Changing the clocks forward once a year for Spring – for those of us that do – can be a little stressful. It causes us to get up an hour earlier than normal, often losing an hour of sleep we might normally have. We encounter a few grumpy people on the roads on Monday morning and some bleary eyes at work. Even for us early birds it can be a little difficult to adjust the first few days of the changeover. No doubt many of us would prefer that there was not a time-change at all, as some places have chosen to do, so that we wouldn’t have the disruption of our lives and schedules.

However, changing the clocks does herald the change of a season, doesn’t it? When it happens, we know that Spring is just around the corner. Winter is on its way out. Cold, cloudy days will soon behind us and sparse landscapes will be transformed as warm sunshine, blue skies, spring flowers and blossoming trees take their place.

Whether one changes the clocks or not, there is a time of transition before every new season. Temperatures change, weather changes, and other factors always announce a new season.

We also have new seasons in our everyday lives. And with each new season comes some type of transition. Before the exciting birth of a new child, a pregnancy occurs bringing a host of transitional changes. Before a teen becomes an adult, they go through a time of transition and growth. Before we embark on a new life journey, there’s a time of preparation.

These times of transition also bring their challenges, as do the changing of the clocks. And these challenges, if we allow them, can steal our daily joy. It is key during these transitions that we look beyond our challenges, and temporary set-backs, to what lies ahead. That we hold on to hope.

During this time before Easter as we consider the passion of Christ, we know that Jesus also went through a transition. A very, very difficult one. The Scripture says “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despised the shame, and is set down on the right hand of God.” What an amazing witness to the power of looking ahead. We may not know what the future holds, as Jesus did, but we can know that even during the toughest transitions ‘these things too shall pass’.

As you look forward to Spring, or the next season of your life, I encourage you to not allow the present challenges you face to steal your joy and peace. Look forward with hope and spring forward into joy. It’ll make all the difference to the quality and joy of your present and your future.