Change is Hard, God is Good
By Chris Rathbone
Mitchell County
Change is hard. Whether that change is something you feel God has initiated in your life or if that change comes from something that is out of your control, change is hard.
While listening to a great friend and pastor preach recently, he made a statement that spoke deeply to my heart. While preaching on “Change and Transition” he said, “Sometimes we just have to trust that God knows what He is doing and follow Him.” Rev. Toby Crowder
To me, there seem to be different kinds of changes that come into our lives. First are the changes that are common in life to everyone, such as growing older and the changes and challenges that come with it. Time goes by in life and kids grow up through the various stages and we just have to go through those changes. Sometimes our health changes as we age or even a disease or sickness comes unexpectedly. Our lives change. Jobs will end and we must change careers. Relationships can sometimes change through no choice of our own and we have to adjust whether we like it or not. Influences from the outside, so to speak, will sometimes force change that we didn’t see coming. We didn’t want these changes, but they come anyway. Life in general is full of constant change. This is just a part of life with which we must trust God to guide us through.
Another is the change we choose. What I mean by that is you and I make a choice to change something in our lives. We don’t like a job, or we find a better paying job and we choose to change. Maybe we’ve let our health go down and we choose to change our eating and exercise habits. Sometimes a car we’ve had for years keeps giving us trouble and costing us repairs all the time, so we choose to invest in a more dependable one. We can often choose to change where we live. These kinds of changes are the ones you and I have control over. We tend to like these kinds because we are in charge. No one else or circumstances we come into are forcing us to have to change. We get to make the decision ourselves for what we feel may be our best interest, so we change!
Lastly, as a Christian, I believe there is the change that God initiates. There are a couple of ways this may happen. First, God through the Holy Spirit may convict us that there is something in our lives that needs to change, or He wants to change. This may happen through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Let’s say we read the Bible or hear a sermon preached that convicts us of a sin or habit that is displeasing to the Lord and detrimental to our spiritual welfare. Obviously, this is where God is initiating a needed change that we should follow through on.
Next, under God-initiated change, is that God is leading us in a different direction in life. This has nothing to do with something wrong or sinful, but He is pointing us in different directions in ministry or life in general. The situation we are in now is not bad, nothing is wrong, but God begins to deal with our hearts that there is something else He has for us. The work we have been doing is coming to an end and as Brother Toby Crowder preached in that message, “God is turning the page to another chapter for us.”
We may not completely understand it all or even know where God is leading us at the moment but we do know that He is leading us to change. While there may be many unanswered questions, He gives us peace to trust Him through it all.
Well, that’s where I’m at right now! There’s nothing wrong, nothing bad going on, matter of fact, if anything, it’s a time of blessing in the ministry! However, God has initiated a change in our lives. At this moment as I’m writing, there are many unanswered questions about “Why now?” or even “Where are you taking us, Lord?” Even in those questions, there is peace. How can one have peace with so much uncertainty? Well, because when there is change that God is calling us to make, we can rest assured it’s for His glory and our blessing. This isn’t the first time God has called us to a change and I’m almost certain it won’t be the last! Pray for our family as we seek God’s direction during this time of change. Change is hard, God is good!
In Christ,
Preacher Chris
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths.
(Some of my favorite verses!)
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Preacher Chris Rathbone serves as Pastor at Mine Creek Baptist Church.
You can read more Good Christian News from Pastor Chris HERE.
You can connect with Preacher Chris on Facebook HERE.
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