Summary: In this episode Jennifer invites you to release the pressure to rush and learn how to discern the season of life God has you in right now. If you’re a driven Christian woman feeling torn between pursuing your calling and being still before the Lord, this conversation will bring clarity, peace, and direction. Jen shares personal insight on why God’s timing often looks slower than the world’s pace, how winter seasons are essential for spiritual growth, and why acceleration isn’t always part of God’s plan. She introduces the concept of “anti-fragile” and explains how the right heart posture allows God to build something in you that is strong, resilient, and built to last. This episode is for the woman who longs to stop striving, trust God’s process, and partner with Him in every season.
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Keywords: seasons of life, winter season, acceleration, antifragile, heart posture, discernment, trusting God,
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
Jen Cudmore (00:00) Understanding seasons of life is crucial to becoming the person that God designed you to be. If God wants you in a place of stillness, but you’re rushing ahead to plant, to build, to harvest, then you’re not in the Lord’s will and you’re going to struggle to succeed. Ecclesiastes chapter three tells us that there’s a time for everything, for every activity under the sun, the world and even Christian communities They tell us to hurry up, to chase after God’s will for our life, to go after that calling, capture the vision, follow the dream and do it now. But what if it’s God’s will for you right now in this moment to stay still and quiet? What if he’s telling you to birth something right now, but you’ve been hesitating? You have to learn to lean into the current season if you want God’s best for your life. So stick around for our topic today. We’re gonna discuss more about the seasons of life. Hey friend, welcome back to Into the Depths podcast. I took a break a lot longer than I thought I was going to. I ended up taking the whole month of January off and so I’m really excited to get back to doing episodes for the podcast. This past January has not looked at all like it normally does for me It’s been a little bit strange, but in a good way God’s been challenging me in some different areas. For example every January I usually start off the year with some kind of a fast typically it’s a 21 day fast and I’ll give up different things depending on what I feel like the Lord has been saying to me But this was really odd in that I felt like God wasn’t really giving me any ⁓ direction and so I was kind of fumbling my way through and Usually I’m pretty clear even after just a couple of days of what does he want from me and I wasn’t getting that this time. It was a little bit challenging for me because I like to have a plan. I like to have answers and so what ended up happening is that God told me towards the end of the month after some some time of silence. He said that I was becoming a little bit too religious about having to fast every January. So he was challenging. me to he would he changed things up on me and he said here’s what I want you to fast I want you to give up your agenda your timeline your preferences your schedule and boy was that tough I’ve been ever since September when I came back from the Faith on Fire conference, God had been asking me to give him my planner and so I would wake up every day and I would tell him, here are the things that I want to get done today, but what do you want me to get done today? And the Lord would show me what was priority to him. And so it was really good practice because now here it is January and he’s being much more silent around the whole idea of what should I do today? And I realized it’s because I’m calling constantly kind of trying to control things. And he told me, even if I were to have given you an exact idea of what I like, specifically what I wanted you to fast, how many days, what I wanted you to study, he goes, you would have turned it into an agenda. And I felt really ⁓ convicted around that. You know, the idea of even when I’m letting him dictate my schedule, I still get really fixated on did I mark it off the list or did I not? And so anyhow, that’s a whole nother thing. but what I wanted to really go into is how God’s been showing me that January and even into February is a time of winter and that there’s this tension and I’ve had this discussion with multiple women in the last few weeks just around the idea of how the new year, how January 1st really gets us thinking about goals and dreams and what do we want for the future and what do we want to accomplish this year and because I’m a very driven person I mean, I love January. I love being able to ask the Lord what he wants from me for the year and kind of set up ⁓ a plan for how I want the year to go when I’m gonna accomplish which goal and so on and God was really challenging me to slow down be still Sit quietly and that was confusing to me because I’m so used to January being a month of let’s get things moving. Let’s find answers. Let’s develop goals and So anyhow, it was really good for me. Obviously, you can tell I’m still trying to lean into that. know, I just kept kind of hearing this question from multiple sources like why is everyone in such a hurry with the new year to, you know, develop their plan and get their word from the Lord and chase after their dreams when January and February are technically still part of the winter season. Winter is all about ⁓ quietness, right? It’s all about stopping the activity, not that we never do anything, but that we’re not out there building and growing and planting and harvesting. So I’ve been really trying to lean in for me, like what does it look like to be in a season of winter? Because there are some things that I know God has told me to do and to start. ⁓ But how do I do that if I’m supposed to be in this place of stillness and quietness? And so, you know, the first week of January I was out of town, my family and I went on a vacation, so much fun, so