Good Endings

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1592. Today's Devo is called Good Endings.

Hey there, we're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Good morning, everybody. Happy Tuesday. My name is Stephanie, and we are going to dive into another wonderful devotional for you all today. Warning, I'm eight months pregnant. I'm very hormonal. I might cry. But just let me have my moment. Cry with me if it touches you. And just, you know, take the wisdom and don't mind the balling if any of it happens. I want to talk about something that I have learned ever since turning 30. I just turned 30 back in June, and I do feel like I have been reflecting an awful lot more recently on my life, on my 20s. Bad idea, let me tell you. Don't reflect. Don't reflect on the past. It'll get you in the wrong mood. I'm just kidding. But I'm in a very emotional state because so much I feel like of my life has occurred. I don't feel like I'm getting old. I actually feel very young, but I'm learning a lot. And I want to talk today specifically about a lesson I've learned, which is ending seasons well. Let's dive into this. I'm going to do a lot of Bible reading. I'm going to give you little bits, but then you can go back and read it on your own. I'm reading from Deuteronomy 32.3. And it says, I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God. He is the rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. So let me explain the background of this passage. I just read from Deuteronomy 32. This is when Moses is about to pass away. He had just led all of the Israelites through the desert. And in the last couple years of his life, right before he was going into the promised land, this land that he has spent his entire life trying to get to, he made a mistake. And he did something out of faithlessness and out of not out of faithfulness. And because of that, God did not allow him to go into the promised land. So in Deuteronomy 32, Moses is now overlooking all of Israel, all of the promised land, and he's overlooking all of the people of Israel that are just about to go into the promised land. And you what does Moses do? He blesses them. He blesses all of God. He blesses all of Israel in Deuteronomy 33. In Deuteronomy 32, 48, it says, On that same day the Lord told Moses, Go up into the range. There on the mountain that you have climbed, you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. And then he goes into Deuteronomy 33 and he blesses every tribe of Israel. And then the last chapter of Deuteronomy 34, Moses climbs up the mountain and he overlooks the land they're about to go into. And he says, He hears God say, This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it. And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone. Verse ten says, Since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in sight of all Israel. So Moses was in the middle of his ending. The season of him wandering in the desert was ending. His life was ending. And he chose to look back at everybody there and bless the people. I just turned 30, like I said. And I have discovered that as much as things begin, things end. Doors close. I look back at my 20s and I see that relationships ended, jobs ended, I moved to cities, trips ended, friendships ended, I moved out of my parents' house, and that family dynamic ended. My single season ended because I got married. My time without children ended. A lot of seasons came to a close. And the truth is, if I had a time machine, I I would love to go back in time and experience those little moments one more time. The laughter, the memories, whatever it was, it would be fun to relive it. But looking at where all of it has brought me today and how God uses all used it all to make me who I am right now. Can I tell you the truth? The only thing I would change is how it ended. I would use that time machine to just go to the ending. And I would look at the people, I would look at the places, and I would look at that season that was now about to leave my life. And I would bless them. I would thank them for the wonderful times. I would forgive them and not hold anything in my heart against them. And I would remember them with honor. Except for the toxic crazy people, because those people were crazy. We're not letting them back in our lives. Okay, that's done. I'm kidding. We will forgive you toxic crazy people too. But let me just encourage you. If you're in the middle of a transition and you are sensing one season is beginning while one is ending, you're about to move out, or you're about to move home back in with your parents. You sense that a relationship is ending, you sense that your singleness is ending. Maybe you're engaged and you're about to get married. You put in your two weeks at your job and you're moving on, or maybe you're moving into a new season of employment and you're not going to be a stay-at-home mom anymore, whatever it is. If you're in that season of transition, let's trust God enough to let doors open and then to let doors close. Let's embrace each season as it comes without clinging to the past or fearing what's ahead. Here's what I really want us to get. Let's receive every season with gratitude. Let's release it with grace and speak about it with honor and with fondness. And through it all, guys, let's just remain grateful for every season God has given us. Let's not let our words ever tear down what God has done. But instead, with our words, let's honor it. Let's bless it and give thanks for how He has been faithful in every chapter. And let me tell you something that I'm learning. Even if the chapter was awful, God will somehow use it to strengthen you in the end. So as these doors open, let the doors close and receive it with grace and release it with gratitude. Let's pray. God, we thank you for the seasons that you have allowed us to navigate. The hard seasons, the good seasons, the ups and the downs. Here's the truth. You were there through every season. You have blessed us, you ordered our steps, and you brought us to this very moment. So, God, if there's any resentment, if there's any bitterness or anger that we have towards a specific season in our lives, Father, we pray that you will give us the grace to look back and see it with honor, to see it with gratitude, because you allowed us to walk through those seasons for a reason. And maybe, God, in the end, we will see the purpose in all of it. Allow us to walk through these new doors as the other as the old doors are closing. And allow us to step into it with more excitement, with more joy for the life you have set before us. And we thank you, God, for constantly creating a plan for our future full of hope and of joy. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you've found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.