Embrace The Change

"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--"

1 Corinthians 15:51  


When I read the words, "embrace change" it conjures up in my mind images of trying to grab water. Change is good when it is God who is bringing about the change because God's change has a glorious end but when change is not of God it’s a recipe for disaster, more like trying to jump on to a moving train traveling at high speeds. For most of us change is complicated as that means we have to let go of something and when we let go we lose control, and that’s not something most of us like even if its momentarily. Again, if the change we are experiencing is of God, we are safe in His hands, if not, the wounds may heal but the scars remain and as Chris Farley said in the movie, "Tommy Boy", "that's gonna leave a mark."

A friend of mine shared this quote with me, "Only a baby with a wet diaper likes change" reminding me that like a baby when change happens in life we (adults) often act more like babies kicking and screaming. I know as I have done more than my fair share. I like comfort but the older I get the more I understand God prefers change. It’s been well said, "a rut is just a coffin that has had its ends kicked out". Have you ever noticed how God brings about change in our lives to move us from complacency to a renewed passion for Him?

Only God is “the same yesterday, today and forever” as the book of Hebrews reminds us, and you and I are subject to change from glory to glory. We soon forget God is more concerned with our holiness than He is our comfort and is why He is constantly bringing about change in our lives so that we continue to trust in Him and not ourselves. Life is full of hard lessons regarding change and most of us don't handle change very well. Thats just one more reason why God allows us to take the test of change over and over again. His goal is we learn to master the skills associated with change and why the tests keep coming. We like to be in control and when we are not we have a tendency to be less than cooperative. Like Saul who became the apostle Paul, we kick against the goads as God works in us to give us a new identity, a new name and a new destiny.

For God to do His work in us we must be open to change. To resist change is to resist the blessing of God. Just try to imagine how it is going to be one day when the heavens open up and we are taken up to be with the Lord forever. Talk about a change of life! In the moment, in the twinkling of an eye… we shall be changed. Let God do His work loved one, let Christ form His life in you. Yes, change involves stretching and growing, knowing He gives and takes away, but the end result is when God is done we shall look like Jesus as that a is God's desire for each of our lives, to make us resemble His Son.

The question that begs to be asked today with regard to change is, "Is there any area or area of your life, any attitude that needs change?" If your answer is yes, give them to God today and ask Him to finish the work He has begun in you. Don't fight Him, don't resist Him, simply embrace the changes the Lord wants to make and hold on to Jesus, follow Him. If you cant think of any area of your life that needs change, invite God to examine you like King David did in Psalms 139:23-24 when he prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

2 Corinthians 3:18

I LOVE YOU!