many wonderful memories. But, ⁓ you know, then the kids, kids left, they went back to their lives. And so then it’s just Tim and I at home kind of trying to get settled into normal routine. And here I am ready to go like, all right, Lord, show me what you want. Let me start taking action and let me get moving on your plan for 2026 and all the tasks that you have for me and my kingdom assignments. And he just kept talking to me about being still and slowing down. And so one of the things that he had already previously talked to me about was starting a coaching group in January. And I thought, how am I going to be in a season of winter when I’m starting this new project? so winter is a time of hunkering down, stop striving, get rest, place of quietness, right? So what God was showing me is that easing into spring is going to be, what it’s going to look like as I ⁓ build a coaching business and ⁓ some other things that he has for me, it’s going to come in real slow and real quiet. I’ve done some training, I’ve talked to several people about what it is I feel like the Lord is asking me to build. And I’ve had even a couple people ask me, okay, awesome, you’re starting a coaching business, when are you gonna quit your job and move into full-time ministry? And the Lord’s like, whoa, whoa, hold your horses. And me being such a driven person, my first thought was, okay, I’m gonna have to figure out what it’s gonna look like to quit my job at the clinic. And that… after spending some time with the Lord, being still and being quiet, what he showed me is that he doesn’t want me rushing into this new assignment. That yes, the world might say, once you figured it out, you need to go after it with all your might. But what God is saying is that some things are better slow. And so I’ve been really trying to lean into that. had a conversation with one of my prayer partners and she just reminded me that God’s math is not the same as the world’s math. ⁓ That can be a challenge for us when when the world and and a bunch of well-meaning believers keep telling you to run to chase after your dreams to go ⁓ you know go after your calling to Really the emphasis is all about do it quick do it fast to do it with all this fervor and passion and That’s not always what the Lord wants. I really have begun to dislike the word acceleration because there is such a hype around words like activation and acceleration and those words may be glamorous but are they actually godly? I think not always. I think sometimes acceleration is in God’s plan but I think most of the time it’s not and I’m really learning to lean into the fact that God tends to do things slowly and The world is going to keep telling us that fast is better, bigger is better, that more is a true measure of success, but that’s not God’s math. Sometimes he wants things built slowly. Sometimes acceleration is not good for us and it’s not good for our assignment and what he wants to build. Last year I learned a new word and I’m going share this with you because I think this is super valuable to just the Christian journey, like to being a believer and following Jesus. It’s the concept of anti-fragile. I had never heard this until I was listening to a podcast. ⁓ I know. think it was last summer and I was like what in the world is that Tim and I looked at each other were like Anti-fragile what and what is that? So I did some research around it. I felt like God really wanted me to lean in and understand this concept and so It’s really and this is my own definition, but it’s really the idea of resilience and endurance combined with flexibility And how if there’s a substance or structure that never gets challenged, if it doesn’t encounter any pushback or resistance, then it cannot reach its full potential. And what God told me in doing all of this research is that what I’m building is meant to be anti-fragile. If you build something too quickly, it will lose its structural integrity. But things that are built slowly, methodically over time with intention, with detailed precision, those things are gonna last. Those things are gonna stand the test of time. They’re gonna stand the test of wind and being tossed about or whatever comes at them. They’re gonna be stronger to stand up against that because all of the resistance that they’ve already encountered has built that strength in them. I’ve been really trying to lean into what does God want from me? What does anti fragile look like for me as a, as a podcaster, as an author, as a coach, What is it that God is trying to build in me and through me that he wants to be anti-fragile? I cannot have all that he wants for me if I’m constantly rushing and I don’t take the time to slow down and be quiet. And that’s what winter is all about is ⁓ embracing those times of quietness, embracing those times where we’re supposed to be still, where we’re supposed to slow down. Because if we don’t develop on the inside and build that strength and endurance and resilience on the inside, then everything around us isn’t going to work as well. It’s not going to stand firm. So even if you’re in a season of planting or harvesting, we have to refrain from rushing. And I know that that feels exciting. And I know that that, I mean, I get caught up in it all the time, honestly. But acceleration, even if God is applying that to your situation, it’s probably not going to be as fast as you think it should be or you want it to be. Acceleration, might not even be what is needed to fulfill your kingdom assignment this year. So just be careful not to buy into that, I guess is what I’m saying, because I have and it’s really ⁓ caused me some angst and some difficulty because it goes against what God’s been challenging me with of slow and steady and simple. But what if slow and steady is actually better? Like what if simple and small actually brings God more glory? than acceleration. Everybody who’s trying to sell something, they focus on the fastest results, the biggest growth. It’s all about fast, big, more, right? But what is God really wanting from you right now? Because fast and big and more don’t always accomplish what he wants to accomplish. They don’t always bring him glory. 