Inspiration Station: Transition — Trusting God in the In-Between

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🎤 Host: Mista Yu
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We explore the in‑between—the hallway between what was and what’s next—and why transition is preparation, not punishment. We break down the three stages of transition (release, resist, receive), share stories that make the middle make sense, and offer questions and practices to move forward with faith.

• the in‑between as the place where character grows
• transition as preparation, not punishment
• faith when the map is unclear
• three stages of transition: release, resist, receive
• letting go of good things that are no longer God things
• waiting well without isolating
• developing capacity to receive new assignments
• five reflection questions for next steps
• practical anchors: scripture, community, small obediences

Scripture References

• Isaiah 43:18–19 — “Forget the former things; behold, I am doing a new thing.”
• Deuteronomy 31:8 — “The Lord goes before you and will never leave you.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 — “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.”
• Romans 8:28 — “All things work together for good to those who love God.”

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“Share this episode with someone walking through change — because every transition has purpose when God’s in it.”

#InspirationStation #FaithInTransition #ChristianMotivation #SpiritualGrowth #PurposeDrivenLife #FindingPurpose  #EveryDayEdgeCoaching

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Today’s Focus: Transition
• 1:20 Why the In‑Between Matters
• 3:15 Faith as the Key to Change
• 5:40 Three Stages: Release, Resist, Receive
• 7:16 Release: Letting Go of What Was
• 12:10 Resist: Waiting Without Withdrawing
• 16:20 Receive: Ready for New Capacity
• 22:59 Reflection Questions & Next Steps
• 27:59 Closing Encouragement & Prayer

