3 Signs God Is Transitioning You: Simple and Surprisingly Easy to Miss

Inside: These signs God is transitioning you will explain why you feel edgy and uncomfortable right now. Here’s how to know when big changes are coming, plus how to respond to them.

It got so I hugged the edge of the bed every night, trying to stay as far away from him as humanly possible. Sure, by then I’d felt for a while like I wasn’t good enough for him. But the truth is, I wasn’t running the risk of falling off my bed because of anything my boyfriend had done.

It was because God was changing my heart toward Him.

I’m a cuddler by nature. And this was the man I swore up and down that I loved above every other human on the planet. So me trying to create a continent of space between us in a king-sized bed? Such a big sign that God was transitioning me. Huge.

And I missed it. For years.

Why You’re Missing Signs That God Is Transitioning You

The truth is, my relationship was toxic. It had been for a long time but I didn’t see it because I didn’t want to. So I did everything I could over the last dying years we were together to save it.

I tried using my willpower to change myself so he’d love me more. I wrote a letter to my man about my feelings of failure and inadequacy. Heck, I even ditched long-time friends because he was jealous of them.

You can see the red flags and crystal-clear signs God was speaking to me—trying to tell me to move—all over the place. Yet I ignored every one of them.

You may be doing the same.

Maybe there are signs God is removing you from a job or a bad relationship. Or you may be wrestling with a general feeling like something’s missing from your life. Something more. Something better.

Related: 3 Guaranteed Signs God Is Trying To Get Your Attention

But if you’re like me, you’ve put on blinders because you assume the situation you’re in is the best option for you or the best you can have. Plus, the possibility of change—big or small—is scary to even consider.

So you subconsciously or deliberately ignore all the signs God is redirecting you. And instead, you tighten your grip on what you have now. Even if it’s misery and discomfort.

Because better the devil you know than the one you don’t, right?

How Do You Know When God Is Shifting You?

For me, sleeping on the edge of the bed was only the most recent sign God wanted to transition me.

You see, by putting myself in a situation where I lived with a man to whom I wasn’t married, I had compromised God’s standards for me. He wanted me to have the best, just like He wants for you, and this wasn’t it.

Of course, no one else thought my situation was a big deal. But God’s opinion was what mattered most, and I dismissed it for years.

But our God is gracious! And He never stopped sending signs He wanted to transition me.

Here are 3 signs God is moving you in a new direction. They’re simple and easy to miss so open your eyes and pay attention to what God is doing in your life.

Then stay tuned for a trick the enemy uses to keep you from noticing signs God is transitioning you.

1. You’re restless and questioning everything

You can be restless because you’re bored and need to shake things up with a new hobby, course, or haircut. This isn’t the restlessness we’re talking about here.

Or you can be restless because of problems coming at you due to life’s natural ups and downs and imperfections. This also isn’t the restlessness we’re talking about.

What we’re talking about here is the sleep-on-the-edge-of-the-bed type of restlessness. It’s you drifting at every opportunity into wondering what all this is for. It’s the restlessness where you know something is fundamentally wrong at a gut level. And you know only a life-changing shift will make things right again.

You see, when God is ready for you to move, He’ll make your situation uncomfortable. Suddenly you’ll feel dissatisfied with a status quo that was perfectly fine before.

Related: What’s Wrong With Me? 3 Simple Steps To More Fulfillment

2. Your wise friends are telling you the uncomfortable truth

If they knew about your struggle, most people in your friend circle would probably lecture you on how to be happy with yourself. They’d spout all the clichés about counting your blessings, and leave you feeling ungrateful and selfish.

But one sign God is transitioning you is when a wise friend drops truth bombs on you about your situation. These truth bombs—always dropped in love, never with malice—may be hard to hear and difficult to accept.

Back when I was hugging the edge of the bed every night and pretending to be happy, I finally broke down and spilled my pain to a wise friend about how my boyfriend kept hurting me emotionally. My gut was churning in a constant warning and I had to talk about it or explode.

My friend listened with compassion, then pointed out what I’d never noticed and what no one else had the courage or integrity to tell me: I was in a relationship with a master manipulator.

Before she said it, I honestly had no clue. But once it was out, the truth—and all the red flags—grabbed me by the throat and slapped me in the face.

I could have drowned under the tide of shame and grief washing over me. But more, I was grateful for my friend’s courage in telling me the uncomfortable truth I needed to hear.

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

Proverbs 27:6 (NLT)

Don’t dismiss or discount the truth your wise friends tell you because they’re uncomfortable. If you do, you’ll miss a sign God wants to redirect you.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity. It gives you 7 revealing questions to help break through your fog of confusion and decide what to do now.

