Ch.. Ch... Ch... Changes!

July 18, 2012

Isn't it funny how, 

just when you seem to be getting settled
into a comfortable rhythm in life, 

things change?

Change.

It's inevitable.

It can be so gradual, so tiny, 

that you hardly notice it happening at all.

Or it can knock your feet out from under you, 

so quickly and violently, 

until you don't even know which way is up anymore.

Sometimes it hurts.

Sometimes it's a welcomed relief.

But, it's the only way we can grow.

Our lives are a reflection of change. 

I see the evidence in my kids almost every day.

I see little Aubree changing in how she uses 
thoughts and experiences to come to different conclusions.

Her mind is growing and she's certainly not a baby anymore.

I can see change in Brant's physical appearance- 

Drake is beginning to be changed by the process of puberty.

Karli's life is affected by change in a different way right now.

Circumstances are changing her.

She's learning about how people have a way of disappointing us.

And, hopefully, learning that God never will!

The winds of change can bring devastation, 

but if you look for it,

the devastation can also clear the land to build something new and more beautiful than before.

The sermon in church this past Sunday compared life to a race.

In the race, in order to get to the finish line (aka Heaven),

we must sometimes
"throw off everything that hinders" 

{Hebrews 12:1}.

In life, change is going to force us
to surround ourselves with people who are going to encourage us.

Sometimes, it's going to cause us
to walk away from people and things
that are not necessarily bad, 

and we may even love these people,  

but somehow, these people or things have just become dead weight.

They have become things that are holding us back from God's calling for our lives.

There comes a time in life when you have to
make the hard decision to move on~

New Career. New Friends. New Goals. New Priorities.

Change...

It can be scary.

You can't always see where you're going, 

and the road can be dark and dangerous.

It can be painful.

Sometimes, you will suffer hurt
at the hands of those you've loved and trusted so dearly.

It can be lonely.

Sometimes, God calls us to walk part of the way alone
so that we can realize the strength within us
when we have a relationship with Him.

Change...

It can bring happiness that you didn't know was possible.

It can prove that you are more than the world thinks you are.

It can take you to a place you didn't even know you wanted to go.

In the end, if you walk in obedience to God,
Change is always for your benefit.

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down a the the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2