Ch-ch-ch-changes

I hate change! Hate it! I’m guessing my reaction comes from my growing-up years when we were moving on an average of every two years. New houses, new schools, new friends, new churches, new neighbors, new everything.

I assumed life would be like that. After teaching in one place for three years, I moved. Then another three years passed, and I moved again. Since then, I’ve stayed put. I like it like that. Same church, same apartment, same … well, I changed jobs, friends moved, so did my neighbors … so changes are still happening. I’m not happy! 😦

Guess what my aversion to change means when it comes to the world of communication! First there was email — what a great way to communicate with people, even those living across the world! Then there were message boards and we could have discussions with complete strangers over issues we all had some interest in. Then there were blogs. Now I could introduce the content. Then Facebook and Twitter and Google+ and Goodreads and LinkedIn and …

Give me a break!

The book business is in great flux too. Indie publishers are popping up all over the place. ebooks and ereaders are on the rise, whereas brick and mortar bookstores are struggling to hold on. (As an aside, my critique group which used to meet in a Borders Bookstore, may have settled on a name — Writers Without Borders. 😆 )

Whether I like it or not, the world changes. No one asks my permission. They just upset my world by “upgrading” or moving or inventing or wearing out or breaking. And truth be told, I can’t keep up with all the changes. Some of them cost too much. Some are too time consuming. Some don’t work for me, and some I can’t find. (Where, oh, where is the nearest bookstore now?!)

Change? Honestly, I think chaos is a better word at times. Or upheaval. Maybe mayhem, bedlam, havoc. OK, now I might be exaggerating a teensy bit.

But here’s the cool thing. We have an unchangeable God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is loving today, merciful, forgiving, just, kind, and omniscient. And I can count on the fact that He will be all those same things tomorrow and the day after and the day after that.

What’s more, because He’s sovereign and holds all creation in place, what looks chaotic to me, isn’t. Life has a purpose, and all the parts of life have a purpose — even the moves and changes, including the ones I like the least.

For one thing, none of those changes catches God off guard. He’s not scratching His head in wonder at all that’s going on, as if some of it has gotten away from Him. It hasn’t. Not the economy, politics, or those messy, messy, uncooperative relationships.

God knows what He is about. He’s got it under control. So even when I have to endure all those changes, it’s OK, because God has also got me. And without a doubt, He can do a much better job of orchestrating events than I ever could.

You see, there’s one thing I don’t always like to admit, but here it is: without change, there is no growth. So if I want to grow into the image of Jesus Christ, I can’t stand pat. God knows this, and He leads, prods, pulls, pushes, coaxes, carries, so that I get where He knows I need to go. Because one more of His unchanging qualities is that He is good.

A good, unchanging God. Now we’re talking my language! 😉