Closing Day in SC with Nelson & Galbreath, Attorneys at Law!

The tarp that covered our “leftover” earthly goods (i.e., the ones that we hadn’t sent in the moving truck a few days earlier) appeared to flap excitedly down the highway as Joe drove his little red truck in front of my car and probably made us look a lot like the “Beverly Hillbillies” to passersby. However, in our case, there was no gushing “Texas tea” involved, and our destination at the end of April was not Southern California but South Carolina.

If you’ve ever made an out-of-state (or even across-town) move, you know that moving is not for sissies! In fact, if you’ve ever faced any major changes in your life, you know that change can wreak havoc on the comfort you find in your routines, traditions, and familiar surroundings. I confess to you, sweet faith-friend, that generally speaking, I am not a huge fan of change.

However, in the midst of change—nearly any kind of change—there are positive elements that can guide you through longing for the familiar and propel you forward into focusing on the positive (though not always easy) aspects of change. Here are three of those positive elements.

Choose to believe that change is entrusted to you.

Sadly, many of us treat change with a passive approach. We say, “Change happens. There’s nothing I can do about it.” We may even sit and pout because of the change that we think was “inflicted upon us.” But there is something we can do! When change happens, we can choose to believe that the change was entrusted to us.

Philippians 4:8 (ESV): “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

What is true is that this thing—this change—happened.

God didn’t withhold something or someone from you because He doesn’t like you.

God didn’t stop loving you.

God didn’t love someone else more than He loved you or love you more than He loved someone else.

God entrusted this change, trial, blessing, disappointment, gift, heartache, loss to you. View it as an honor, a privilege—an assignment, even. View it not through God’s eyes—because we cannot see as He sees—but view it through God’s heart. His compassionate, loving, caring, wisdom-filled heart caused Him to choose you as the recipient of this change.

Choose to know that change can enlighten you.

Enlighten: “to supply with spiritual insight or light” (Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary). In my own words: “that which provides the recipient with an aha moment!” An aha moment? Back to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary for this one: “a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension.”

Moses’s aha moment came in Exodus 15. From the time of Moses’s birth, through the ten plagues the Israelites endured in Egypt, and even through the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14), Moses referred to God as “their God,” “your God,” or even “our God.” His relationship with God seemed formal, distant, not fully personal.

But the Red Sea changed everything!

This was where Moses found himself after the exodus from Egypt—trusting God. And God, Who is always good, demonstrated His power in a larger-than-life way! He parted the waters of the Red Sea, and God, Who is faithful to His word—every time—not only got the Israelites across the Red Sea; but their sandals were dry when they got there!

I believe that this is why,in Exodus 15, Moses finally personalizes his relationship with God, using the word my six times in reference to God in verse 2 alone as his enlightened heart began to sing: “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exodus 15:2, ESV).

Choose to see that change can equip you.

I believe that when Moses humbly and willingly put himself under the teaching of God almighty and not only learned from Him but in so doing learned about Him, God was able to equip Moses through the changes he was facing at nearly every turn of his journey through the wilderness.

You see, that’s a key step when you are choosing to change when change happens—humbly and willingly placing yourself under godly teaching and instruction so that you will be equipped to keep moving forward in your spiritual journey. Because God created you for a purpose, He will equip you for that purpose. And He may use change to do so.

Moses, using the lessons that change had taught him, was equipped to train his successor well (as recorded in Deuteronomy 31:7–8, NKJV): “Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.’”

Moses could confidently tell Joshua to trust in the almighty God. He knew firsthand that God would equip (prepare) Joshua for the changes that were before him, because God had used the changes that had come through trials, joys, battles, and victories to equip Moses for every change on his journey.

Whatever change God entrusts to you, allow it to enlighten you to the greatness of our good God and to equip you for whatever lies ahead.

______________________________________________________

(The following contains an affiliate link, meaning that if you click on the link to purchase the item, at no additional cost to you, I will receive a small commission from Amazon.)

Check back on Saturday for a special offer on multiple copies of Brenda’s seven-lesson Bible study for women: Choosing to Change when Change Happens. This book, suitable for individual or group study was, in part, the source for today’s blog post.