The Problem of Change
It took me a long time to identify the culprit of some of my most taxing periods of emotional struggle. In the end, the common denominator was finally identified: change.
“…change isn’t always bad, but it’s always big. Our security is easily threatened by anything unknown yet suddenly unavoidable…Our hearts often translate sudden and dramatic change as either instability or a form of loss. Sometimes it hits us as both.”
– Beth Moore, So Long Insecurity
A fear of change, waiting for loss, a sense of dread – these are all things that can trigger an emotional upheaval in many of us. Why is it that we crave stability so much? Is it because we feel we can control what we know but not those things that catch us off guard?
The reality is that we can’t control either. Change scares us at times because it cuts to the heart of what we hold onto: our stable “sameness.” We fear what we don’t know and so, in vain, we cling to that which we do know. But, guess what? I’ve got some great news for you! Even if you may not know what’s coming, there is Someone who does!
“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You;
the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.”
– Psalm 139: 7-12
Rest assured today that what you don’t know? He does. What you can’t see? He sees. He’s got you and He’s got your life. Nothing that can happen in your life will catch Him off guard. So the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by the changes in your life, think about the fact that there is a God who knows you, sees you, and knows exactly what’s ahead in your journey. He has promised to never leave you, and He always keeps His promises. In all the change around you, He never changes.
