I got the title of this blog this morning. I knew nothing of what I would write, but the title resonated with me strongly. I feel like I am coming alive again, after a season which has been indescribably different. It’s been a season which has been difficult and stretching for all of us. But I sense ‘coming alive again’ is what is next for all of us.
Many things have gone dormant during 2020. Activities that we would consider normal in previous times, dreams that have not been able to be pursued, relationships where we have not been able to physically see each other.
This year will have affected each and every one of us in different ways. I sense we are
all slowly emerging from the shock which started back in March with the introduction of our first unprecedented lockdown and the risk of a completely unknown virus. So much has taken place since, unprecedented in our lifetimes.
Coming alive again, wow what a concept! I love the sound of it, just reading the words fills my heart with joy and I hope it does yours too.
The new year, 2021 is one of hope. Let’s believe that eventually, all that we have missed, and that brings us life will return in 2021. Much of it will be reinvented but it will return. It will re-emerge in a different more improved form.
An experience I have had again and again in my lifetime is going through seasons of immense change and then experiencing a kind of re-birth, into a new season where everything is different. In these new seasons, there are the obvious practical differences we see, like a change of job, country, home, friendships. Alongside these there are less obvious shifts that I notice happen deep inside of me and I believe all of us. God prepares us for a new season, transforms us. I notice that I don’t always have words for the internal changes straight away and sometimes not until years later. The same will be true for you. God is at work inside of you all the time whether you know it or not. In 2020 He has been at work a lot!
Philippians 1:6 ….being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
You may not yet have words and comprehension of the deep internal work that God has been doing in you this year.
From coaching many people, I sense, many of us have a change in perspectives, a deep shift is what we believe, an expanding diverse view on the world, on what is important, a growing compassion for in justice, an increasing realisation of how much we need God. You may not feel this, but I get a sense that God has been detoxing us, cleaning us up, giving us an internal reset. Now we are slowly coming alive again into more of the people He created us to be. We will be soon, emerging transformed in all kinds of ways we do not have words for yet.
Coaching is a great way to bring awareness and revelation to the season, what God is doing, how we are transforming, what we feel and what is next.
We journey with many leaders via our online yearlong school, and something I have noticed is a lot of change happening in an accelerated form. New positions, new ministries, new ideas, new revelations, new houses, new places. It is unusual how much of this is happening to almost everyone around us.
So many people are coming alive again in new lives that God is creating quickly and for many without warning. Some people were not even anticipating a change 6 months or 12 months ago and suddenly it is happening.
Bearing all this in mind, and the way I am feeling personally, I thought to release this blog to help articulate the season and to provide some coaching questions to invite you to answer to fully embrace the process of coming alive again, transformed.
What can I leave behind that I have learned does not serve me well?
Think about stress or worry that you have learned you don’t want. 2020 saw things happen that you may never have worried about before, and you got through.
What does this teach you about how to leave stress, anxiety and worry behind and not take it into the future?
Where have you taken on heavy burdens which really belong to Jesus? Where have you maybe taken on too much?
What do you want to resolve to not pick up again, that’s too heavy for you? What responsibilities really need to go back to and reside with Jesus?
Many of us tend to rush through life. What have you learned about pacing yourself this year? What feelings do you need to take time to process?
What promise from God am I excited to take into 2021?
A people without vision perish (Proverbs 29:18)
Reminding ourselves of the promises of God, is brings us hope and is encouraging. There are many of these in the Bible. Grabbing hold of the ones, you want to take into 2021 is permissible.
- Prosperity
- Blessings for the work of your hands
- Provision – eg. of a wonderful home, work, friendship, family or whatever you really need or desire
- Finishing the project that has taken years. This is something I personally am grateful to God for. He has given me the strength to get this far and I trust him to give me the strength to complete in 2021.
- Feeling peace and contentment, or whatever you desire most to feel. The fruits of the spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Which ones do you want more of in 2021?
What have I learned is most important to me?
Most of us have realised this year what is actually most important. Let’s not lose this revelation. It’s family and friends no doubt. But there will also be other things that have surfaced that you have become aware of that are really important to you.
Extreme seasons like the one we have experienced teach us so much about ourselves. Think about what you have struggled with. This will give you clues to know what is important to you.
For me, I have learned that I crave diversity and variety, which has been difficult this past year in many ways. I also have learned that having time and space to process my heart and to spend time with God and to listen to Him is gold for me.
Dig deep into your own heart and find what it is you have learned that is really important to you.
What is the dream of my heart?
No matter how deep you have to dig, dig deep to find the dream of your heart.
God hasn’t given up on it.
He wants it for you too.
He loves His children to dream.
Having a dream for 2021 will help you know how to be intentional about how you spend this year. For me, what comes to my mind is to dream that my husband and I move more deeply into ‘convergence’ and truly, fully live the life we have dreamed of for some years now. (I refer to ‘convergence’ as a term used to describe doing what you love, what you are passionate about and making good money doing it in the area God has called you to do it)
Ask yourself, what is different about the new me, coming alive again having been transformed?
Here are some example statements: What are yours?
I am more thankful
I enjoy the simpler things of life
I have more perseverance
I have more patience
I have hope but in a different way to before, a more peaceful, steady, less anxious way
Ask God, what is new about the new version of me you’ve been working on?
Here are some example statements: What are yours?
I’m kinder
I’m more resilient
My capacity has increased
I am more tuned into His timing
I am more understanding
I bless you to fully come alive again in a form that is more deeply aligned to who God created you to be, than you have ever experienced before in your lifetime.
Written by Tina Southgate, Founder, Destiny Coaching Ministries