“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope…” Romans 5:2b – 4
Benjamin Franklin once said that there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. I think ole Ben was wrong. I believe there are three things we can be sure of: death, taxes, and change. The problem is most of us don’t like any of the three. Not sure which one we like the least.
But the one we have to deal with the most often is change since life changes constantly. I mean even the cells in our bodies are completely replaced with new cells every 80 to 100 days. It would seem we are a new person every three months and ten days. So, we should probably embrace change a little better than we actually do.
Right now, my life is filled with changes. I have a new senior pastor. I am looking forward to working with her and getting to know her. I am also looking to retire in two years so I am trying to think about what that will look like for me and what I will do. I know I want to continue to be active but with what? My mom is living with my husband and me for now as my brother and his wife remodel her home they bought. Part of the house will be a suite for mom. It is all good, but it is also all change. Mom is dealing with the fact that she is losing her vision and that is having a huge impact on her life. It seems that everywhere I look, life is changing and sometimes it is in ways that I don’t really like all that much.
When change comes our way, and change will come, as it is inevitable, we have a choice to make. We can deal with the changes. Or we can succumb to them as we let them overwhelm us into stagnation. Every one of the 30 trillion cells that make up who I am revolt against being stagnate. Every single one.
Since I obviously will not allow change to submarine my life, I have learned to dance with change. More accurately, I tend to step on changes toes a lot as I stumble across the dance floor. So, I look at what is coming my way and see how I can make it work for me. That is especially true when I am dealing with life circumstances that are unpleasant. My divorce and the death of my dad would be two such changes. It is helpful when life goes sideways to not lose your sense of humor or your spirit of adventure. I have a great quote in my office that I read when my day is not going as expected. It says this:
“We are all faced with great opportunities…. Brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
I would like to suggest to God that God could send a few less impossible situations my way…but then my life adventure would be rather dull. Change brings newness, excitement, challenges, it can also be quite scary, but most of all it brings opportunities. How we embrace the changes that are heading our way is what determines how well we will handle the changes life brings.
And like death and taxes, change will be a part of our life whether we like change or not. Learning how to cope with them is an important skill we all should learn. When we don’t I guarantee we will struggle. And please know, sometimes change is just hard. I am not making light of these difficult changes we encounter or have to live with. It can take years to get through some of these more challenging changes that come into our lives. What I have both witnessed and experienced is this: when we struggle against what is happening, it makes it harder.
So, my prayer for you, is that your 30 trillion cells will embrace and adapt to the changes that come into your life.
Peace,
Pastor Beth
Beth's Blog 