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:35

Welcome back to the coming with you and the Inspiration Station podcast. Thanks again for watching and listening. We definitely appreciate your support of this broadcast. We talk faith, we talk purpose, we talk growth for everyday leaders here. So we thank you to taking the time to listen to our show and tune in to this voice today. So definitely appreciate that. I'm your host, Mr. U. And today, yeah, we're gonna go a little bit deeper than normal. Uh, today's episode is about transition and that space between what was and what's next, you know, that middle ground. And if you're honest about that, that's one of the hardest places for us to live. Somebody say, Amen. You know the saying, God never shuts one door without opening another door. Well, we hear a lot of sayings like this, uh, and most of them are true, but what they never talk about is the little uh vestibule or the hallway in between. Uh, there's a book that I've been checking out that I love. It's uh it's a pretty big book, but it really touches on uh transition in a very deep way. Um the author is Craig Cooney, and the book is called Attention of Transition. You know, it's it's quickly becoming my favorite book for a lot of different reasons, but I think because it really gets into the parts that we don't talk about. I mean, transition is not something that we really discuss. Uh, when it is discussed, it's kind of discussed in passing. We don't get deep into it, but that's where the deepness is. It's not where you are and what you're trying to get to, it's really the in between. That's where life is lived, that's where lessons are learned, that's where character is built, it's in the in-between. The in-between is the space or the transition, it's the space between assignment and arrival, between clarity and calling, between the promise you receive and the position that you actually attain when you get to the promise. And the truth is that most people want to try to skip that part. If I'm talking to you, it's not intentional, but it's intentional. That's the place that we want to skip. We want to skip the in-between. We love looking at these people who are so-called celebrities and high risers and those that have accomplished great things in life that we think is valuable, but nobody wants to talk about what they did in between. We just want to just get to where they are. We want to go through what they went through, and that's not how it works. We want the new thing God's promised us, but we don't want the promise, or I should say the process to get us there. We want the new thing God's promised us, but we don't want the process that helps us to get there. So, tension isn't punishment, right? What if it's preparation? See, transition is more than just a change in a situation, it's supposed to transform us, it's supposed to be all about transformation. On our one-on-one with Mr. U interview show, I have learned so much from people who share their compelling stories on that show. And I'm hearing this from people all literally all around the world, all around the globe. And their stories are so impactful to me personally, even as their host, because the transition that they go through, it changes them in some way. And I always love to stay and spend some time in the episode on that because we can talk about your upbringing, your childhood, where you came from, what was life like for the young version of you, and we could talk about what you've achieved, the accolades, the TED Talk stages you've been on, all the things, the books that you've written, the companies you founded. But I love the part in between, the part where you could transform, where you were actually changed. Change happens to you, transition happens in you. I love this. You could be changing jobs, relationships, even locations, but transition is what happens inside when God starts rearranging your heart and your mindset and even the habits, disciplines that you have to begin to match the next assignment. It's actually not just a change in you, but it's also a preparation for what's next. So we think transition is just us getting out of where we are so we can get to the next thing, but there's some things that gotta happen inside of you, character-wise, integrity-wise, mindset-wise, to get ready for the next assignment for the next thing. Craig Cooney says, transition is uncomfortable because you can't live in yesterday and tomorrow at the same time. I'm gonna say that again for those in the back. I know you missed it. Catch it this time. Craig Cooney says, the transition is uncomfortable because you can't live in yesterday and tomorrow at the same time. That's powerful right there. That's powerful right there. Look at Genesis chapter 12. Excuse me. God says, for him to leave his country, leave his people, everything he knew that was familiar to him, his father's household, everything, and go to a land that I'm gonna show you. I mean, he didn't have no GPS, no map for the location, no timeline, how long it's gonna take me to get there. All he had was faith. And I believe that faith is key in every single transition. You're not getting around it. If you don't have faith, if you can't obey in the dark, then you can't obey when the lights get turned on. Trusting God in transition, navigating change with faith. That's what a new season is gonna look like for those that believe. And we gotta recognize that transition is not our enemy, it's our friend. Transition is not a hard schoolmaster, it's our teacher, it's our instructor. Let's try to break this down a little bit more. I want to get into a few things that we want to talk about regarding transition, because transition has a few stages I want to talk about. Three stages to be exact. One is release, one is resist, and one is receive. If you are in a place where you're writing that down, you're taking