So how do you REALLY do with change?

“It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.” Isaac Asimov

  I like to think of myself as someone who adapts and even embraces change. I think I may be self-deluded. Maybe it’s when you’re forced to change, when you have no input or control, that change becomes more frustrating…I’m not sure. Yet, two small changes in my life really frustrated me. When I share them, you’ll probably think I’m silly. I was. One of them I knew was very temporary, yet it still irritated me.

  Recently, they’ve been doing road work near our home. To do this, they shut down County W for two weeks. Now I have no idea what they were doing. Now that it’s completed, I’m still not sure what they did. But I knew that it inconvenienced me. That’s the route I take when I drive to Burlington. Closing it down meant I had to change my route. It meant I had to plan ahead because it was going to take a little longer. It meant I couldn’t go into autopilot and had to actually think when I drove.

  That’s probably what I found the most frustrating. I’ve driven that route so many times, my mind goes into neutral. I hardly give it a second thought…until they closed the road. Too many times I still didn’t give it a second thought, until I was halfway down the road, and realized it was closed. I had to turn around to go another route. I wish I could say it only happened once or twice, it was probably half a dozen. I was so happy when the work was complete and I could go back to my old, familiar routine. The small change was giving me a big headache. 

  The second big change for me was at the Wellness Center. Because of vacation and my hectic schedule, I’d missed a few days. While I was absent, they discarded the elliptical machine I use every time I go. It was over fifteen years old and was too costly to repair. There’s a reason though I used that particular machine. While there are several other elliptical machines, I don’t like them. I liked MY machine! In the interest of full disclosure, I don’t like going to the Wellness Center. You probably know some exercise fanatic…maybe you’re one. I’m not. I hate going to the Wellness Center. It’s not that I detest exercising, though it’s not my favorite thing to do, it’s the time. It seems like the time there drags slower than a snail moving through peanut butter.  

  So for me, the best way to endure the tedium is to read. I crank up my music and read away. Before I know it, I’m done. That was the problem. The best machine for me to use while I read was the one they retired. It had just the right angle so I could set up my book and read. Now I’m having to learn new machines with new settings. It’s a balancing act, as I get my book in place, read and exercise all at the same time. The new machines seem to have been designed for taller people, not someone horizontally challenged like myself. It’s became so frustrating, that if I wasn’t a member and didn’t really, really like the staff, I’d find another fitness club. All of these seemingly little changes were a big hassle for me.

  As I was mulling my resistance to change over, it struck me that I do fairly well with change if it doesn’t require much from me, in this particular case, to invest much mental effort. For example, I love trying new restaurants, yet there’s a sense of the familiar there – menu, wait staff, food, etc. If I don’t like it, I can leave. Yet, with these two changes, I had no choice. I was forced to change and I didn’t like it.

  Every day we face change. Our culture is going through cataclysmic changes…some good, some bad. As Christians, we’re committed to righteousness, yet we find ourselves in the midst of moral tsunamis. We feel frustrated and overwhelmed with all of the changes. Psalms 11:3 asks a powerful question about cataclysmic spiritual changes, one maybe you’ve also asked, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

  The great Bible expositor, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, pointed out that the real answer is: What can they not do in the Lord? He pointed out that "when prayer engages God on our side, and when faith secures the fulfillment of promise, what cause can there be for flight, however cruel and mighty our enemies?" Yes, moral absolutes and biblical values are under attack. The foundations are being destroyed; the culture is dramatically changing and not for the good. Yet, many of us have failed to realize, have forgotten, or just don’t believe that there are any resources left. The Bible reminds us that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The world changes; Jesus never does. He’s not surprised by the changes that threaten to sink our little ships. Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God, created all things for His own good pleasure. He works all things after the counsel of His own will. For all those who care, there’s much that the righteous can do. 

  We can pray. Most of the time we tend to pray God will protect us. Though we may not say it like this, we hope that He’ll keep our own little worlds from being too rattled by change. Instead though, we need to pray for revival, even if it does turns our worlds upside down. we need to pray that God will pour out on us a fresh moving of His Spirit. Then, instead of watching change, we’d be part of the change…for good…for godliness.

  We can persevere in godliness. Many Christians believe America is in its last days. We don’t know that. Jesus said, “Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Just recently, I was reading about King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18-20). God was pouring out His cup of His judgment on Israel. It was all about to come raining down but then Hezekiah came on the scene. Hezekiah didn’t just know God’s Word, he took it seriously and applied it…and wonderfully, God held back His judgment for another generation.

  I wonder what God might do, if we, if the Church, got serious? If we prayed for revival and obeyed God’s Word? Instead of playing the “church game,” if we determined to surrender ourselves completely to Jesus Christ. I wonder what would happen if Grace Church truly lived out, “For to us to live is Christ…” (Philippians 1:21). That would be a huge change. I think it’d be a change that would so rock our world, we’d see revival.

  Change cuts both ways. By God’s grace, by our surrender and trust, let’s be part of the change that begins in our own hearts and brings another outpouring of God’s Spirit and power. Let’s be part of change that makes an eternal difference for God’s glory!