In Jeremiah 48:11 (KJV) God declares that "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore, his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed."
Lees are the sediment that settle at the bottom of a vessel when wine is being made. When they have settled to the bottom the liquid is transferred to another jar leaving the lees behind. This process removes the impurities and the process continues until the liquid becomes pure and clear. In this rendering of Jeremiah it suggests that because Moab was not moved to different vessels, it kept its impurities and the taste and smell were not good.
Most people I know are not very comfortable with transition, like me.
Most people I know are not very comfortable with transition.
A little while ago we went through a major transition. We changed city, ministry, church, and life style and our sons moved to different countries. I was in the transition stage with all its symptoms for a long while. There are two important aspects we need to consider when going through transition.
Firstly, knowing the different phases of the transition process helps us to foresee and understand our feelings and emotions. For more about transition processes I recommend Dave Pollock's "The Transition Process" chapter in the book, Doing Member Care Well.
Understanding the different stages doesn't necessarily make the process easier or less uncomfortable. It helps us to manage our emotions and reactions in a better way, but we still have to face them and experience them. We will still feel lost, uncomfortable, unsettled, isolated, anxious.
Secondly, it is an opportunity to look into our soul and face deeper feelings that are not touched when we know and are comfortable with everything around us.
The Lord wants to transform us into the likeness of His son.
My experience with major transition is that the Lord wants to transform us into the likeness of His son Jesus. He is not only concerned with my ministries, strategies and opportunities. When we feel exposed these are times when we can perceive and deal with aspects of our being that, if left alone, are barriers for deeper relationship with Him and better relationships with others. These times give us great opportunities to grow in all these areas.
Horace Bushnell writes this about the verse from Jeremiah:
The principle that underlies the text is this: that we require to be unsettled in life by many changes and interruptions of adversity, in order to be most effectually loosened from our own wills, and prepared to do the will and work of God...
Consider the fact that our evils are generally hidden from us till they are discovered to us by some kind of adversity. If God should let us be as Moab from our youth, then we should be as Moab in the loss of all valuable improvement...
We may lay it down as a principle of universal application that a man needs to be frequently disturbed and displaced by the dispensations of God in all the elements of that greatness which consists in holiness. To remain "at ease", to settle on "the lees", is fatal to spiritual advancement.
In a book called Lenten Lands I read a sentence which has encouraged me considerably in this new stage of our lives. It is written by Douglas Gresham who is CS Lewis' step-son. Douglas was still a teenager when he lost his father, his mother and his step father in a short period of time. He was pretty much alone, living in an unfamiliar country and experiencing a difficult time in a very different school system. here's a translation back into English of what I read in Spanish:
I am starting to understand that in each stage of our lives, when someone loses everything, it is more like a beginning than an end, for we only lose the past but still have the future to gain and also eternity itself.
Transition is a time for deep changes in our lives, when we can be further transformed into His likeness.
Transition is a time for deep changes in our lives, when we can be further transformed into His likeness.
We can see the Lord open new doors and bring new opportunities, experiences and ministries. We might not have had these if we were not moved into a new uncomfortable situation. During one of the major transition times in my life I was very reluctant to move on because of all the changes and losses.
I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me: "If you don't move it's O.K., it's not a sin. But I have new situations and challenges that you haven't faced yet. I also have new gifts and empowering which are necessary for the task. They will only be yours as you need them." I answered very promptly, "Lord, I want all that you have for me, please help me as I go."
May the Lord help us as we face new transitions. May we allow the Lord to pour us from vessel to vessel and leave the lees behind, receiving new gifts from our lovely Father.
José Rosifran C Macedo. Presbyterian pastor, M.A in New Testament from Biblical Theological Seminary, USA; missionary of the AMEM / WEC Brazil since 1983. He and his wife, Alicia, were the directors of Missionary Training College, WEC Brazil's training seminary for cross-cultural workers, for 12 years, and WEC Brazil directors for 9 years. They organized the member care department and the Missionary Kids (MK) care for WEC Brazil. Since 2009, they have been coordinators of Philhos, the MK care department for the Brazilian Association of Crosscultural Missions, AMTB. Rosifran is the author of "Protecting What is Precious", a manual for the safety and protection of cross-cultural workers. He is the coordinator of AMTB Security, a member of the AMTB board, and the representative of Brazil on the Global Member Care Network board.
