CHAPTER 35
"Change"
Change
– 1 : to make different in some particular way;
to alter; to give a different position, course, or direction
to 2 : to replace with another; to make a
shift from one to another; to undergo a modification of.
In Genesis
12:1 …God commanded Abram to “Get out of your country,
from your family and from your father’s house, to a land
that I will show you. What a scary prospect! Leave
your father and mother. Leave your friends. Leave the house
you were raised in. Leave everything you have ever known and
go to a place that you know nothing about. Leave the
well-known and go to the unknown. Leave the safe and go to
the dangerous. Leave the comforts of home and go to the
hardships of travel and exploration. It doesn’t sound like
something too many of us would choose for ourselves. As
creatures of habit we get so used to life as it is that
change is uncomfortable and intimidating. The older we get
the less we prefer change.
But life
rarely stays the same. As time goes by our eyes grow dim,
our ears grow deaf, our voice grows deep, and the rest of us
just tends to grow. We grow wrinkles, bunions, calluses,
bulges, moles, warts, and hair in places we don’t prefer. So
change is inevitable. Resist it all you want, but change
just happens. It’s a loosing battle. The fountain of youth
was destroyed during the flood. Whether you like it or not
your body is getting older. Sorry!
But not
only are we changing, so is everything around us. I don’t
know if global warming is real, but I do know that since the
fall, natural disasters occur on a regular basis.
Earthquakes, volcanoes, typhoons, tsunamis, droughts,
pestilence, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, floods, fires,
etc. have changed the earth’s surface and created change for
those living on the earth. If we could choose for ourselves
we would opt for no natural disasters but we have no control
of changes that occur to God’s creation.
Some change
is uncomfortable and some is very desirable. The birth of a
child makes us happy. The death of someone we love makes us
sad. A new house or car is pleasant, but a house fire or car
wreck makes us sick. A clean bill of health brings relief,
but a dreaded prognosis causes fear. Change has two faces.
But sometimes our perception of change is wrong. Sometimes
our comfort zone is based on wrong ideas, false perceptions,
and the influence of ill informed people.
Things that
are affected by our perception, conditioning and training
but are not spelled out for us in God’s Word include music,
Bible translations, hair length, clothing, and even order of
our church service. Many Christians leave their church and
some churches even split over petty, non-essential and
non-biblical things. Church leadership often make such
changes in an attempt to reach a contemporary society. Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 9: 19-23 For though I am free
from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I
might win the more; 20and to the Jews I became as
a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the
law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under
the law; 21to those who are without law, as
without law (not being without law toward God, but under law
toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law;
22to the weak I became as weak, that I might win
the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might
by all means save some. 23Now this I do for the
gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
If a church clings to the Gospel and doesn’t sacrifice its
doctrine and purity, change for the sake of outreach is
good. If souls are being saved then change should be
praised.
Jesus
Christ never changes. He is the same yesterday, today
and forever, Hebrews 13:8. God’s mercy is the same,
…the mercy of the
Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting…, Psalm 103:17. James
1:17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Because God never changes He provides a security that cannot
be found anywhere else. When life takes a turn we have a
Rock to cling to. He is a shelter in the time of a storm.
His love is everlasting. His mercies are new every morning.
I am so thankful for an unchanging God.
Our family
has faced a lot of change recently. Our faith has been
tested and so have our nerves. We have experienced fear,
doubt and frustrations galore. But God has continued to be
there for us and to strengthen us when we are weak,
encourage us when we feel like quitting and comfort us when
we are overwhelmed. We can testify to the fact that our
Savior is the one solid anchor throughout the storms of
life. Even when we fail, when our faith falters, when Satan
pushes our buttons, we have a Friend who sticks closer than
a brother and He wants us to lean on and even cling to Him.
I don’t
know if I will ever become accustomed to Andrea being in a
coma. By far it is the hardest change Teri and I have every
faced. I don’t like this change. I want things to go back to
the way they used to be. That will never happen! If and when
Andrea wakes up she will be classified as impaired and brain
injured for the rest of her life. It will require a lot of
surgery on her ankles and feet just to walk again and it is
unlikely she will ever be able to run as she once did.
According to the medical experts it is unlikely that Andrea
will wake up. It may be God’s will for us to change our
thinking, hopes and dreams. If that is the case God’s grace
is sufficient and my unchanging God will get us through it.
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