DARREN STOTT

As a young boy, I would often use excessive force when a puzzle piece didn’t fit; perhaps I believed that the puzzle maker made an incorrect cut. If I persisted the piece would bend and the puzzle would not be able to be completed, but, if I accepted that it wasn’t the right fit, I could then move on and continue to find the correct pieces that could easily connect. It’s really not a big deal if a piece doesn’t fit, it just means that we explore other opportunities and trust that the Lord has just the right spot picked out for us.
Are you being placed into a position or location where you don’t fit? Are you trying to squeeze into a spot that you were not created for? The best thing you can do is to pray, obey, and transition with grace. I believe there are some little pointers that will benefit you in your career, ministry, and volunteer opportunities.

How to Transition with Grace

#1 – Ask the questions…
Transitioning with grace doesn’t mean that you drop the ball and run - abandoning your team without rhyme or reason. The best way to prepare for transition is to ask the questions, “What will be the ramifications of my transition? Will I make a task far more difficult for someone else? Who is that someone else?” Once you have answered these questions – proceed to step two.

#2 – Schedule the Meeting
Once you have scheduled your meeting consider how you will communicate clearly and with honor; nobody wants to hear, “This party sucks, I quit!” Honor is an important factor and a value of Heaven. Consider the need that your transition will create and communicate your heart, your flexibility, and a purposed timeline for transition.

#3 – Honor, Honor, and Honor.
As you transition back to green pastures, keep watch over the posture of your heart. Transition can be difficult for everybody, so guard your heart and let the words of your mouth and meditations of your heart be pleasing to the Lord. He will take notice and, I believe, bless you for the grace that you extend.

We are all cut to a specific and unique specification; this is important to remember when found in a spot that we were not built to fill. When this happens we end up in a battle where we have to manufacture energy in order to perform and, perhaps, attempt to “do ministry.” You have been created by God to reflect his beauty and glory, and you can be certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns (Philippians 1:6). In light of this truth, if you are available to be used by Jesus, to follow Jesus, and be a disciple of Jesus, he will connect you, install you, and flow through you as a vessel of his glorious light and power.