There are only a few certainties in life, but one thing is for sure…change is gonna come. Depending on our history, the types of changes we encounter, and our perspective, we can determine what we make of change.
Here are three perspectives on change…
1. For some, change is frightening, uncomfortable, and something to avoid.
Change means bad.
Perhaps an unexpected event happened and life as she thought she knew of it, was all of a sudden not so. This association with change can stick in our mental weaving if we allow it.
Perhaps he had to move all the time as a child… his home went into foreclosure each time dad lost a job. Moving equals scary now.
Or, he got let go from a job and now any change to employment triggers anxiety. Change means he isn’t good enough.
Maybe she found out she’s pregnant and although she’s overjoyed at the thought of this, shadow memories of a miscarriage remind her of her bodily changes and it’s painful beyond description. Pregnancy changes equal anguish.
“Please, lord …no more change, she says here. It’s just not what I need or want …”
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
– 2 Timothy 1:7
2. Some accept change because they know it’s inevitable and it gives them opportunities to grow.
It’s neither good nor bad- it just is what it is. There’s a healthy normalization assigned to the experience.
Change means what it means and it’s acceptable.
This is when she gets married and her heart breaks and rejoices at the same time. She leaves the comfort of her family of origin and onto the new life ahead.
He graduates college and misses “his people”, but he lands a job he worked hard to get.
She has a baby and life changes dramatically – little sleep, new worries, but oh, how precious. She can’t imagine life without her bundle of joy.
This is rational and good. Come what may. I’ve got this. God’s got my back. Bring it.
Bitter sweetness.
In a perfect world. We’d live here. There’s a healthy give and takeaway.
“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
– Ecclesiastes 3:1
3. Others beg for change. This is where daily life is physically and emotionally painful. This is when living in each second gets us through to the next.
These are my people. This is my tribe.
I’ve had all three perspectives, but I can identify the most right here. And Lord, don’t you let me forget it.
Change is a beggar’s prayer.
Friends, I get it…
Words can say, “it won’t always be this way.” But it feels like there’s no way out.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
-1 Cor 10:13
Someone whispers to her (with a concerned look) the old faithful, “ This too shall pass.” She rolls her eyes and thinks of the sheer length, magnitude, and muddy perspective of her trials. “God doesn’t see me and neither does anyone else.” She might say to herself. She might even get angry and find her own way to cope. Her pain seemingly costs more. One moment of “happiness” to escape the feeling of emptiness and pain is what she might barter. She’s human, isn’t she…
This is where cruelty of life can linger.
Where parents see their children suffering of illnesses in longevity with little hope of earthly healing.
Where a husband watches his young wife die of cancer when he imagined he’d be sitting with his arm around her in the church pew on a Sunday morning.
Where a child is sexually abused by a relative and she cannot comprehend why this is happening and why no one is stopping it.
This pain exists, friends. If we haven’t been through it, praise God. But we need to know it exists. We don’t have to go far to find someone in this kind of pain…
This is where we beg and plead for God to make a change.
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
-Psalm 34:18
Change. It’s circumstantial and different for all of us. But, it will come.
And out of the few certainties we have in life, one is particularly worth highlighting. Jesus doesn’t change.
I know it can feel like a kick in the gut to read this. How cliche of a Christian to throw that out there, right?
Once we put our faith and trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are saved and sealed. NOTHING can change that.
His perspective on change is something we cannot even grasp because He sees into eternity. He knows the truth about where we our saved souls will be! But, He also cares for what we are going through in the present and realizes our limitations to fully comprehend what He does.
Don’t loose hope, Dear One. You will get through this and it will be through the recourse of change. Come what may, let God be your anchor and stability through it all.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.”
-Hebrews 13:8
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.”
– Hebrews 6:19
Love Hebrews 13:8. Yes, HE is!!
Amen!