notes, because I know there's some people who watch our show or listen to our shows that love to take notes. I hear about you guys, and I love that you're doing that. So that's really cool. So, release, resist, and receive. These are three stages we're gonna talk about before this episode closes out. Release, resist, and receive. So, what's release? What are we talking about here? Letting go of what was. Probably one of the hardest parts of the transitional stage for us. Letting go of what was. I got a crazy story I want to share with you guys. When I first moved from uh my hometown of New York down to the south, what I did, and I don't know where this came from, it wasn't something that my mother taught me. I don't know where it came from, but I had a mindset that you know what? When I start fresh, I start fresh. I get rid of everything for the most part, and I move on to whatever the new thing's gonna be, and I just try to get a fresh start. I don't want to bring the old mindsets, I don't want to bring old perspectives and old memories. I just get rid of that stuff. Isaiah 43:18 says, forget the former things and do not dwell on the past. Now that passage is uh profound and it's very well known. It's not why I did what I did, why I approached what I approached, but my wife and I still laugh about it today because when I move, we move from home to apartment to home and where we from Florida to South Carolina and everywhere. I was ready to just get rid of everything that I had for the most part, with some exceptions, but stuff like old clothes, just old memories and stuff. I I would get rid of it. And I just feel as though that it was hard for me to step into what's next if my hands were still attached to old stuff. And just my mindset that may not be yours, but hopefully you understand my heart with that. Doesn't mean that your past didn't didn't matter, doesn't mean it doesn't mean totally erase all of the skills and accolades and accomplishments you've made, all the strides that you made in your life in the past. But but it just it just, I guess for me, it just can't define your next move. It can't define what comes next. Letting go is not easy, it definitely hurts in a lot of ways, especially when what you're releasing isn't a bad thing, it's a good thing. It just may not be a God thing. I'm gonna say that again. It's not a it's not that it's a bad thing, it could be a good thing, but it's just not a God thing. And everything that's good is not God, but everything that's God is definitely good. Sometimes it's just done. Sometimes you gotta just move on from that thing. Think about Moses. He had to leave a comfy situation in a palace before he can lead God's people out of slavery and bondage. David had to leave what to some degree was the comfort of the pasture, dealing with the sheep. It wasn't a uh a great job. We talked about it on multiple podcasts, on multiple platforms, but he had to leave that in order to wear the crown of royalty and to sit on the throne as king, and obviously one of the greatest kings that ever lived. He had to leave the pasture to get there. The things that are comfortable, we have to release those things in order to get what we need to have, what's promised to us, what helps to forge our destiny. Ask yourself a question. What am I holding on to that's keeping me from moving forward? Don't go and take that to somebody else who before you ask yourself the question. We're talking about releasing and letting go of what was. What are you holding on to that's keeping you from moving forward? What are you holding on to that's keeping you from moving forward? That's critical. Ask yourself that question one more time. What am I holding on to that's keeping me from moving forward? Let's talk about resisting. This is crazy. But you're literally in the middle. You've already let go, you already released those things that need to be released. But now you're in the holding pattern now. You're in the Lord, when are you gonna come through season? You're in the I'm sitting here and waiting, I'm obedient, but I'm not hearing anything, I'm not seeing anything, nothing's happening. I don't feel anything shaking. Deuteronomy 31 and 8 reminds us the Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Comforting scripture for most believers. Hopefully, it's comforting you as well. Joseph lived in this phase. He was sold by his own brothers, which was jacked up, locked up for a crime he didn't commit, forgotten by the cupbearer who was in prison with him, who was arguably his way out of jail. But that middle ground was not a waste of time. It was not wasted space for him. It was molding him to be able to rule in the palace. So if you're in the middle, which many of us are right now, I'd hear from friends, uh, coaching clients, people who I'm in uh mentorship and accountability groups with, and I hear that they're in the middle between prophecy and promise. Think about that now. You heard the word, you heard what was supposed to be full for spoken over you, and now you're waiting to get there. You're in the you're right in the middle of it. God hasn't abandoned you, you're being developed in the dark. I love sharing this story. I've shared it on multiple shows. I think mostly on Inspiration Station, but we talked about how we have a massive garden in our backyard. Uh, we're in a subdivision, so that's not an easy task to do that. We gotta fight the birds okay, they steal everything that we grow sometimes. But what we learned is that when we put that seed in the ground, this is not uh a new concept. You guys probably already are aware of this. If you know anything about agriculture, you're aware of this. You put seeds in the ground, it has to be concealed by the soul, they have to be completely covered, they can't be anyway where it's exposed, it has to be completely submerged in the dirt. And when what's happening while we're watering