There is a valid question a lot of people find themselves asking: “When this season of my life ends, what am I supposed to do next?”

Having two adult children, I remember the season when my role as a mother was shifting, I would find myself swirling that question around in my head.

Even now I often ponder what will happen next when certain seasons end.

Seasons come and go. But because we cannot see what is ahead, we sometimes struggle to know just how long we should hold on to a season.

If it is something we really love doing or being a part of, letting go of a season is incredibly challenging.

It is even harder if our identity is attached to that season, and we wonder if we will bring value anywhere else.

Having experienced many season changes in my life, as hard as it can be, there is always a way to finish a season well.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:8, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Solomon knew that the human heart tends to hold on to and romanticize the past.

Although things in our current season of life will at some point change, we do not want them to, we often hold on to the best things about that season. That is not always bad…. but sometimes it hinders us from seeing the potential of the future.

Solomon gives us wisdom about patience and surrendering to God’s pace, purpose, and plan for seasons in our lives.

 Keep in mind every beginning starts with the ending of something else.

In each season’s transition—you notice change. That change is evidenced by the beginning of something ending. And the beginning of something ending represent each season finishing well.

There will be signs your season is changing too.

Once we realize a season is changing, how do we finish that season well? As Solomon stated in Ecclesiastes 7:8b, “ and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

Often pride gets in the way of us having an honest conversation with God about the direction of our life. Pride can convince us to stay in a season too long or leave a season too early. Pride can also convince us that what we have planned for ourselves is better than what God has already ordained.

When you have a patient and humble heart, it is easy to ask God for His help in learning to let go of what needs to be let go. With a patient and humble heart, you can confidently ask God, “what’s next?” Trusting He hears and will answer in His timing.

None of us have all the answers to what is ahead in our life, and there might be things that we are struggling to let go of.

But I know that with God, a patient and humble heart we can finish any season well as we hold on to the hope for what God has planned for us next.

PRAYER: Father, thank You for each season of my life. Thank You for Your grace to endure the unknown ebbs of those seasons. I pray for guidance of the Holy Spirit to Help let me know when it is time to finish and how to finish well. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

PEARLStoPONDER: The beauty of each season is that it ends with the hope of enjoying beauty in a season you have never encountered.

Ecclesiastes 3:1--For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

Psalm 1:3--He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Galatians 6:9--And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

2 Timothy 4:7--I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.