You're aching, you're breaking
And I can see the pain in your eyes
Says everybody's changing
And I don't know why.
Keane – "Everybody's Changing"
Our world is a transient place. We move house, change jobs, children grow up and fly the nest, new technology comes in which we have to learn, friends move away, etc.
Sometimes it feels too much, and it would be just nice to have some certainty. Using a chart of life change units you can calculate what stress this is putting you under. I see that changing church activities is more stressful than minor violations of law!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale
My Grandad has just died in hospital. Over the last year the changes that took place in his body were dramatic, losing his mobility, memory and finally his speech. It was almost like his last vestige of pride and self-reliance was forcibly removed, as he relied on others for everything. Yet as he struggled with these last changes in his life, it gave me the opportunity to pray with him and thank him for the wonderful example of kindness and generosity he has been. He is still speaking powerfully to me through his example, and helping me to change.
Fortunately, in God we have certainty in a changing world; He is our Rock, the absolute dependable truth. That is not to say that God doesn't want us to change – he certainly does. I'm sure God uses some of these disruptive, painful things to challenge us to love and change, and also to come to Him for our certainty, rest and refreshment.
"You are my refuge and my shield. I have put my hope in your word."
Psalm 119:114 [NIV]
Jon Seaton
Read the Bible in a year: Psalm 119:113-120, Lamentations 1:1-2:6, Titus 3:1-15
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