3. You’re confronted with tough questions

When your life looks great from the outside, most of your friends will encourage you to stay the course and stick things out.

You may be miserable in your job, miserable at home, and miserable everywhere you go. But they won’t encourage you to be brave and search for new answers for what makes you happy.

This may be because your unhappiness makes them uncomfortable. After all, if they’re not careful, your dissatisfaction will infect them too, and they can’t have that.

But one of the easiest-to-miss signs God is transitioning you is when He sends you someone who breaks away from the pack and asks you tough questions about your situation. It may be from a friend, the host of your favorite podcast, or even through a random overheard conversation on the street.

Let’s revisit my days of sleeping on the edge of the bed as an example.

One Saturday morning after I’d just finished moaning over the phone to my wisest friend about my relationship angst, she point-blank asked me, “How do you know God doesn’t have someone better for you?”

This amazing question stunned me into silence, then into tears.

What an overwhelming thought! I pondered it for weeks because I’d never once considered the possibility of God providing better for me than I’d already provided for myself. But now I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

Fair warning, though. God’s way isn’t usually comfortable or easy. But He’ll pay you back in spades with the freedom you gain from trusting in Him and ditching your plan for His.

But Be Warned…

I promised to tell you about a trick the enemy uses to keep you from noticing signs God is transitioning you.

The trick is called distraction.

The truth is, if you stop being scared and open your eyes, you’ll notice way more than these 3 signs God is transitioning you. But once you notice them, you’ll also face distractions meant to keep you trapped.

My distraction from the sleeping-on-the-edge-of-the-bed sign God was changing my direction was a marriage proposal. Because by the time it came, I knew if I was going to hitch my wagon to someone, my heavenly Father would want for it to be a godly man.

My partner was as far from godly as the East is from the West. Yet I said yes to his proposal and let the enemy distract me from all the signs God was pushing me into something better.

Your distraction could be a promotion keeping you trapped in a job or career God wants you to move on from. Or sudden positive feedback in a relationship that usually makes you feel unworthy. Or recognition and rewards which boost your ego and entice you to stay where you are.

All these distractions are sneaky because they look like positive developments in your life.  But the biggest distraction isn’t sneaky at all. It’s obvious and dangerous and almost always ignored.

The biggest distraction is fear! 

If you let it, fear will keep you stuck when God is shifting you. It will make you sabotage yourself and miss the bright future God has for you.

How to Resist Fear When God Is Transitioning You

Great news: you don’t have to let fear distract you from signs God is redirecting you! Instead, recognize this dream-stealing tactic and don’t let it take you down.

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

James 4:6-8 (NLT)

When fear of change or uncertainty threatens to engulf you, pray through and about your fear. Become a prayer warrior (here are some Bible stories about prayer if you need them), knowing God hears your prayers, always.

Then get quiet, listen to what He says, let His Holy Spirit calm your fear and infuse you with courage.

A Resource for Recognizing Signs God Is Transitioning You

Here’s the thing: you’ll easily miss signs God is moving you in a new direction if you’re not dialed into Him—to who He is and how He works. You can only do this when you deepen your relationship with God.

Straight up, you’ll never live out what God is transitioning you into if you don’t do your part to build up your relationship with Him. You can’t stay on the surface with Him, expecting a shallow relationship to bring deep, transformative results.

Instead, you need to dive deep with Him so you can set yourself up to recognize signs God is transitioning you when they come.

The 21-Day Relationship with God Devotional is your guide for using the Word to go deeper with Him. Each day, it walks you through a passage or bible verse to help you take your spiritual growth to the next level.

Get the Relationship with God Devotional and use it so you’re always ready to discern and act on signs God is redirecting you.

What Happens When You Let God Transition You

A few months after I noticed myself hugging the edge of the bed; after my wise friend hit me with the uncomfortable truth about my situation; and after she asked me one wise, mind-blowing question…I finally surrendered and let God transition me out of the relationship.

At first, I felt liberated and on top of the world. Then I felt scared and unsure about my next steps. But I couldn’t make myself turn back. I just couldn’t do it!

Instead, I started a lifelong journey of drawing ever closer to God, praying through my fear, and walking into the next transition God has for me. It’s always uncomfortable and sometimes it’s hard but I do it anyway.

And you know what? I’ve never regretted it. Not once. How can I, when every transition transforms me more into the woman He always meant for me to be?

As for you…if you choose to believe God, if you choose to have faith and trust in Him, and if you choose to let go of what you’re clinging to now and open your eyes to the numerous signs God is transitioning you? My darling, He’ll move you into new seasons that are beautiful beyond your wildest imaginings.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 (NLT)

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