By: Ashlin Hair
If you’ve had kids, or siblings, or even babysat, you probably know the indescribable pain of stepping on a lego. Pain isn’t even an accurate word, really. Somehow the very corner of it just happened to be sticking out of the carpet waiting quietly to attack its next victim with searing nerve damage as it digs a full 2 inches into your heel. I’m serious. It comes out of literally nowhere, in the dark, while you’re just trying to walk to the bathroom without waking the whole house up. And suddenly you’re on the floor, screaming silently in your head, holding your throbbing foot, cursing that lego your kid left out.
Okay yes, this is a funny story, and a lot of us can relate to this unfortunate mishap. But what happens when this is real life? What happens when you replaced the word “lego”, with the word “change”? Somehow, unexpectedly, life had a sharp edge. Doors were closed. The path veered. It’s usually always unexpected, and leaves you in your room crying on the floor, silently, because you don’t want anyone to know you’re hurting inside.
Change is so hard. It feels suffocating, and debilitating. It’s uncomfortable to change what you’ve known for so long. It’s uncomfortable to change something for the 80th time, feeling like nothing is ever stable. You change financial status, switch jobs, lose friendships, move houses, get married, start school, have babies, leave home, breakup with your boyfriend. I get it. I’ve been in your shoes. Recently change is consuming me, and it feels like I have no control over what is happening in my life. If you feel that way right now, If you feel like things are changing, you’re uncomfortable, you’re scared, you’re in pain, you’re not alone. And maybe I’m writing this post for myself, because I’m the one that needs to hear it the most. But maybe you need to be free from fear and pain too.
So what does the Bible say we should do when things change?
I think the Bible is very thorough in it’s instruction for change. I understand that Jeremiah 29:11 helps us feel peaceful about our circumstances. Yes, God does have a plan for you. But sometimes my soul isn’t satisfied with “plans to give you a hope and a future”, because it’s not all about me. News flash: your suffering, your change, isn’t about you. Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
While we can rest in the fact that God has us in the palm of his hand and is constantly taking care of us, we need to look deeper into the word to understand change. This verse tells us that our worldly hearts only see momentary affliction, and fail to see the eternal weight of glory. Your change and suffering is providing you an opportunity to glorify God. It’s providing you an opportunity to draw near to Him, because it is hard to trust. It is. And most importantly, your change is providing you with an opportunity to see God’s character in ways you haven’t seen before. You will see how He moves, how He works, and why He is worthy of all of our devotion.
So what are you going to do when change feels like that horrible lego in your heel? Are you going to continue to be paralyzed with fear of what else is in the dark, or will you draw near to God in times of what He tells us is momentary affliction? There is a time and season for everything. What are you missing that God might want to reveal to you? Look to him, and suddenly you will realize that with change comes opportunity to glorify the one that deserves all our praise, and the weight is lifted off our shoulders.
Psalm 91
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”