Accepting & Embracing Change

I’ve been thinking a lot about change in the last few days.
Mark Twain is quoted as saying “nobody like’s change, except a wet baby”.  Whether he said this or not, the underlying premise is pretty well right! Humans, in general, love to keep the status quo, we love to have neat, controlled and predictable environments, so we resist change.  This is normal, natural, but seldom helpful!

Change is hard, and it is especially hard when it comes without warning.  Even small changes – like changing your hairstyle – can be difficult.  But the big changes, the ones that fill us with excitement, fear, dread, pain, or longing; those changes, are almost always hard to accept and adjust to.  With our tendencies towards the status quo, change in whatever form can be unwelcome, it can cause grief, it can dash our dreams, it can unravel our plans and undermine our sense of certainty and peace.  

With change being such a difficult thing for us to deal with, you won’t be surprised to find that the Bible has a lot to say about the topic.  In fact, throughout the bible we get the sense of God being the God change, the God of the new:

• new covenant (Jer. 31:31; Luke 22:20)
• new commandment (John 13:34)
• new life (Acts 5:30)
• new creations (2 Cor. 5:17)
• new name (Isa. 62:2; Rev. 2:17)
• new self (Col. 3:10)
• new birth (1 Peter 1:3)
• the hope of a “new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1; Isa. 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13)
• New compassions every morning  (Lam. 3:23)

We see God lead individuals away from what they know into unknown circumstances, challenges and even trials (eg Abram, Moses, Jonah, Ezekiel and the 12).  At other times God moves whole people groups like during the exodus or the exile to Babylon.  Sometimes God simply changes individuals or or individual circumstances as part of His greater plans and purposes (like Joseph, Gideon, Ruth, Esther, Daniel or Mary).  In each of these circumstances, lives and communities (and in so many others) God uses the changes to grow the individual, to accomplish the extraordinary, and to extend his kingdom.  So if change is inevitable in the life of the believer, then to what certainty, what rock, can we stand on or anchor our hope?  The Bible tells us that God is the one constant in an ever changing world, that he alone is the solid rock on which we can stand or find anchor because:

• God does not change (Hebrews 13:8, Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19)
• God’s love does not change (Psalm 136:26, John 4:8)
• God’s purposes never change (2Peter3:9, Jeremiah 29:11, Revelation 21:3-4.)
• God’s presence never changes (Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:9, Hebrew 13:5, John 14:16)
• God’s word never changes (Psalm 119:89, Matt 5:18, Matt 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:31) 

So what does all this mean for us today when change comes knocking? 
It means that we can have confidence in seeking direction, comfort and guidance from God.
It means we can trust in his purpose and plan for our lives.
It means that we have something and someone solid and unchangeable on which we can stand and build.
It means that we can find true contentment in all circumstances, knowing that the one beckoning us forward is ultimately sovereign and in control.

I pray that you find comfort and confidence in knowing that the unchanging God who we know, love and serve, is the one who is beckoning us forward to places unknown, always guiding us, and steadying us as we trust in him alone.

Grace & peace
Jen