Out With The Old, In With The New
Here in St. Louis, all the swimming pools have been drained and closed up for the season, kids are back in school, leaves are changing color and I’m wearing my sweatshirt in the mornings because that breeze is getting a little chilly.

When you begin to see the return of pumpkin spice domination, we all know that fall is here to stay. There’s something about the change in seasons that reminds us to shed the old things to make room for the new.

Seasonal Chores
I love seeing the change in seasons. Transitioning from Summer to Fall always brings a myriad of items added to our “to do” lists. Raking leaves, trimming back the rose bushes, changing out the closet from shorts, flip flops and tank tops to sweatshirts, leggings and boots. If you’re like me, it’s almost as fun as shopping! Inevitably, I have forgotten about a favorite sweater or jacket and it’s like discovering it all over again when I switch out my closet.

Watching the leaves change color and eventually fall away has always been a reminder to me that our lives are made up of seasons as well. Relationships, jobs, where we live, etc are all seasonal. Some seasons are longer or shorter than others, but nonetheless, all have a beginning, a middle and an end.

Shedding The Dead
While I love the springtime, when everything is blooming and coming back to life, fall is a great reminder that in order to make room for the new life that will be coming, the old things need to be discarded. As we watch the leaves change color and eventually fall off, the trees look so bare and almost ugly, but it’s a necessary shedding of the old in order to make room for the new.

It’s the same scenario in our lives. We go through cycles where old dead things need to be shed in order to make room for the new season we are entering. It’s not as easy as it sounds though. We have soul ties and our emotions are entangled; it’s not always that simple to just shed something, especially if you thought the season would be longer than it was.

Brace yourself….not everybody will celebrate your seasons. It’s more comfortable for some people if you just remain where you are and forego any changes, but you know deep inside what you need to do. You were created for greatness and designed as a masterpiece. You were not created to stay the same. If that were the case you would still be a little baby crawling around, screaming at the top of your lungs wanting a new bottle and a diaper change!

Take some time to reflect where you are in each area of your life. Are there some dead ends that need to be cut off that are hindering your growth? Are there some areas of your life where you have reached a lid and stagnated because there’s no room to expand?

I want to encourage you to pray some dangerous prayers like:

 “Lord, show me any area of my life that I am hanging on to that You have asked me to let go of. Show me where my life has stagnated and where I need to shed the dead in order to make room for the new thing you want to do in my life.”

I know it’s scary, but God knows what’s best. He sees things we don’t. Jeremiah 29:11 assures us that He has a great plan for our lives. It’s never too late to get started with that plan, but more than likely it will require some changes. Some may be more difficult than others, but God will be right there with you walking alongside you every step of the way.

Make a commitment to yourself….you deserve to “shed the dead” in order to make room for the new!

I recommend getting a copy of my book, “Good Morning Abba”. It’s a 52-week devotional designed to usher you out of a stagnated prayer life and into a deeper walk with God. It’s a record of my personal, intimate conversations with Jesus and how He’s brought me from a place of pain to power. It’s available in paperback, e-book and Audible wherever books are sold.