TO LET GOD'S KINGDOM COME

My 50th birthday 

On 7 December 2023, I turned fifty. To everyone who sent thoughtful messages, thank you. For those learning this for the first time, I hope your future is filled with roses—beautiful but with thorns that occasionally pierce the most tender parts of your feet, even between your toes.

The week before my birthday, I worked from our Cape Town offices and had a coaching session with one of our executives. I found it peculiar when he suggested we meet in his office rather than the boardroom. After our session, as I walked past the boardroom and into the foyer, I encountered my first surprise party. Colleagues shouted "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" A big cake and two balloons in the shape of a 5 and 0 indicated we were celebrating someone turning half a century. For a moment, I wondered who that could be. On the morning of my actual birthday, I woke up thinking, "How did I get here? I was twenty, went to bed, woke up, and now I'm fifty!"

We celebrated my birthday well into the weekend, as one should when reaching such a milestone. During these days, I had time to slow down and reflect on my life's journey and the people who make it worth living. I thought about the transitions from being twenty to waking up fifty, marked by change, growth, and challenge.

Curveballs and Transitions

I can say with certainty that more than 70% of the transitions in my life were precipitated by unexpected events:

• Excited to go to university, I wasn't prepared for the hundreds of resumes I sent out, resulting in only one interview that didn't lead to landing a job.
• I joyfully planned my first wedding, unaware of my ex-wife’s multiple affairs within the first few years of our marriage.
• I went on my first blind date after ten years, not expecting to marry my wife after only six months.
• With determination, I built investment banking and management businesses, not expecting corporate politics to take them away from me.

So, is life just a random mixture of uncontrollable events that lead to transitions we're ill-prepared for, taking us to unwanted places, doing things we don't want to do, with people who bore us?

Faith and Transitions

In the Christian walk, we are not promised a life free from transitions, but we are assured of a faithful and unchanging God who walks with us. Our faith equips us to face life's transitions with courage, hope, and wisdom. In these moments of change, we find opportunities for growth, renewal, and transformation. It should therefore be possible to turn curveballs into 

Godly Transitions.

What is a Godly Transition?

A Godly Transition is a life change that manifests the Kingdom of Heaven in real life. All transitions in our lives have one purpose: to let God’s Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as in heaven. No matter the curveball that precipitated the transition, the Holy Spirit wants to lead us into the Kingdom of Heaven manifesting in our lives.

For example:

• In heaven, there is no corruption. Therefore, I must submit truthful tax returns, even with unexpected medical costs, a house flooding, and a car breaking down.
• In heaven, there are no broken relationships. Therefore, I must work on my relationship with my parents when leaving home for college or getting married.
• In heaven, we worship God continually. If I start dating someone who isn't a Christian, I should not tone down my walk with God to be sensitive to them.

Our Identity and God's Preferred Future

In having the Kingdom of Heaven manifest in our lives through a Godly Transition, identity precedes activity. This means life isn't a random mixture of events out of our control. Instead, we approach transitions as beings created by God, in His image, for His purpose.

To understand who we are, we must find out who God is and what aspect of Him He fashioned in us. This determines our purpose and sets us on course toward God’s Preferred Future. Whether it’s Jehovah Rapha, the Healer God, leading to medical services, or Jehovah Nisi, the Protector God, leading to legal or defense services, our purpose will have a great impact because it aims to manifest the Kingdom of Heaven.

Skills, Capabilities, and God's Preferred Future

If God is sovereign and all-powerful, what role do our skills, talents, capabilities, and resources play in Godly Transitions? Consider the Israelites entering the Promised Land in Numbers 13. They faced a transition and could choose to enter a Godly Transition. God promised the land but required them to fight for it with Him. Only Joshua and Caleb, who trusted God’s Preferred Future and were willing to use their skills and resources, entered the land.

God fulfills all His promises but is not obligated to fulfill our potential. Some promises are invitations into our potential, requiring us to put our skills and resources into God’s hands during transitions.

Facing Transitions Today

In the transition facing you today, are you willing to use your skills, talents, capabilities, and resources to obediently step into God’s Preferred Future, even if you know there’s a 100% chance of failure without the Holy Spirit's power? Two common reasons people say no are complacency and "box thinking." We grow up hearing, "Play it safe" or "Don’t take unnecessary risks," leading us to believe our future is better than God’s.

Today, God is calling you in your time of transition: don't stay in your box, don't covet someone else’s box—grow into your box. Confidence lies not in yourself but in who you are in heaven.

A Godly Transition is a life change that manifests the Kingdom of Heaven in real life. All transitions have one purpose: to let God’s Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as in heaven. No matter the curveball that precipitated the transition, the Holy Spirit wants to lead us and co-labour with us into the Kingdom of Heaven manifesting in our lives.

What transition are you facing today? How does God’s Preferred Future im

pact the way you enter this transition?