It’s still the year of shifting seasons and suddenlies. When I prophesied those words earlier this year, I had no idea just how many shifts and suddenlies I’d see!
My entire ministry shifted in a dramatic way. My personal relationships saw mega-shifts. I experienced more suddenlies than I can count on both hands. Truly, it was another year of transition for me and many others.
Maybe you’re still in transition. If so, remember what I said earlier this year: We can’t do God’s part, but God won’t do our part. Our part is to position ourselves for the shift—and that means creating a climate that sets the stage for God to move in our lives. We can’t shift our seasons—God does that. But we can create a climate that invites Him to do the work in our hearts that prepares us for the next season.
8 Keys to Competing Your Strategic Shift
With that, keep in mind that how well—and sometimes how quickly—you transition depends at least six things. I’ve discovered these principles to be true in the last three years of my new beginnings, birthings, shifting seasons and suddenlies.
1. How much do you trust God? You won’t follow a God you don’t trust. Many shifts—even shifts that bring increase and blessing into our life—can stretch us beyond our natural limits. They can take us far beyond our comfort zone. Trusting God means walking by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We can’t see God with our natural eyes, but we can discern Holy Spirit’s leading and follow Him in childlike faith, knowing even if we misread Him, He’s got our backs.
2. Do you know the Word? “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). If you want to build your faith for the shift, you need to meditate on the Word day and night (Joshua 1:8). And if you want to find good success in your transition, be careful to do what the Word says. Knowing and acting on the Word will help you through times of transition.
3. Are you yielded to the Spirit? James 4:7 (AMPC) tells us, “So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.” Yielding to the Spirit of God won’t eliminate all warfare in your shift, but it will produce peace in the storms that often come in times of transition.
4. How’s your prayer and fasting life? Prayer is our lifeline to God. Fasting crucifies our flesh. Together, these are a one-two punch against the carnal nature and the enemy’s spiritual weapons to steal our harvest. In times of transition, especially, we don’t always know how to pray as we ought. Praying in the spirit will build you up in your most holy faith (Jude 20) and speak mysteries (1 Cor. 14:2).
5. Are you on fire for God? Pursuing intimacy with God should be a lifestyle, not something we do when we’re desperate or in transition. When we live by Psalm 27—choosing to be a person of one thing—”we live, move and have our being” in Him (Acts 17:28a). We are more sensitive to His efforts to show us things to come (John 16:13).
6. Have you determined not to quit? Transitioning isn’t easy ,and there will be the temptation to quit and give up. You have to determine in your heart ahead of time that nothing will stop you from walking in God’s will. Remember Galatians 6:9 (AMPC), “And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.”
7. Whom are you aligned with? Your connections matter. A threefold cord is not easily broken (Eccl. 4:12). But if you are tied to the wrong people, you can unleash a bad flow in your life. If you are taking in ungodly counsel (Ps. 1:1) or walking with people with corrupt morals, it will affect your spiritual life (1 Cor. 15:33).
8. Look for the angels of transition. The Holy Spirit said this to me earlier this year: “Many neglect the angels of transition, and they bypass the help I have sent to transition them into the next stage of their journey. Many ignore the angels of transition and therefore fail to enter into the new place I have set aside for them at the appointed time. Many are working in their own strength, struggling in the flesh and failing to embrace the work of My angels on assignment to help them transition into the new thing. Look for the angels in times of transition.”
God is releasing the angels of abundant harvest. Get ready. Check out my new Charisma House book for 2017 at angelsprophecy.com. {eoa}
Stephen Strang 
Charisma Media Staff 
Charisma Staff