Change...Don't You Hate It?

For I am the Lord, I change not...
Malachi 3:6a

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate change. There are times I don't like changing channels on the TV and may not like changing sheets on a bed. I don't like changing lanes on a highway nor changing the supper menu at the last minute. Changing clothes in the middle of the day ranks with changing jobs or locations. I just don't like change even though it has been one of God's key instruments in my life ...yes...for change.

There are changes that come into our lives that change everything in our comfortable settings. A new baby in the family changes things as does the next and the next. A wedding in he family changes a lot of things for us. For instance, I have a sweet, dear friend. She's a very special lady in my eyes. I met her a few years ago while working on a committee together. She is the wife of a pastor of a small, loving church. She is one of those people who jumps in with all fours to do anything that needs done and no job is too menial for her. There isn't a lazy bone in this lady's body. She also is a gifted teacher of women and Bible study leader. In recent days she has seen to the details of her only daughter's wedding. I can attest to the fact that such an event can drain a mom in so many ways even though the occasion is a joyous one.

Not too long ago, she mentioned on Face book that her husband has accepted a new pastorate in West Texas so a move is imminent for her in coming weeks. She keeps her smile, trust in her dear hubby and yes, in the Lord knowing He does all things well and will bring her through all of the emotional highs and lows she is presently going through. This will be a huge emotional change for her as well as change of location. I don't know of anyone who I believe can handle it any better than this dear friend. Why?...because in it all, I see her focus being on Jesus when it should be for her and for us all

Change is never a real positive thing for women. We like our comfortable lives and surroundings. We like to keep our children and friends close. We like the feel and smells of our comfy homes. We even like our doctors, grocery stores, and other establishments we've gotten so used to. Most of all, we dearly love our church family and the ties there, especially for a woman who teaches other women the Word of God. During a recent trip to Texas, I got to return to the church we left to come to Tennessee. I was shocked at all of the friends who greeted me...some I had sat with in the choir, some I taught in Sunday school, others I taught in a home Bible study and then there was a general assortment of friends. I hadn't been back in four years. I must admit to you that after leaving, I found some privacy in a bathroom and wept. No one but teachers will ever understand the heart a teacher has for those she has shared the Word of God with in classes of various types.

I look at Scripture and find three ladies who really knew change in their lives. There are many but these three come to mind....Sarai, Esther and Ruth. Sarai's husband walked in one day to announced they were moving. He didn't have a lot of details about the move, only that the God he didn't really know had given him the instructions. The average wife about that time would probably have told him to go take a nap and try again. She didn't and went along with it. So much would have been missed if she hadn't. You see, we don't see down the road to what God sees and how His plan to change things could change a world.

Think of Esther...a young Jewish woman rounded up with a lot of other young women because the king was looking for a new queen. Talk about change...instead of the usual chores, she found herself bathing in a bubble bath, being anointed with precious oils and being attended by all sorts of maids. It doesn't appear she really wanted to be there and her presence was a mystery to her. Unknown to her was the fact that she would play a vital part as new queen in saving her own people. She could never have guessed what such a drastic change in her life would bring about.

Ruth is another young woman, a Moabite who had married to a son of Naomi. However, Naomi's husband and sons died leaving her with two daughters in love. One decided to say in Moab, but Ruth decided to go back to Naomi's homeland...a strange young lady in a strange land. But we see how God used her in the lineage that produced the Messiah. I'm not sure it could ever have dawned on her until Heaven what that change in her life brought about.

There is a major change that occurred in Scripture that we don't really know much about except for the result of that change. I can't imagine that change Jesus went through leaving Heaven to come to earth. Talk about a change.... Oh we hear of, read and sing about Jesus coming to earth, but I have to wonder when Jesus' Father perhaps said, “it's time for You to go,” the change He went through for us. None of us have experienced a change like Jesus had to endure. He came from perfection, glory and His Father's presence in that place to come to the dirt, grime, sin and problems of earth. Such changes I can't comprehend, but one thing I do know...He did it for me.

There is another really big change that is yet to occur. That change will be when all we Christians will be changed upon the second coming of Jesus to receive us to Himself. There is no other change that will be able to top that one. It will be a change that we don't mind in the least.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not
all sleep, but we shall be changed
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we all all be changed.
I Corinthians 15:51-52

As much as I have disliked changes that have come about in my life...large and small...I have found that wherever a change takes me, God meets me right there in that place, at that time. You see, He's everywhere in all of our life events. He can be trusted with those changes that tend to make us the most uncomfortable and there we meet up with His comfort

My Father, You never forsake us. You always meet us where we are no matter the events of our lives. Thank You for loving us so much that You choose what is best for us even if we don't understand the reasons. Keep us trusting you in the dullness of dailies or the challenges of change. We love you. In Jesus' name....Amen