It’s Time: Surrender The Past for a Powerful Future

Hey friend,

On my podcast Permission to Pause, we’re about to wrap up our four-part series on transitioning from one season of life to another. When we began this journey together, we were leaving the cold winter months behind and embracing the beauty of spring. Now, as we close this series, we’re about to face the “dog days of summer.”

I did a little research to find out what that phrase “dog days of summer” actually means, and I discovered two main facts. One is that it refers to the hot, humid days of summer when even dogs just lay around and don’t want to move much. The other is that it was a term used by the ancient Greeks as they watched the stars of the seasons change in the sky. How they got a dog reference out of that, I have no idea!

But what I do know a lot about is transitioning our souls from one season to the next, and that’s the HEAT we can go though on the journey.

We’ve covered four steps to prepare our souls for a new season, starting with an introduction in episode 61 and moving on to episode 62, where we talked about the importance of acknowledging our personal needs and brokenness and getting raw and real in God’s presence.

In episode 63, we shifted our focus from fear and failure to faith, and in episode 64, we looked at Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 19, where he experienced a breakdown of his soul and ran away from his heartache. But God intervened and ministered to his physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, ultimately instructing him to “go and return by the way you came” (1 Kings 19:15).

Step One: Acknowledge your need

Step Two: Focus on Faith

Step Three: SEEK HELP and support.

That leads me to step four of our soul prep steps: move on and take action, even if moving ahead means going backwards.

In my book “Healing a Woman’s Heart,” we talk about how important it can sometimes be to go back before moving forward. So, for a healthy move from one season to another, we need to consider what we may have missed that is behind us.

God instructed Elijah to go back to move forward, and today, I invite you to pause (check out the podcast) and consider if there’s something God wants you to go back for in order to experience the healthiest next steps into the future. What might God be asking you to think about or pause over from your past that is affecting your ability to move into a new season?

If this episode stirs your heart and you feel like God has more to say or do, I invite you to check out the resources on my website, IMSF and HWH.

And if you want to connect with me, feel free to DM me anywhere on social media, and I’ll do my best to answer.

Until next time, let’s keep moving forward on the QUEST OF FAITH.

Pat