrow- the Biblical promise is that God assuredly will.

Every single day, you can think, feel, and choose hope.  You can believe that every moment of this season currently is building the picture for your future.  So that means that you have permission to thrive today- you can shift your perspective to see how God is planting seeds in this season, how He is refining you, or how He is simply calming your life to allow you to rest.  Ask yourself daily- how can I think, feel, and choose hope today.

“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.” Hebrews 6:19 NLT

3. Can I do something new?

As Christians, we are crafted by a God who adores new things.  The Lord loves new songs, new seasons, and new life.  He is a creator filled with inspiration to breathe life into our souls. Sometimes, I think we get stuck in rhythms of hopelessness, boredom, or defeat because we haven’t experienced something new that brings inspiration to our souls.  Thriving means that something would flourish, or in other words, blossom.  You can imagine a flower blossoming in the spring, full of new color, new petals, and new heights of growth.  It’s all brand new. So maybe you need to do something new today to flourish in this season.  It can be as simple as downloading a new album with new songs, maybe you take a different route home from picking up your kids, or maybe you go BIG and order a unique drink from your local coffee shop (daring I know)!

Being inspired to thrive doesn’t have to mean dropping everything to take a road trip to the college you always wanted to go to, or quitting your job and going on your dream vacation.  Sometimes, beginning to thrive means you find new inspiration in the simple decisions of life. You can thrive in this season by simply asking, what new thing can I do today that would awaken me? You never know how the Lord could speak to you when you step out of your routine comfort zone to see the world a little differently.

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19

I want to hear from you:

• What new things inspire you during your week? Or what new things can you try to help you flourish in this season?
• Do you have other ideas on how to live a fulfilling life in the stagnant seasons?

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