Take A Chance On Change

Nothing New

In my quiet time this morning, I realized I was sitting on a twenty-five-year-old couch, looking at faux-finish painted walls that were all the rage about twenty-five years ago, wearing a robe that is, you guessed it, twenty-five years old.

I do not like change—even if it’s my idea! But just because I hate change does not mean it doesn’t happen anyway.

Things break and wear out. Children grow up and move away. Friends take on new interests and invite us to join them or leave us behind. Opportunities evolve and disintegrate.

Change is inevitable. 

Change serves God’s purpose: it is how he gets our attention and grows our faith in him. Without change, we can get stuck in patterns and habits that become familiar, self-reliant, and possibly destructive.

In Exodus 9, God commanded the shepherd Moses, a man with a speech impediment, to return to Egypt, a land he’d fled to avoid prosecution for murder, to talk Pharaoh into freeing millions of slaves. 

Gulp.

In Judges 7, Gideon—a farmer with no military experience—was interrupted from his wheat threshing to go fight several hundred thousand Midianites with only three hundred men, each armed with a torch, a trumpet, and a pitcher!

Really?

Wouldn’t you be wishing you could stay put, too?

Change engages our trust.

There is a big difference between believing God is and trusting God will provide the support, the words, the victory, the healing, or the way through change on time and in time!

Over the years, Holy Spirit has whispered, Trust me, more times than I can count. But I counter with, What if I can’t do this thing you’re asking of me? And, the event bigger question, If I do my part, will you FOR SURE, do what I think you’re going to do? 

See, I know God loves and cares about me. I know nothing is impossible for him. I know that all the promises in the Bible are as true today as when they were written. But I often have a disconnect. I believe that even though God can do all things, there is a distinct possibility he might not. 

Don’t stop believing

When faced with contentious relationships, an ugly diagnosis, rebellious children, financial crises, disorder or chaos of any kind, the temptation is to falter—not in our belief of who God is but in our distrust of what he’ll do. When it gets right down to it, we don’t trust that God will make things turn out the way we want them to.

That’s why change is so important: it flexes our trust muscles. 

So the next time the potential for change shows up at our doorstep, rather than shrink back from it, let’s do our best to embrace it, knowing that God is ready to do something through it to speak to our hearts and take our faith to new levels.  

Doing it scared.

If it’s scary, that’s okay. That’s when we need to review our history and remind ourselves of all the things that have not killed us or resulted in the end of a relationship or financial ruin or a health crisis. Things that not only surpassed, but fortified our faith in God. 

Change is difficult, of that there is no doubt. But knowing God uses it to draw us closer and make us stronger can help us face it bravely and obediently, trusting him to get us through.

I don’t love change, but I do love God and trust him to lead me through all the changes I face. I can’t know what you’re facing right now, but I’m praying that you are able to courageously trust God is in it with you.

I’d love to hear how you’re embracing changes. Leave me a comment and I’ll be sure to read every word.

Verse for today: No temptation [trial or change] has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. —1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB

Prayer God, it’s so easy to stay stuck, afraid of making the wrong move and trying so hard to avoid pain or discomfort. Show your face to me and lead me past the changes that keep me from experiencing your power and love in wonderful ways. In Jesus’ name, amen.