Handling Change
It seems there is something in our human DNA that is resistant to change. We feel more comfortable when things remain the same. I experienced this recently with the education foundation board on which I have served for over thirty years. Ever since 1983, our board had pretty much done the same thing the same way. What we were doing worked well. We helped students with scholarships to attend Christian institutions. We met twice a year to conduct business. We grew comfortable with this arrangement. But something happened; we were also growing older. With an aging board and new opportunities, there was a need for change. And so began the painful process of adapting and accepting the reality of change.
Individuals must also deal with the inevitable changes in life. How we handle them will directly affect our physical, mental and spiritual health. I must confess that I don’t handle it as well as my wife does. She has a phrase that I love concerning life’s changes. She calls it, “adjusting to the new normal.” Believe me, we have had to make a few such adjustments. But these adjustments face all of us somewhere along our journey through life.
Believers are blessed by not having to face the changes alone. We are led by a shepherd who walks with us through every change along the way. He promises to never leave our side no matter the circumstance. Even through the last change, the valley of death’s shadow, He promises to be there with us. As we face the changes that are bound to come our way, we do so with the assurance that our lives are secure in the hands of the One who says, “…I am the Lord, I do not change.” (Malachi 3:6)
-Terry Morrison