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Embracing Change - Encouragement Café - April 11, 2018

Embracing Change
By Katie Harmon

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: ”  Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV

It’s spring…a time of new beginnings, a time of change.  We make our spring cleaning and exercising commitments, set our goals, set our watches, and buckle down.  Sounds fun, right? 

We hope the season brings good things. We hope for new jobs, new love, new bodies, new houses, new opportunities, and new adventures; knowing all the while that it may also bring some not so good things. 

It is possible that a new season might bring lost jobs, new heartbreak, health scares, missed opportunities, broken relationships, or even death.

No matter what we may hope this new season brings, we know it will bring change, and that can be scary. 

If you’re anything like me, change is difficult for you.  Men and women are creatures of habit.  We like our Sunday dinners and our Friday nights out.  We like our annual family vacations, our Christmas traditions, and our morning routines.  We like customs and consistency. They make us feel comfortable and safe. 

But God has not called us to a life of safety and comfort.  In fact, what he wants for us is quite the opposite. He wants us to be changed, to be transformed, to be made new – like the spring.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

In truth, life is nothing but change…changing seasons, growing up, growing old. 

As Solomon taught, “there is a time for everything,” the good and bad (Ecclesiastes 3:1).  But we have no reason to fear, for as Paul says, “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). 

So we change and move and learn, even if that means enduring some growing pains, because hopefully we will find ourselves better for it tomorrow.  Hopefully, we embrace whatever change God brings to our lives and allow Him use it to mold us into what He wants us to be…His.

If you’re like me and find yourself resisting change, I encourage you to fully embrace it this season. 

Choose something specific to change about your life – give up a bad habit, volunteer regularly, read a book written by someone who holds different beliefs, actually spring-clean and get rid of the junk you’ve been holding onto out of fear or insecurity. 

While you’re doing this, dive into the Word and make a list of verses about change that give you peace and courage.

Jesus, Help us to accept Your will for our lives; To embrace change as a means of drawing nearer to You.  Give us the grace to surrender more completely to You, and mold us into a more perfect image of Your love.  Grant us courage and faith as we greet our new season in hope and joy. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

© 2018 by Katie Harmon.  All rights reserved.


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