Ahh that dreaded word especially in the “third-third” of life. Change can be exciting when you are looking forward to something you have wanted like a job or a new home. Even then I think we still cringe a little. We ask ourselves, “Will we like this?” Will it be everything we expect it to be?” Are there hidden disadvantages”
As we age change sometimes, becomes more unwelcome and complex. Often times by now we are settled in to a certain home or lifestyle and we like it or at least it is familiar and comfortable. Then that dreaded shadow of “Change” creeps in and we lose it. Or at least I do.
This happened to me recently and you may find this ridiculous or boring but I hope for someone reading this is will strike a cord and be helpful,. I fractured my back last summer in two places. It was painful and debillitating. When my husband and I moved to our house some 20 years ago we purchased 2 twin beds and located them in an upstairs bedroom. Wallah ! A king size bed. Also when one of us gets really sick or injured it also works well because we can bring one of the beds down stairs and put it in the living room. So in my case last year that is what we did.
Well recently it was time for a change. I am better and able to climb the stairs now. So we purchased a nice couch that I can lay down on, should I need to, for the living room. We planned the delivery for a week away to give us time to get one of my sons to help move my bed back upstairs. Now comes the silly part. I was not at all comfortable with this change. I had all kinds of worries and concerns, none of them all that realistic, but I did not want to move my bed back upstairs and get the couch.
Crazy! I know! It is truly a nice couch. My problem was that bugger “CHange.” The word gives me goosebumps. For no good reason. There is nothing more inviting in one’s living room than a sick bed pushed up against the wall. Not so much.
As we go through life we will experience change. It is a given. Some changes will be great as for instance, the birth of that first grandchild, and some will not be. We may have to move to a place we don’t like. We may have to leave a job we love because of health etc. and face the reality that going forward we will not be able to do some of the things that we used to do. I can”t even begin to describe here all the changes life can throw at us good or bad. Maybe you can think of some in your own life. How did you handle a negative change? How did it finally work out?
Most changes do eventually work out. We may even find that what we dreaded and feared was not so bad afterall or we just learn to adjust.
The devil likes to worry us and cause us to fear and expect the worse becaue the devil preys on our lack of faith at times. As believers we often pray as we see ourselves headed for change and look to God for help and comfort. We know that any change that arrives in our life is not a surprise to Him. He is here with us today and He is waiting in the future. He has got this, Also as believers we know that God has our path planned out and that if we are to walk in surrender to Him we may have to go places we don’t care much for or face situations that are unpleaasant. Life can be so uncertain to us but never when we trust it into His care.
And there is one thing we can count on life to never change. That is Him. His promises are as true today as they were yesterday. His guiding through the tough places in life is just as capable as it has always been.
Sometimes I know that I cling to the familiar that is why change is such a problem for me. Over the years we have moved serveral times. The first time we moved we had lived in the same house for almost 20 years. First of all I wasn’t all that delighted with the move and I had to navigate a new to me different house. The familiar was gone. I really struggled. Another move we made was to my dream house and then we moved to what I might have described at the time to my nightmare house. Actually it is not that bad and through all my protestations God has blessed us and led us in ways He could never have accomplished had a stayed put. He had a plan and He made it okay.
So whether the changes that come in my life are difficult or uncomfortable what I have realized is that I can always rely on these familiar things. God’s Word, my prayer life, and my praise life. The sense of His presence is always with me because He promises He will never leave me or forsake me. He is a familiar friend and companion throughout the changes life will most certainly bring. So I will never lose that
About the bed—yes, we moved it–yes, it worked out and the couch is great. And it occupies the place my bed did with a dignity that my bed could never have attained. This is a small thing but I hope it will prepare me for the bigger changes life may have in store for me. I can look back and, knowing my tendency to resist change. trust God and place it in His capable hands, He’s got this!