and it's getting sunlight, what's happening is that it's growing, it's just growing in the dark, it's developing in the dark. That seed is just like where you are in this waiting period, in the middle, while you're resisting the temptation of going back to what you released and not quite able to go forward into what you believe is for you. You're waiting on God's time and you're in transition, but you're operating in faith during that time. You're waiting. You're in a waiting season, you're trusting. That's what's happening right now. Last phase of transition. Receive. This is the one everybody's excited about. You love this part. You went through the hard time of releasing those things, and then you went to the part where you had to go through a waiting season and wait for the promise. Watch everybody around you get theirs and you haven't gotten yours yet. Am I speaking truth to you guys or what? Is that real? Is that authentic? Eventually, transition ends in transformation. That's the promise. We know that's gonna happen. If you're in transition, transformation is gonna be on the other side of this thing. If you're willing to receive what's coming up next. There are people who I've heard about this, I heard about their stories. They came into a lot of money, they came from uh humble upbringings, and they came into a lot of money, and then you know what they did? They decided to live on the streets. Everybody that's homeless is not in this situation, it's just specific situations about people who have realized that they didn't want the pressure, they didn't want the temptation, they didn't want to be in a place where they were beholden to so many people shareholders and all those things like that. So they decided to live in obscurity, still have their money, or they donate it and give it away. I've heard both sides of those stories. But what does that mean? You call them crazy, you might call them stupid, but the point is this is that they were in a transitional stage, stepping into the promise, the place, the new place that they were ready to receive, but not ready to receive, and because they weren't willing to receive it, they just forfeited everything that they had. 2 Corinthians 5 and 17 says, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all things are made new. 2 Corinthians 5 and 17 says again, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all things are made new. That's not a one-time event right there. That's really a lifestyle of renewing yourself. That's a lifestyle of mind change, that's a lifestyle of healthy habits and disciplines and living a life that is essentially renewed. You know, living like this is a new situation and not, you know, allowing the old thing to creep in and dictate what and where you are are going to be. Every time that God shifts us, we're looking at a capacity upgrade. Every time that we are in a shift, we talk about shifts, especially in a prophetic realm, and we talk about it as if it's like, you know, oh, we uh we're in a shift, we're moving on to you, but do we really do we really recognize what's happening right now? When you when you get a shift, or when you when you're in the middle of a shift, you're upgrading your capacity. That means that you're making room for more. And people say they want more until more shows up, they're like, wow, I don't think I want this, or I didn't expect this, or this is not specifically what I was asking for. This is more. This is what more looks like. When you're in that shift that we talk about so often, your capacity is being upgraded. And you pray for new opportunities, new relationships in your life, you wanted new blessings. Are you ready to receive them? New blessings means new behavior, new blessings means new discipline. New blessings means a new mindset. A new season requires that we become new in our approach to stewardship. If you're ready to say, I'm ready to receive, say that. Say, I'm ready to receive. If you're ready to receive the new blessings and the new seasons and the new stewardship that comes with it, say I'm ready to receive. There was a season when God told me to walk away from something that wasn't working. Let me rephrase that because that's easy. There was a season when God told me to walk away from something that was working. There was nothing wrong with it in my assessment. It was fine, it wasn't broken, it wasn't bad, it was just over. And as a matter of fact, I've heard that many times. That Abraham account I gave you wasn't exactly the same because his family were idol worshippers, and that situation may have been working for him, but it wasn't working for God, if you know what I mean. But I had many accounts, and maybe you do too. Think about those right quick. Where God told you to walk away from something that was working, it wasn't broken, it wasn't bad, it was just done. Those are hard, hard conversations with God, those are hard, hard seasons to walk through. For a while, I thought, you know what? I might be missing this. Maybe I made the wrong move. I mean it's working. Why wouldn't God want this? I mean, it's going so well. Why wouldn't He care about this continuing? But looking back, I really sincerely feel like the loss that I experienced was actually more of a launch. A chapter had to be closed so that I can walk into the next assignment with even a greater level of capacity. There's that word again, clearer vision, and just uh a dependence. A dependence on God, not on people, not on stuff, but on God. And I think at the end of the day, that's what that hallway, that in-between, that's what God teaches us. Dependence. Craig Hooley said again in transition, you may feel displaced, but you are not misplaced. If you're listening today and you feel unseen, I think a lot of us can relate to that. If you feel unseen, if you feel unheard, if you feel like you're in the in-between, hear me clearly on this one. If