What happens when “Change” is forced on you? Especially difficult, hard, unpleasant change? I said earlier that I am one who not only likes and welcomes change, but…mostly if it is on my terms and I am the one in control of that change. No one likes unexpected, difficult change that we have NO control over. A loss of a loved one or job, a drastic change in careers, a major move, or a life altering event. Those kinds of change can make even the most eager rock back on their heels. So what do we do when we find ourselves staring at the Giant called “Change” when we didn’t want it, don’t like it and do not want to go through it? That is a very good question. It’s right up there with why bad things happen to good people, but that will have to be a separate blog.
Where or who do we look to for Peace, Hope, the Will to dig in and keep going? When we are sitting maybe at the lowest point in our lives, in what seems like the bottom of a pit, where does our help come from? How do we dig our way out of this new, unwanted change? That is where the Spirit of God comes in. There are going to be many, many times and opportunities for our emotions, our feelings to let us down. Times we are left to feel like we are all alone and cannot “do life”. However, the reality is, when we know in our head that we have hope, not in ourselves or our circumstances, but in the ONE who is sitting there in the pit with us we know Who our help and Hope is in.
Christ never asked us to go through these journeys alone. He is there, even enveloping us with his spirit no matter what place we find ourselves. In the deepest of depths, he is there holding us, offering us the peace and light that we need even if we do not feel it at the time. He is there to help pick us up out of our grief, our uncertainty, our fear, our failures, our anger and hesitancy of this new change.
Living life in the Spirit means knowing Christ and the Spirit on a personal level long before that “Unwanted, Forced Change” happens. It is the relationship built, the promises and hope that is engrained in our brains that will override the confusion of our feelings or the numbness that might ensue. It is the Knowing that the God of the universe loves us so much that he is willing to crawl in that pit with us and sit in our messiness. He is holding us tight until we are ready to once again stand with him and face this “New Change” together.
Besides we just never know the Blessings and Joy that await on the other side.
Shalom, Shalom (God’s Perfect Peace)
