There is nothing quite so hard in this life as change. Even if the change is good, the act of change itself is difficult. Challenging. Hard to accept with grace.
And yet, there is nothing in this life quite so sure as change. The weather changes, our leaders change, our lives change. Ecclesiastes 3 describes it beautifully as seasons or times:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
But even calling them seasons (or times) doesn’t negate the fact that seasons and change are difficult to endure, at least at the beginning (and often for the entirety).
We often resist because change is hard. Many times we resist because change means that we have to find new ways, new people, new habits. We like familiarity. We like knowing what comes next and what to expect. We like having plans and paths. There is comfort and sweetness and security in knowing the same things, doing the same things, abiding in them.
But we are not promised that our lives will never change. In fact, we know the very opposite to be true – we are not guaranteed a tomorrow or even another moment. Instead, we are promised a Savior that never changes: Jesus.
That very thought is one we can cling to. Though the entire fabric of our lives may be rewoven, He is the same and His love is the same.
May we choose, ever, to abide in Him and His love.
In heavenly love abiding,
no change my heart shall fear;
and safe is such confiding,
for nothing changes here:
the storm may roar without me,
my heart may low be laid;
but God is round about me,
and can I be dismayed?
(Anna Waring)
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