you feel unseen or unheard, you feel like you're in that in-between kind of stuck, God sees you right now. He knows where you are. And despite how it may feel by being in this dark, as some of us might call it, he's preparing you for what's next. You can't perceive it, you don't understand it, and most of all, you can't see it right now, but he's preparing you for what's next. My encouragement to you as we get closer to closing episode out today is one, if you're a believer, stay grounded in scripture. The word reminds us that what's constant when everything changes is the word. The word is with the anchor for our souls. We gotta stay tight. Joshua 1 and 9 is a great scripture to read. Romans 8 and 28, fantastic scripture to read for times like these. Next point, don't get isolated, stay in connection. I'm not saying stay in a group of people who are just doing whatever, things you're not comfortable with. That's not what I'm saying. Hear me clear, hear me well. I'm not saying stay connected with people who are not serving where you need to be in your life right now, in your spiritual and personal growth right now. I'm just saying don't isolate. Because your perspective gets distorted when you isolate. You don't think you don't see things quite clear. Even in your own life, you don't see it quite clear. You can be in isolation, and I've seen this with people who were either friends or mentees of mine, or people who were coaching clients of mine. They were in isolation in their life, and that's why they had me, that's why they hired me as a coach or a mentor. And I come in unbiased, don't know the situation, come in with an unbiased view, and I can see things that they can't see, and they're actually in it every day, 24-7-365. They're in it every day, and they can't see what I walked in off of the streets and saw. Isolation distorts your perspective. You're gonna be tempted to withdraw because transition is hard. Being in the middle without any kind of guidance or even any kind of regular updates is hard. Surrounding yourself with people who are faith-filled and not fear-filled. Stay connected to people who help to serve your destiny and your purpose and help build you up and not tear you down. Take the next step. Whether that is that you're gonna be here, because you're gonna hear it soon. Take the next step. Believe that your faith and your obedience is gonna open doors because it will. Before we wrap up with this, I want to reflect on kind of what we've been talking about a little bit and ask you a few questions to think about. If you're writing this down, I try to say it real slow so you don't miss it. Number one, what transition are you walking through right now? What transition are you walking through right now? Number two, what's one thing God might be asking you to release? What's one thing God might be asking you to release? Number three, where do you feel the most tension and how can you invite God's peace there? Where do you feel the most tension and how can you invite God's peace there? Number four, who's walking this journey with you? Don't go alone. Who's walking this journey with you? That's an important one to me. Not because I'm a coach and I need new clients. I do, and I am, but that's not why I'm saying this. I just recognized how many, how much futility is in the lives of people who have thought in their mind that I'm gonna walk this journey all by myself. I don't need anybody's help. I got my mama and my daddy and my grandma, I'm good. And it's really it hasn't been effective for them along the way. You need that unbiased eye, that that shoulder, that person who's not so invested that they can't see straight in order to help you. They could be a little further down the journey than you are, they could be a mentor or a coach, they could be an accountability partner. You can decide what that looks like. We can talk about it more offline if you'd like to, or my links in the show notes. But who's walking the journey with you? Do not go alone. And last thing number five, what step of faith can you take this week to move toward what's next? What step of faith can you take this week to move toward what's next? Take some time today to pray and sit with these questions. Uh, call reflection questions. You know why? Because you have to take time to reflect. You can't speed through this. Take some time to reflect on these five questions. I believe that they're valuable. When you write those answers down, you're gonna be like, wow, where have I been at? So I want you to close with this far this truth right here. Transitions are invitations, they're not interruptions. Think about that. This is not about you living your best life. You're gonna have the best, you're gonna have you're gonna have the best in life. You're gonna live a life that's gonna be worth remembering by others when you're gone. But transition is an invitation, not an interruption. You're learning God's way, you're not losing your way, you're learning a new way. Last quote by Craig Cooney, fantastic book, The Transition. I'm sorry, the The Tension of Transition. I got it backwards, excuse me. Craig Cooney's book, The Tension of Transition. Here's the last quote. The hallway isn't wasted space, it's holy ground. Ooh, I love that. The hallway isn't wasted space, it's holy ground. No matter what season you're in right now, whether you're letting go, waiting in the hallway, or stepping into something new. Remember, God is faithful in every phase. Believe that. Philippians 1 and 6 says, He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Thank you so much for watching and listening. Father, thank you for being constant when everything around us shifts. We trust you, we welcome you into the new thing that we're doing as we sit in the hallway waiting on you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for watching and listening. Have a great day. Thank you.