Navigating Change: Following the Footsteps of JesusSample

The Key to Transitioning Well

We are following in the footsteps of Jesus as He makes His way towards the cross and learning how to wisely and faithfully navigate transitional seasons in our own lives.

Yesterday, we started with the foundational idea that to navigate something wisely, you can’t pretend it’s not happening. Today, we are moving into John chapter 13, getting even more tangible and practical with what to do in the midst of a transition.

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:1-5 NIV

Jesus, with full awareness that the end was coming, continues serving. His response to knowing that He is about to be betrayed, crucified, and then glorified is to literally get up, get a towel, and get to work.

Among many other things, this flies in the face of how many people deal with knowing the end of their time at a particular job, with a particular group, or on a particular assignment is coming. Often, we let off the gas. We sit back and feel bad about the things that didn’t go like we hoped. We blame people for remaining problems instead of hunting down solutions. We get lackadaisical because it’s not our problem anymore.

But not so for Jesus. Until and after His dying breath, Jesus loves God and loves others. He serves, forgives, heals, and invites enemies and friends to be part of God’s Kingdom. What?!? That’s another level of strength of character.

And this is an example we are charged to follow:

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. … “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:12, 15 NIV

In no uncertain terms, our King says we’re not going to be people who bail out at the end. Follow my example and be people who lean all the way in, to the very end.

On a practical level, what might this look like for you? Maybe you had an internship or temporary position somewhere. Instead of focusing on what’s next and how you’re moving onto bigger and better things, humble yourself and serve others. How can you set up your boss well to take back onto their plate what you have had on yours? How can you serve the team of people you work with? How might you encourage a coworker and call out skills and strengths you’ve seen in them? What’s a project that you can jumpstart and set up for success? Play your part with all your heart to the final buzzer, treating others as more valuable than yourself.

This is the kind of humility Jesus modeled. Paul lays it out really clearly in Philippians 2:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:3-8 NIV

Without a doubt, humility is key to a successful transition. A transitional season may be one of the hardest times in which to practice it, though. You will have to be proactive. You’ll have to decide not to let your ego drive you or lie to you during this time, because it will. It will tell you that you need to promote yourself, protect yourself, and preserve yourself to be ready for what’s next. You’ll have to choose to believe Jesus and follow Him wherever He leads. Choose to trust what He says about greatness. Trust what He says about protection and provision. Trust that His way of doing life is better and more beautiful. Then, submit yourself to that way and serve, forgive, heal, and invite whomever you can wherever you are with all your heart to the final buzzer.

Stop and consider:How does your ego drive you to promote and protect yourself most often? What does humility look like? What is Jesus inviting you to trust? What is He asking you to do? Who can you serve today?