Things change. That is an irrefutable fact of life. And yet sometimes I find myself wondering why. In struggles and difficulties I long for the change, but when life is lovely, my heart is light and I feel a special closeness to God, I don’t want a thing to change! I don’t want these moments to end!
So why do things change? Why would God let us have a taste of living in harmony with Him only to allow us to become discouraged and heavy-hearted again? Isn’t that curious?
Sometimes, when things are wonderful, I can have a bit of a struggle enjoying and delighting in them quite as I want to, because there in the back of my mind, is a little reminder that things will change. During those blissful, joyous moments, I might wonder how I could ever fumble or struggle, but the reality is that there will come a time when I struggle all over again.
I don’t like that little reminder. It’s not encouraging and it doesn’t help me anticipate the future.
And I so earnestly want to live with eager expectation of the future! With a “just can’t wait!” attitude! The kind of attitude that delights in today and laughs without fear of the future!
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” – Proverbs 31:25
How to Embrace Change without Fear of the Future
So how do we do that? How do we learn to embrace change as a good thing?
Prayer is always an excellent place to start! Thank God for where He has you now and ask Him to show you how to flourish no matter what comes your way – because He is always there and He is always good!
Meditating on His Word and His promises is also helpful and encouraging! Circumstances and attitudes may change, but one promise that we can always fall back on is that He will not change! “I am the LORD, and I do not change.” – Malachi 3:6
Isn’t that a remarkable and reassuring promise on which to meditate?!
Why Do Things Change?
With that refreshment and encouragement, we might still ponder the why – Why do things change?
I’ve been praying about that specifically for several weeks now. And God is ever faithful! Whenever I remember to ask specific questions, He gives specific answers!
What I have come to understand is that change is simply one of God’s tools to draw us closer to Him, either through triumph or tribulation.
Think about it, when life is going on, hunky-dory, it’s easy to get trapped in the status quo. But nothing captures my attention faster than remarkable blessings or surprising challenges! Remarkable blessings cause me to rejoice and praise God in new and wonderful ways, while surprising challenges leave me consulting Him frequently in prayer as I try to understand what to do and how to proceed.
But through all this I am developing a new attitude, a new closeness to God. I’m choosing faith over fear. “Use any tool or circumstance that you would to draw me closer to You,” I pray.
I’ll confess, this prayer was hard for me in the beginning. I found I have far too many preferences of things that I would prefer or like to avoid. (Here’s a quick list, Lord, and then You can take it from there – within my guidelines, of course!)
But that’s not the heart I want to have towards God. He’s the Creator of the universe! I’d be a fool not to have complete confidence in His plan for my life! I want Him to use any tools that He will to draw me closer to Him – even the difficult ones!
And the blessing is, I know that His mercy is incomprehensibly phenomenal – He will only use circumstances that He will help me through! He won’t entrap me or leave me stranded!
On top of that, you know that little voice that I mentioned above that sometimes reminds me that struggles will come? It no longer has any grounds when I realize that though struggles come, God is using them to draw me closer to Him! The fear of the future is gone when I remember my faith in Him!
What About You?
What about you? Do you resist change? Can you see evidence of how God uses change to draw you closer to Him? With this new perspective, change doesn’t seem as frightening as it once was, does it?!
Are you able to surrender your preferences and ask God to use any means necessary to draw you closer to Him? It is an enormous leap of faith, but it is so worth it!
I’d love to hear your story below! Please feel free to share how change effects you – is it hard or is it one of the areas that you have conquered and learned to smile at “without fear of the future”?!
Until Next Time!
Hope.