Lose it to Find it!

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew 10:39

Recently, I started reading a book to my children that I read a few years ago called, “In the Meantime”, by Rob Brendle. It is an excellent book about hearing God’s calling, and waiting with intentionality, on God’s timing to fully live into that calling. Because of circumstances in our lives this book is speaking to me in ways it didn’t the first time I read it.
Yesterday, as we were reading, this phrase jumped off the page at me: “Embrace the losing season as much as you do the finding season. Maybe embrace it more because the degree to which we authentically lose determines the degree to which we authentically find.”
David from the Old Testament is a great example of waiting well. In I Samuel 16 David was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel, then he took his shepherd’s staff and harp, and went back to his father’s sheep. Later, David is called upon to sooth Saul’s demons by playing his harp. The king liked David and put him in charge of his armor. God planted the dream of being king to Israel, and then made him servant to Saul. David went back and forth, taking care of his father’s sheep and serving King Saul. He was losing himself in service to his father and to the king. David humbly served, pondering the dream of being king in his heart while he gave his life away to serve others. This was the training ground to be a great king, and David humbly submitted to God’s season of losing his life to find it. He became the greatest king of Israel and a man after God’s own heart.
I have been in a losing season for a few years, and it hasn’t always been pretty, but I want to embrace it like King David. The hope of the season of finding is to come. This is the training ground Jesus has chosen for me for my future. When I see my Savior face to face, I want Him to say, “You are a woman after my own heart, well done!”