Feeling a Change Coming On?

Isaiah 43:18-19 (The Message):
Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new.
It's bursting out! Don't you see it?

Change.  Some like it, some don't.

As you can see, I've changed the look of this blog.  I really like it.  I think it fits my personality!  I hope you like it too.  To me this is a good change.


But sometimes things change and we don't necessarily like it.  We'd rather go back to what we've been accustomed to, what worked, what was convenient.  I understand that, I've felt that way many times too.  Like the time we moved back from Hong Kong.  At the time that was the hardest change I'd ever gone through.  I loved that city...it had become home.  My best friends were there, the church I was able to first serve in was there, my life was just beginning to revolve around this incredible city.  But because it was only a 2 year term, we had to leave and come back to the US.  I had to interact with a culture that I had not interacted with for 2 years...and for a preteen, a lot happens in those 2 years!  At the time, I did not like that change and I spent a lot of crying hours during those few months after we got back.


Sometimes change is scary.  We don't know what to expect, how to react, or what to think about it.  We let this change produce fear that grips us to the point of seemingly insanity.  I get that too...another emotion I've felt in my life.  The story I mentioned above includes feeling this emotion too.  I was so scared of making new friends and fitting in that I let that fear grip me to extreme sadness. 


It wasn't until I stopped thinking about what I had lost and began focusing on what I had that I realized how God was working in my life.  For instance, during that time, I was able to serve more in church...a passion that has continued even until this day.


This verse from Isaiah says to forget about what's happened...it's old news.  It encourages us to be alert -- not fearful or focusing on what will happen. We need to live in the here and now.  He's going to do something completely different in our lives, that we can be sure of.  I think another verse that complements this Isaiah verse is Jeremiah 29:11.

Jeremiah 29:11 (The Message):
I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

Change will come, whether we like it or not, God tells us that.  However, God also tells us that He has great plans for us that will prosper us and give us a hope and a future.


So...next time you feel the winds of change blowing around/on you, don't fear and don't think about the past, but embrace the present and consider what God is doing in your life NOW that will in turn affect your future.  God's gonna do great things in your life..that I know.