...But Most Things Do

Being people we don't like change. It scares us. It's a lack of certainty, a lack of stability, a lack of control. We especially don't like when those things dearest to us change as we hate to admit that we even fail to control that which means the most to us.

Grandma's is a place where change is evident. The walls are covered with pictures ranging from the 1940s to 2005, showing family members in all different stages of their lives. My cousins, all but one of whom are younger than I, look different every time I see them. The farm, once full of life, is home to farm animals no more. The house is still there, but even that may soon be gone.

Being there really caused me to reminisce, and reminiscing made me wish that everything would go back to the way that it was, that things wouldn't change. I generally handle change well, but this seemed too much. The thing is, there's no way to stop change. It happens, even when everything in us wants things to stay the same.

And that's ok. In fact, it can even be exciting. If you are saved, you have promises that God will take care of you, that He is watching out for you, that you have great things in your future: "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you" (Isaiah 46:4) "For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you" (Jeremiah 29:11); "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28), just to name a few.

So long as we follow God, the path ahead will be good. And with those promises, change and uncertainty become exciting. We aren't in control and we don't know what's going to happen even tomorrow, much less five years from now, but as believers we know that God has great things in store for us. And what is more exciting than knowing that blessings are in store without knowing what those blessing are? It's like kids at Christmas time: part of the excitement is knowing that the gifts are there under the tree but not knowing what's inside. Life is no different.

That doesn't mean everything will be easy. God never promised that. In fact He promises quite the opposite. I like what the sign at Grandma's church said last week: "When the going gets easy, you may be going the wrong way." As difficult as things may be, though, God is still there, still in control, still handing down blessings out of His perfect grace.

Who knows what the next two years hold in store, or the years after that, or the next five minutes after writing this post, for that matter. And I, for one, am excited about it.