Endings Always Lead to New Beginnings

Sometimes I think we often hold on to the people, places, or dreams that we have lost (or are losing) out of fear of the unknown. Death terrifies us because we can’t visualize what’s ahead. We don’t have the language for it.

I’m reminded of something Jesus told his disciples. “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Though he was talking about how his death would bring life to many, the principle can also be applied to other forms of dying.

Our little deaths are often like seeds: when something is buried, something greater springs forth. Maybe you were fired from a job you didn’t think you could live without. Now, five years later, you’ve built an entirely new career that you love and that is providing twice the income. Maybe you moved to a new city and found yourself alone and homesick, missing your past life. Then, after being vulnerable for a while and opening yourself up to new relationships, you made lifelong friends who you wouldn’t trade for the world. Maybe you ended a toxic dating relationship after years of trying to make it work. Then, after the pain subsided, you met someone else, someone who truly valued you, and you found love, marriage, and a family.

Death is an ending, yes, but it’s not the end. It’s also a beginning, a necessary step before what is new can come into existence. Instead of panicking out of fear of the unknown, give whatever it is a proper funeral. Honor it, grieve it, process it. Then bury it in the ground of faith and return to the land of the living. Take a deep breath, choose to trust God, and walk through the doorway. That is your role and responsibility in the death process.

If we can see our death experiences from God’s eyes, we’ll realize that death never wins. Again and again, God gets the last word. Again and again, life triumphs over death.

And, again and again, endings become beginnings.

Respond

As you walk through this season of grief, keep a journal to record the ways in which the passing of this time in your life makes way for new opportunities and growth.

Was this plan helpful? We adapted this plan from The Art of Overcoming: Letting God Turn Your Endings Into Beginningsby Tim Timberlake. Check it out for more.