Pastor's Blog: Welcoming Change
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I have been on record for quite some time about my reluctance to change. Being a person who enjoys routine, I don’t look to shake things up for the sake of change, particularly when I think things are going relatively well. My favorite dictum is, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
But sometimes things break and other times they actually do need to be broken. Because life isn’t as static as most of us would like, we need always to be open to the possibilities of doing our work a different way. And if we’re honest with ourselves, as we look back on our best work, more often than not it probably has come from some change that was forced upon us.
I’ve been thinking about change as we get ready to transition to the fall. Birmingham is just far enough north to where we do get a sense of the changing seasons. Granted, it’s not like living in Louisville or farther north, where the changes are more pronounced. But this season of the year does give us a respite from the summer heat, at least enough of a break to where we actually enjoy the out of doors before the cold winter weather sets in.
So, as you welcome the break from summer sweating, think about how change can be a good thing in other areas of life. Consider what transitions might make you a better person. To be sure, none of those transitions will happen painlessly or easily. There will be some stress involved. But if you embrace it as a pathway to a better and more faithful you, whatever stress you experience in the process of effecting the change will result in something that even now you can be confident will bring you great joy.
Most of all don’t be afraid of change. In the end it does not take away from the fact that God is ever in control. Let that be the constant truth around which you build your days so that when the inevitable changes come your way, they won’t keep you from being certain that it is still well with your soul.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19).