Beauty in Change

Have you ever been walking and noticed something of value in a puddle? Perhaps a shiny quarter peeking from a muddy puddle, for example? Usually we are not willing to stick our hand in the muddy water to get the quarter, are we? In our lives, when we face a change, we just see a muddy puddle that we don’t want to go through, while God sees the shiny reward at the bottom.

Think about a current or future change in your own life…how do you feel about it…be honest.

Chances are that you have some negative feelings toward that change. You may even have all negative feelings about that change. Most changes, even good ones, can have negative aspects associated with them that can grab a hold of you and turn a good change into one that makes you miserable.

When I was first married, I left my family and everything else that was familiar in Kentucky to live in Montana with my new husband. That was a big change. Everything was new – my husband, apartment, church, job, town, friends – you name it. My marriage was a good change, of course. I married the man that I knew God wanted me to marry, and we were making a new start of our own that would bring us together. But even though these were good changes, I struggled with how to deal with all the newness of my married life on the other side of the country. Even though many sympathized with my feelings, they couldn’t make them go away. I was caught in a shiny, valuable change that left me looking only at the muddy water. I found myself mentally listing all the changes I had been through and using it to explain why I felt so crummy.

One morning on my way to work, after a previous evening of prayer on the deck of our apartment and a morning of Christian radio, the Lord gave me a simple thought that changed my perspective. I already knew it in my head, I suppose, but it’s different when the Lord speaks it to your spirit – “Are you going to use your list of changes to justify yourself or to glorify Me?” I realized that I could no longer use change as an excuse for my attitude, emotions, and mental state. I would use change as a reason to become stronger in my faith in the Lord.

Whatever the change you are going through, don’t let your negative feelings dictate your attitude and spirit – let God. He understands how you feel, but He has something better for you. It may not necessarily be a reversal of the change you’re experiencing, but He has beauty in the change for you.

One day, when everything surrounding the change in your life has come to pass, and God has taken care of you just as He promised in the beginning, don’t you want to be able to look back and say, “I knew that God would take me through, and that He had a purpose for me. I’m so glad I kept my confidence in Him. He has never failed me!”

When we try to handle change on our own or we become upset with God, we are actively displaying a lack of faith in God – which is not only terrible for us – it hurts God. When you don’t know what to do or how to handle change, it is never wrong to sit at the feet of Jesus and talk to Him about it. Let Him comfort, teach, and change you. Often a change in our lives necessitates a change in us. God knows EVERYTHING, He COMPLETELY understands you (even when you don’t), and He DESIRES to strengthen you.

Start looking at change through God’s eyes and be confident that He is able to keep you through ANY change.

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” ~Jeremiah 33:3

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” ~Romans 8:28