Change - to make someone or something different; to alter or modify.
Change - to replace (something) with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better; substitute one thing for another. (Oxford Languages Dictionary)
I love change. Doing something the same way over and over again is, in my opinion, equivalent to mental torture. It's why I don't keep a gym membership, or complete projects taking more than a couple days (this is a real problem).
Change promises amazing things on the horizon, with something new to examine and enjoy. Life is full of modification, absolutely nothing stays the same. A house ages and needs repair, plants and trees grow and blossom depending on the season, and our children transform into adults (we hope). Not one of us can escape the passage of time or the changes time brings. Hating change in and of itself is like hating air - it's simply not practical.
However, there are limits to the amount of change even those of us who naturally grasp it can easily endure. We all embrace change we like, are ambivalent to change with little personal impact, and push back on changes requiring more of us than is comfortable. In the end we are good with something new if it brings something we love or enjoy - and we hate any "new normal" that brings hurt, pain or grief. This is something we all have common.
One's ability to adapt to hard change is where, as they say, the "rubber meets the road." Life stages often bring hard change. Moving to a new city, beginning a new job, kids entering kindergarten or heading off to college, challenging relationships with those we love, family members or friends in crisis, changes in our bodies as we age - all of these bring their own struggles and necessary adaptations. More than one of these at the same time can send us into a tailspin.
2 Corinthians 4:16 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
The "wasting away" of our bodies is a known fact to our Creator. God is not surprised that our bodies do not last here on earth, just as our "light momentary troubles" are not shocking to Him. And while there are times our troubles feel neither light nor momentary, God is asking us to look at them in comparison to eternity. When we see the future as freedom and relief from suffering, as well as full of tremendous beauty and incredible joy, our current circumstances take on the essence of momentary and our burden is lightened by sharing the load with our Savior.
This does not happen over night. Hard is still hard and we are not to make little of one's suffering. We may know in our heads that building endurance is required in order to embrace joyful living, but this requires change - both internal and external. And that can be tough.
Sometimes we look back and think, "Huh, that wasn't so hard." Other times we will consider our past circumstances and think, "Well, that was horrific and I NEVER want to go through that again." We may get our desire for easier living, we may not. How I face the inevitability of unpredictability will partly determine the peace I am able to find on this side of heaven.
The inevitability of life-change, of constant movement, is as much a part of this world God created as the sun and the moon. God made us to take care of the world around us, to engage with our fellow humans, and to care for the animals and natural resources our Creator provides. We are not to sit in our safe havens day by day as the world passes us by. We may seek shelter for a season, but inevitably the time will come to enter the world again. We rest, we care for those around us, and then we take God's love to the ends of the earth. And he asks us to train up our children and send them out to do the same. It's beautiful and amazing, yet scary and hard.
But we can do hard things because we have a Savior who did the hardest thing. We are saved for eternity - glory hallelujah.
Today on our Noisy Narratives podcast we recap our summer, talk about sending a son off to college for the first time, and discuss upcoming guests on Season Two. We are excited about sharing so many stories with you! Stories from ladies opening their hearts about depression, anxiety, abortion, infertility, forgiveness, evangelism, friendship, and much more. We hope you are blessed by women who want to share their stories to minister to others. Listen to the latest Noisy Narratives podcast here.
Isaiah 43:18-19 "Remember not the former things, more consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."
Titus 3:5 "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit."
Psalm 103:1-5 "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Revelation 21:5 "And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' Also he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
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