One constant thing in life is change. It's always present, for better or for worse, and it doesn't always make announcements.
Change can either become your enemy that you loathe because of it just being, or you can become partners benefitting equally—Change benefits from carrying out its role and you benefit from accepting it. Sometimes we think we can predict what the change will be. We over romanticize the possibilities that change may bring and we forget what or whom change obeys, which is God, and we just dream.
We think that because we have everything lined out that things may flow just as predicted. We think that the change to come is not the one that people loathe, but the one Sam Cooke sang about.
I don't own the right to the image being used, all rights to creator.
Only good things. only progressive things.
And realistically, why should pessimism cloud our dreams?
Why should our first thoughts of the future be anything less than worthwhile and positive?
And so we anticipate a new thing, and then change emerges every day in every way.
From day to night, sunshine to rain, happy and sad, a new job, a new love...and then, unexpectedly, a new form of change, a new level. A loved one might become sick, the new job requires compromise for heftier pay, or a break up happens in the midst of what seemed to be a good relationship. Change isn't always thought about. Change that requires discipline so that you do not overtake it and realign it to your liking.Life brings changes because in the midst of it lies the one who keeps the world going. Whose plans are not ours and whose thoughts aren't? The one about which this was written:
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19 vs 21 ESV
A verse that hit me many times when things-unplanned things and changes in life-happen. When circumstances seem as if they will continue, when it seems as if a step was missed, even though you were certain the map was followed, I remember that perhaps I planned too much and forgot whose life I'm really living, or more so, whose life I claim to live. I've realized that life cannot be assessed to the T and to embrace the unexpected changes; the potholes that pop up in the midst of the smooth asphalt, the delay that comes in the middle of the journey, the stop sign that shows up in the middle of the race. We will never fully understand it. Why would something slow us down in the midst of us doing good, and why should we just go along with it? It's pure madness. It's simply a bad thing, we think. And maybe it is bad, but...
You can never run away from the bad things in life. No matter how fast you trod or how your escape plan might just rival prison breaks'.
Life is this swirl of good and bad, and so is change. It happens to all and it shows little respect for status or even your past. When changes come , they won't always come with warnings, especially for someone like me. I've never been a bitter loser; instead, I've always been open to the fact that life happens, reminding myself that I can overcome anything while praying to God that I don't get too badly burned. And I try not to class my experiences as the worst, but as pretty as they say I am, what I have been through is more than half the time, nothing attractive. I know there are so many disasters in life that we cannot bear to fathom, that even I have yet to live through, but the thing about the words "hard" and "rough" is that they can be applied to almost everything. Rough life, rough marriage, difficult jobs, and a rough neighborhood. Sorrow doesn't sit only in the highlights and common places.
Breakthroughs are something some people can only dream about and salivate about. And I've come to realize that fantasies and dreams aren't always corny or farfetched. I've had a few that I worked on and prayed for show up in front of me and all I could do was cry in relief and gratitude. But the reality is that breakthroughs take you to the next level too. Life may not be a game, and Christianity may be a way of life, but there are almost always levels and rounds to life, and you play a different war game proclaiming Christ.
A week of sunshine opens a week of rain and as I mentioned before ' You cant stop the rain'
I may have shifted gears from the topic of change slightly to life not working out, but remember that too may be just another consequence of change-bad things that we never planned for. And then there are days when the sun shines so brightly, when 'good' things happen, when the good change comes and we yell "blessings"!
But let's think, so because we lost our job, we aren't blessed?
Because we failed the exam, we aren't being guided?
We worked hard and still didn't get the promotion, so we aren't blessed?
The reality is that every corner and every bend has a surprise, a spin, a change waiting for us. Half the time we will be unprepared because due to how constant change is, there are multiple results. When the job isn't what you bargained for after longing for it for years, when the relationship starts to crumble after you thought healing would come, when the money runs out after you prayed for prosperity and you thought you saw a sign for change, but quickly potential debt hits again, when you cry your heart out and become depressed again-how do you react to these changes?
Human nature will have us squealing, bawling, begging, and even tempted to hate God, and I can relate, but I've come to realize that God never promised me easy, nor did he promise me only sunny days, but he did say to take up my cross and follow him. Ultimately, the mountains and valleys overlap, but do you quit ?
No, you simply crawl and climb when you can and talk to God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 KJV
I needed to hear this. whenever you write, I can relate to your post. I look forward to your next column.