1 Chronicles 12 verse 32 mentions how the children of Issachar understood times and seasons. So because of that discernment, they were able to better lead the people. Like one of the scriptures, one of the ⁓ translations, excuse me, says ⁓ that they knew what Israel should do. And I think that that is so important. There’s so many Christians who have never developed discernment. They’ve never learned how to hear God speak. And so they don’t know when God is calling them to do They don’t know how to do it or when to do it because they haven’t learned how to lean into that Revelation and get that insight from the Lord So if you want to be all that God has designed you to be you have to Develop good wisdom. You have to develop discernment. You’ve got to tune your ears to hear the Lord You’ve got to practice hearing from him and grow that skill the book of James Talks about how if anyone lacks wisdom, they just have to ask God likes talking to his children. He wants to talk to you. He wants to show you his will. He wants to show you his timeline. He wants to give you the discernment that you need to succeed at your kingdom assignments. You just have to seek it and you got to take the time to sit and listen. Every year brings four seasons. That never changes. That’s how God set up the world. Nature shifts every few months from spring to summer to autumn to winter, and that cycle continues to repeat. I think that sometimes we forget We have those cycles in our own lives, not just on the physical earth with nature, but the rhythms inside of us. We are going to have seasons of planting, watering, harvesting, birthing, and that looks different for everybody. And it’s going to be longer or shorter depending on where you are in your journey. The seasons could last a couple of months or they could last a few years. And so we need to be on board with the way that the Lord has set that up and we need to partner with it instead of resisting it and trying to do things our own way. it’s February now, still the beginning of the year. Technically, this is a winter month, but that doesn’t mean every single believer is in a time of winter. You could still be in a season, you know, one of the other seasons. ⁓ But I’m just focusing on this because it is technically winter right now outside. And side note, I do have a few inches of snow here in the upstate South Carolina, which I was excited to get a little bit of snow this weekend, but I’m just focusing on winter because that’s where God has my heart right now and I think there’s gonna be many of you listening that can relate to this like winter Isn’t about doing nothing which was part of my confusion at first Winter is about pulling back slowing down, being still more often. It’s the opposite of busy. That’s what I feel like the Lord is showing me. It’s the opposite of striving and doing. And so many women have a hard time with boundaries and saying, no, like we put too much on our schedules and I’m guilty of this a lot. I like to think that I’ve grown in this area. I’m not quite as bad about it. I’ve created a lot more margin than I used to, but. So for me in January, you know, I really thought what God was asking of me was like to stop everything and kind of as I tried to lean into the discomfort, he showed me, well, not everything. Like he still wants me to go ahead and initiate this coaching group. ⁓ But he wanted me to pull back from the podcast. You know, I had only planned to take one or two weeks off and I ended up taking more than a month. so it’s winter is not a place where you never start anything new. Winter it’s just about ⁓ well any season. I mean it’s got to be about the way that God wants it done. So a small amount of activity is going to be necessary in the winter because you do have responsibilities, right? I just can’t quit housework and whatnot. But in general each season I just want to challenge you like as you’re going through things what what do need to lean into? Recognizing what the season is and then what does God want it to look like for you? Because it’s not going to look the same for everybody, right? So for me, I was supposed to start the small coaching group. I’ve done a couple sessions now. I absolutely loved it. I just really love teaching. I feel like God’s given me a heart and a passion for ⁓ helping people understand prayer. God specifically told me not to open up. this group for the public. He said no marketing, no hype, no drawing attention, no trying to book clients, no like he wants it to be small and simple right now and I don’t know why. I don’t understand it. ⁓ That’s not how I was trained to do it, right? When I went through my trainings. ⁓ But what I do know is that he has brought me to a place where I’m okay doing it his way, that I’m okay, that it looks different, that it’s not as big. and flashy and exciting But one thing that this past month of January has really taught me is that seasons are actually about heart posture. They’re not about activity, although that’s part of it because slowing down physically and making my body be still has helped me quiet down on the inside. It’s helped me slow down and be still on the inside. But what I am learning is that God takes us through different seasons of life ⁓ to develop maturity in us and that the four seasons that we are going to continue to encounter over and over in cycles, they’re about our attitudes. It’s about heart posture. It’s about leaning into the things that the Lord has for us in that season. So here are a few thoughts to explore as you go about your week. Do you know what season you’re in right now? Is it a time of spring, summer, autumn, or winter? Which one for you? would you say that you are leaning in to this particular season or would you say that you’ve been more resisting what the Lord wants to do? And then one last question. How can you develop more discernment around the ideas of seasons and heart posture and where God is taking you next? I just speak blessings over your journey, friend. See you next time