HOW TO NAVIGATE THE CONFLICT BETWEEN YOUR PAST AND YOUR PRESENT AS A CHRISTIAN MILLENNIAL.

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

How do you navigate the conflict between what was and what is as a Christian millennial? What do you do when you have to let go of what was so that you can embrace what is? How do you go about it when, in actuality, it was God who gave you the old and is now making you let go of it to receive the new? Transitions can be defined as the space between what was and what is. And quite frankly, it is one of the messiest and sometimes ugly places because it involves a lot of shaking, confusion, and letting go.

• People had to let go of what God did to embrace what God was doing by navigating the conflict within.
• Moses had to navigate the conflict within to partner with God so as to deliver the Israelites from Egypt
• Exodus 2& 3
• The Israelites when they reached the promised land had to navigate the conflict within them.
• Samuel
• The disciples had to navigate the conflict within.
  • What can we conclude then,
• How then can you position yourself?
• Be open
  • Be sensitive.
  • Get comfortable being uncomfortable
• Conclusion!

Change can be hard and, as humans, it’s difficult to release something you were attached to. God-ordained transitions can be difficult because it involves blind trust and faith. Navigating the conflict between your past and present is not always as easy as it looks. On one end you are trying to become your best self. While on the other side, your old self is beckoning. And every day you have to decide to choose the new version over your old self.

So today, let us dive a little deeper into how to behave when God is moving you from something He gave you because He has better. And before we can do that, let us look at some examples of people who had to navigate the conflict between their past and their present self. And they had to do this by letting go of the past and embracing the new thing God was doing in and through them

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People had to let go of what God did to embrace what God was doing by navigating the conflict within.

Moses had to navigate the conflict within to partner with God so as to deliver the Israelites from Egypt

Moses felt inadequate when God called him to deliver the Israelites. And to prove it to you let’s look at scripture.

Exodus 2& 3

¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” ¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you^[b] will worship God on this mountain.” ¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.^[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,^[d] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

¹⁶ “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

¹⁰ Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” ¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” ¹³ But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. ¹⁷ But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

Yet after this encounter, we see Moses partner with God and even deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. What changed? Moses had to shift his mindset. And to do this, he had to navigate the conflict within him. Every time he felt inadequate, he had to remind himself that God was with him.

Read also: How to position yourself in times of transition as a Christian millennial.

The Israelites when they reached the promised land had to navigate the conflict within them.

When the Israelites were transitioning from the wilderness to Canaan, they had to adjust to some changes. God no longer provided manna for them and so it was up to them to fend for themselves. They also had to fight for their land. They transitioned from a place of total reliance to an aspect of self-reliance on their end too. Let us look at scripture to help us understand this.

¹⁰ On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. ¹¹ The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. ¹² The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan. Joshua 5: 10-12

The Israelites had to adjust from having God provide food for them to now having to get it themselves. They also had to have a mindset shift. The reason was that they now had to become worriers and fight for their land. No longer was God the One doing the fighting. It was now their turn to do it. This required a mindset shift. After all, it is not like they had specifically trained for war. They also had to shift from the victim mindset to the conqueror mindset. Do you need a mindset shift? Navigating the conflict within will require you to renew your mind. It all starts in the mind.

Samuel

Samuel had to come to terms with the fact that God had rejected Saul as king and had instead replaced him with David. It took Samuel a while to get on with what God was doing. In fact, he mourned for a while until God intervened and basically told him to get on with His program. Mind you, it was God who had asked Samuel to anoint Saul as king. http://bible.us/1/1sa16.1.amp

The disciples had to navigate the conflict within.

The disciples had to learn to navigate life without Jesus because He had ascended into heaven. They had to let go of how things were and their physical encounters with Him. They now had to experience Him by faith and not sight. And they also had to welcome the Holy Spirit, whom they could not see as their helper. Imagine giving up what you can see for what you can’t see and trusting that it will be better. This required them to choose to believe what Jesus had told them. They also had to navigate the conflict between what they had experienced with Jesus and what they would experience henceforth. They struggled to believe in Jesus who they could not see anymore. Their present was conflicting with their past and they had to constantly renew their mind to welcome the new.

