Change is something no one likes to see or even know that it is happening. Change is like a thorn in the flesh, a bump in the road or an humbling time. Our lives may be going smoothly and just happy go lucky then change steps in and says, “it’s time to leave this church or it’s time to move to a different state, or it’s time to sell our home and go somewhere, or it’s time to quite my job. Whatever change is asking, we have no choice but to make it happen. Especially when God is involved in it. We can refuse, deny or ignore it, but it will happen and you or I cannot stop it. Change means leaving everything you use to do in that special place. It means leaving all your friends, relatives and anyone else you may have come to know. Change is dragging the whole family, if any is involved, to a new and unknown territory. Opposition will arise and harden hearts will not understand the reason for change. Sometimes the change we make means we will be marked as the bad guy.
So where do we go from here. Well we first talk about it, we cry over it. We agonize and stay up thinking about it. We fret over it. But in the end after the cloud clears we accept it and get ready to change our lives. Even upon acceptance of the thought of change it still frightens us and we step lightly and cautiously. But with God we step out in faith.
Why is it important that change be made in our lives. Change is critical because it means that our lives will be better, other peoples lives will be better. Situations will be better for everyone. It may be that one lose on one end, means a gain on the other end.
Do we know when change is happening. Most certainly. It’s the ruffling of the nest, just like a momma bird teaching her chicks how to fly. She makes it uncomfortable for her chicks. Then when it’s time to fly she pushes them out. They try to return, but momma isn’t feeding them anymore. One day I witness a chick fallen out of her nest and could not get back in. All night she chirped at momma, momma was close by bringing her food but momma herself couldn’t help her baby chick get back into the nest, and unless that chick spread her wings to fly she wasn’t going anywhere. We have to be able to spread our wings and fly when the time comes.
My younger son at 29 still lived at home and it was hard for me to even think of him leaving and although I made jokes of when he was leaving, I knew it was going to be hard.
But the Lord was so merciful and gracious to me and my husband. It so happen that my son in the last few months before he left, had been house-sitting for some friends. Sometimes his house-sitting would be anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks. And on this one particular month, he had house-sat for almost a month and then he gave me heads up that he would be moving out soon. His absence became normal for us that when it was time to leave home, it didn’t impact me as much as when he first left home at 21. So his transition was quick and left no scar on my heart. Praise the Lord for that.
Change has to happen and will happen in anyone’s life at any point in their lifetime. But how we accept change will determine the direction of our future.