Between Hallways: The In-Between Seasons

The Hallway Between Houses

Some seasons we don’t feel like we are moving forward or even resting. It feels like standing in a long hallway. You’ve left one house, but you have not arrived at the next. The old place is familiar; even if it wasn’t healthy. You knew where everything was. You knew all the hiding places. The new place is unknown and that is unsettling, especially for those who learned early that safety comes from control, preparation, and self-protection.

In those hallway seasons, humility becomes a powerful weapon. Not the kind of false humility that says, “I’m small and insignificant,” but the kind that says, “I don’t have to defend myself right now. Even if I don’t know what’s in the next house, I know whose

I am and Who is moving me.” Offense often rises from wounded identity, from the need to protect what already feels fragile. Humility quiets that reflex and creates space for God to meet us as we are.

Sometimes, the most spiritual thing we can do in that space is remind our own souls to praise. Not because we feel strong or grateful, but because we’re exhausted, spiritually and emotionally. A simple, “Thank You, Jesus” offered through fatigue is not small. Scripture tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. Praise does not deny pain, but it does it reorient us. It pulls our focus away from what hurts and reminds us where our authority actually comes from.

Shame complicates hallway seasons. Those of us who have lived with shame and trauma often try to pack everything from the old house, just in case. We overthink. We distract ourselves. We numb out. We tell ourselves we need more time, more clarity, more information before we can move forward. What we are really doing is trying to avoid vulnerability.

Here is the truth, there is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is circumstantial, it comes and goes based on what is happening around us. Joy is different. Joy is a gift from God. Joy is part of the Holy Spirit. Joy is something we can draw from even when the hallway feels long and lonely. I say, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” That strength isn’t found in knowing what’s next, it’s found in trusting Who walks with us now.

God does not rush us through the hallway. He does not demand we know how to decorate the next house before we get there. He asks us to be present. To let go of what no longer belongs. To carry only what He asks us to carry.

If you’re here right now, standing between what was and what will be, you’re not failing. You are transitioning.

Talk to Him. Write it out. Journal where you are in the process. Name what you are avoiding. Notice what you are ready to trade.

Prayer

Father God, Thank You for meeting us in the in-between places. Forgive us for trying to control what You’re asking us to trust. Where shame tells us to hide, help us choose humility instead. Where fear urges us to pack everything from the past, show us what belongs in the next season. Teach us to live in this moment, to praise You here, and to trust that You are already waiting for us on the other side.

Amen.