Middles will never be my favorite—not even with a pan of brownies! The middle feels uncertain, and the transition from one shore to another may even become turbulent and dangerous. In our marriages and families, in our careers, and in our ministries, life’s shifting seasons can be disorienting.
In times of shifting seasons, we’re tempted to double down on strategies that worked in the past, to chase success, or to withdraw in despair, convinced that our best days are over.
“Our only goal in life can’t be incremental improvement. That’s a losing battle. It’s more about seeking to thrive in every season whatever limitations we may have and depending on God through all the transitions and crises.” Levi Lusko
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In Blessed Are the Spiraling, Levi Lusko employs personal stories and biblical wisdom to reassure his readers that life’s shifting seasons can be a place of building rather than breaking. When he reached middle age, he began to suffer from panic attacks. Questions about his significance and his future stormed through his mind and sent him spiraling.
The death of his daughter, combined with a grueling schedule of travel and ministry had taken their toll on his body and spirit. The pandemic completed the perfect storm, but Lusko’s spiraling anxiety sent him in the right direction of seeking new strategies for a new season.
He wisely points readers to the church as the natural context for navigating both our days of growth and success and our days of diminishing capacity. Somewhere along the way, Christians bought into a narrative of continual success, gleaming smiles, and answers to prayer that show up just in the nick of time. Lusko counters this fairy tale with bracing reality:
“Our only goal in life can’t be incremental improvement, for that is a losing battle. It is more about seeking to thrive in every season, whatever limitations we may have, and depending on God through all the transitions and crises.”
Blessed Are the Spiraling covers heavy topics with a light touch. I smiled when I encountered pop culture Easter eggs sprinkled throughout, and I really enjoyed Lusko’s fresh interpretation of familiar scriptural themes. I bookmarked his musical recommendations and checked them out on YouTube.
The truth we all need playing on repeat in our minds comes from God’s Word: Everyone will encounter transitions that knock us off balance. We prepare for them in advance by accepting the grace of each new season and then running faithfully, loving our people well, and keeping our eyes on eternal rewards.
What Other Reviewers Are Saying
“If you are someone searching for significance in your life or you’re going through a season of change, then this is the book for you.” ~Sadie Robertson Huff
“Forget everything you thought you knew about the textbook ‘mid-life crisis.’ This book is a game-changer for anyone navigating life’s transition.” ~Tim Tebow
Holding You in the Light,
Blessed Are the Spiraling by @levilusko covers heavy topics with a light touch. Personal stories and biblical wisdom reassure readers that life’s shifting seasons can be a place of building rather than breaking.@WPubGroup
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Oh this is one I really struggle with. I hate change so much. I mean I try to embrace it and trust and just go with it but my anxiety always ticks up anyway.
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I sympathize. Traveling into the unknown pushes all my buttons!
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I’ve always found those major life adjustments to be challenging. So much that’s become familiar and tried and true is pulled out from under us. We flail so easily. This is when we find out how good God is, how steady, faithful, and rock solid. So much solace in these truths.
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Flailing is such a picturesque description of what happens. It’s like our feet come out from underneath us spiritually!
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Change is hard – and that’s usually because where I am has become so comfortable. The other day, I was sitting at the table with my husband, one of my sons and his fiance – and I thought, “Life is soooo sweet right now. I could settle into this season for the rest of my life” – another time I felt that, thought that – and, oh, a new season came, with challenges, and soul building. I didn’t realize that then. The other day, when I thought those thoughts, it was as though a pigeon had arrived with a note tied around it’s leg, letting me know a new season of learning, growing was starting. God doesn’t want us comfortable because He knows our comfortable is just crumbs of what He has planned.
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I’m finding your words both sweet and sad, and I’m putting off reading a post in my inbox titled “When Your Best Years Are Behind You.”
It’s true—God wants us to find our security in him, not in our setting, no matter how comfy.
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