Paul, a staunch Jew, had to let go of all the traditional Jewish customs and embrace Christianity, something He was not familiar with. He had to realize that the law had been perfected in Christ. It was no longer works that saved, but one’s faith in Jesus Christ. Navigating the conflict between who he used to be and who he was, was difficult. He had to unlearn so many things.

What can we conclude then,

As you can see in all 4 instances, the people had to give up what God had given them prior to embracing the new thing that God was doing. The old was not bad, it was just time for the new. And I wonder just how many times has God left us behind because we were so hung up on the old? You cannot experience the new when you are so focused on the past.

Everything God ordains has power, but the power is in Him. And so when He moves, the thing that had power before ceases to have power. This is because He has the power, and it is not in the system but in Him. You and I cannot get stuck in a method just because God ordained it and miss out on the new He is doing. We need to say the same thing Moses said, God, if you do not come with us, we will not go and if you do not stay, we will not stay.

How then can you position yourself?

Be open

God wants you to be open to His leading. This boils down to you trusting Him, His character, and His leading. Of course, for you to trust Him, you need to have a personal relationship with Him. After all, how will you trust someone you don’t know? Do you trust God and do you have a personal relationship with Him? Are you open and flexible enough to move at a moment’s notice? Can you move when God is telling you to just like He did Abraham? He told Abraham to move, but He did not tell Him where to. Can you imagine Abraham having to leave the familiar and move to the unfamiliar? How flexible are you when God is calling you?

Being open and flexible is not a one-time thing. You constantly have to open yourself up to the leading of God. The only way you can be open is by holding everything closely and having a relationship with God. How can you be open when you don’t even trust God? Navigating the conflict between your past and present will stem from a place of intimacy with God. Do you have a relationship with God? If you don’t invite Him to be your Lord and Saviour. Invite Him into every area of your life. This will allow you to move when He asks you to.

Be sensitive.

The only way you can be sensitive to what God is doing is by knowing what He is doing. For you to know what He is doing, have a relationship with Him. Spend time with God through prayer, reading His word, worship, and stillness, too. Quiet your soul so that you can know when He is speaking. Make time for Him and learn to lean on Him. He is your safe space, and you will never fail when He is with you. In every season, He will guide you if you put your trust in Him. Raise your antenna and connect it to God’s frequency. He is always speaking but are you sensitive enough to hear Him speak?

Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is what will help you navigate the conflict between your past and your present. The Holy Spirit wants to empower you to live a life pleasing to God. But you need to be sensitive to hear Him when He speaks to you. Sensitivity is cultivated by reading the word, through prayer, and knowing the voice of the Holy Spirit. The word of God will help you understand God’s character, which will help you sense Him when He is speaking to Him. Embracing solitude is also something that will help you discern the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit. It is in the quietness that you will hear the still small voice.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable

Every time God leads us to the new, He removes all the comfort and makes it uncomfortable so we can be forced to shift. God wants you to be okay when He is shifting you, it might feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar. But when you hold on, He will lead you to a beautiful destination because He has the best intentions for you! Embrace the discomfort and the shaking. Rid yourself of the old and make room for the new!

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• DON’T DESPISE THE SMALL BEGINNING!
• HOW TO EXPERIENCE JESUS IN THE STORM
• WHEN YOU ARE IN A STORM!

Conclusion!

It is time for you to let go of the old. Thank God for the purpose it served in your life. Realize that you have the experiences and lessons from the past that will help you in the future. But while doing that do not get attached to what was that you miss out on what God is doing now! In what areas do you feel God encouraging you to let go of the old and embrace the new? Are you ready to go on the Faith journey with Him?