Momspirational Life

Part Two of the Steady in the Seasons series

“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22–23

(That is one of my favorite hymns in that verse, too)

When a season changes, something (or some things) is often left behind, whether it is by our choice or not.

Sometimes we leave behind something difficult, and the change brings relief. Other times, what we are leaving was good. It held people we loved, routines that felt familiar, and a version of life we thought would continue much longer than we had expected.

Those endings can be harder to understand.

We know God is leading us forward, but part of our heart remains attached to what was. We may obey with our feet while continuing to look behind us with our thoughts. Releasing a former season means trusting that God who was faithful then will remain faithful in whatever comes next.

When What We Leave Behind Was Good

We often talk about release as though it only applies to sin, unhealthy relationships, or painful seasons. Sometimes that is true. However, God may ask us to surrender something that has kept us bound or distracted us from Him.

Also, there are times when He asks us to release something good.

A role that gave us purpose, a routine that brought security, a dream that once seemed right, or a season we enjoyed but have now outgrown. Leaving those things can produce a different kind of grief. We grieve because that means we know we are to obey God in a new season, yet we still have to move forward into the unknown.

When I stepped away from teaching, I was not simply leaving a job. I was leaving a role that had become part of how I understood myself and others. Teaching had shaped me, stretched me, and allowed me to use gifts God placed within me.

Yet, my life was changing. My health, family, and responsibilities were leading me into a different season. I knew something needed to shift, even though I could not fully see what life would look like afterward. That season was not wasted because it ended. God has continued using what I learned as a teacher in our homeschool, in the resources I create, and even in the way I approach writing.

Often, when we surrender what we are holding to God, we question if what we had given our all to for God had served its purpose. Was it worth it? God carries the purpose from our former seasons and its lessons into the next season.

His Mercy Meets Us in the Morning

Lamentations 3:22–23 was written in the middle of deep sorrow. The circumstances surrounding those words were not easy, yet the writer remembered that God’s compassion had not failed.

His mercies were new every morning. Every. Single. Morning.

There are times when we want to carry yesterday into today because yesterday is familiar. Even if it was difficult, at least we knew what to expect from it. A new morning requires us to rise without knowing exactly what the day will hold.

Yet, it also brings new mercy.

God does not ask us to enter a new season sustained only by what He gave us in the last one. His faithfulness meets us again. His compassion is not exhausted by our questions, grief, or hesitation. The season may be different, but His mercy will still be there when we wake.

Releasing Is Not the Same as Erasing

Releasing what was does not require us to erase every memory or act as though we no longer care.

We can thank God for a season and still let it end. We can honor who we were while allowing Him to shape who we are becoming according to His will. We can remember what was beautiful without trying to recreate it in a place where it no longer belongs.

Isaiah 46:9–10 says:

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else.”

God tells His people to remember, but the purpose of that remembering is important. We remember the past so that we can recognize His faithfulness and sovereignty. We do not have to return to it or remain bound by it.

There is a difference between remembering what God did and believing He can only work through what was. The past can become part of our testimony without remaining our present address.

Releasing the Life We Expected

Sometimes the hardest thing to release is not something we actually had. It is the life we expected to have. This is probably one of the most challenging surrenders we can ever face. 

We carry pictures in our minds of how marriage, motherhood, careers, friendships, health, or ministry should unfold. Even when we never say those expectations aloud, we can become deeply attached to them.

Then, life takes a different direction. The marriage requires more work than expected. Motherhood looks different as our children grow. A career ends or changes. A prayer remains unanswered. The timeline we imagined no longer matches the life in front of us.

We may continue measuring our present against a future that never arrived.

Proverbs 16:9 reminds us:

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

Making plans is not wrong. However, our plans cannot become the only outcome we are willing to receive from God. Releasing an expectation requires us to admit that something may not happen in the way or timing we once imagined. Yet, surrender does not mean we have stopped hoping. It means we are placing our hope in God rather than in one particular, human outcome.

Place Down What You Cannot Carry Forward

Some seasons leave us carrying more than memories. They leave us with questions, disappointment, regret, or fear about what may happen next.

Psalm 55:22 tells us:

“Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.”

We were never meant to carry every part of the past into the future. 

The burden of wondering what we could have done differently.
The pressure to make the next season look like the last one.
The fear that nothing ahead will be as meaningful as what we left behind.

First Peter 5:7 gives us a similar invitation:

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

God does not ask us to release these things because He is dismissing what they meant to us. He asks us to release them because He cares for us. We can place the weight down because He is strong enough to hold it. We can place the questions down because He already knows what lies ahead. We can place the past down because He will not abandon us in the future.

Trusting God With the Timing

Releasing what was can feel especially difficult when we do not know what will replace it. That is probably an understandably scary thought. We might be willing to release a former role if God would immediately reveal the new one. We might surrender an old plan more easily if we could already see how the next plan would unfold.

But sometimes, there is space between the release and the answer.

Psalm 31:14–15 says:

“But I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.”

Our times are in His hand, including the endings we did not expect and the beginnings we cannot yet see. God knows when a season has fulfilled its purpose. He also knows when we are ready to take the next step, even if we do not feel ready. Release requires us to trust more than His direction. It requires us to trust His timing.

Carry the Lesson, Not the Weight

Every season leaves something with us.

Some leave wisdom.
Some leave strength.
Some leave memories we will always treasure.

Others reveal wounds that still need healing or expectations that must be surrendered.

We do not have to carry the full weight of a former season to carry forward what God taught us through it.

The lessons can remain without the heaviness.
The gratitude can remain without the grasping.
The memories can remain without preventing us from moving forward.

What God did in the past is evidence of His faithfulness, but it is not the limit of what He can still do.

Making Room for What Comes Next

Perhaps, you are standing between what was and what will be.

You know a season has ended, but part of you is still trying to return to it. Maybe you are grieving something good. Perhaps, you are releasing an expectation, a role, or a version of yourself that no longer fits where God is leading.

You do not have to rush the process. Release can happen through many small acts of surrender.

A prayer whispered when the memories return.
A decision to place another burden into God’s hands.
A willingness to trust His direction when it differs from your plans.
A reminder that His mercy will be new again tomorrow.

You can appreciate what was without remaining bound to it. You can grieve and still move forward. You can release and still remember. Most importantly, you can trust God with everything you leave behind.

The season mattered because it shaped you and became part of your story. But, God is still writing.

What former season, expectation, or burden might God be asking you to release, and how can remembering His past faithfulness help you trust Him with what comes next?

With love,
Tabitha