{"id":39963,"date":"2023-12-19T01:12:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T08:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/?post_type=blog&p=39963"},"modified":"2023-12-18T09:25:02","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T16:25:02","slug":"the-joy-and-pain-of-change","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/the-joy-and-pain-of-change\/","title":{"rendered":"The Joy and Pain of Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago, my church ended our Sunday morning service in an unusual way. Not unusual as in \u201cweird,\u201d but out of the norm for my church. For the first time, our small congregation sent out a missionary couple.<\/p>\n

Our church elders commissioned and prayed for them. This couple got married just over a year ago, and they\u2019ve both hoped to serve in missions overseas for much longer than that. It struck me how much has changed for them in 12 months \u2014 and how much will change for them as they adjust to life in another country: a new language, climate, church, friends, foods and routines.<\/p>\n

Most of us aren\u2019t expecting that much change in the next few months \u2014 though you never know, honestly. But over time, all of us will experience life changes, whether we seek them out or not.<\/p>\n

Afraid of change<\/h4>\n

New job. Out-of-state move. Trying a new church. Taking a volunteer role at a ministry. Facing illness or a family member\u2019s death. Some of these changes are harder and scarier than others, but none of them are easy.<\/p>\n

After one of my job changes, I felt overwhelmed and out of my depth for months. The next time I considered a potential job change, I hesitated. What if I went through the same struggle again? What if I had to scale back on everything outside of work (again) just to accommodate this change?<\/p>\n

These are the fears<\/a> that can make change so hard. What if I\u2019m not up to this? What if I fail? What if I\u2019m unhappy? What if I have regrets?<\/p>\n

Opposite fears<\/h4>\n

Some of us aren\u2019t scared of things happening as much as we\u2019re scared of things not <\/em>happening. Perhaps you\u2019ve waited so long for a relationship, a job, a friend, or a resolution to a conflict that you dread the thought of starting yet another year still waiting. Years of waiting for something \u2014 anything \u2014 can crush our enthusiasm for the coming year.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, a mom I follow on Facebook posted that she was going to try to order some specific medical gear for her disabled son \u2014 a process that would include lots of phone calls and working with insurance companies. She had tried before, to no avail. \u201cTomorrow may be yet another disappointment,\u201d she wrote, \u201cbut it also might not be!\u201d History wasn\u2019t in her favor, but despite repeated failure, she was willing to keep trying.<\/p>\n

God in the dark<\/h4>\n

Whether we fear change or the lack of it, the antidote to our worry remains the same: \u201cPut your trust in the Lord,\u201d David wrote (Ps. 4:5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Some may say that sounds trite, but that just means they have never fully tried it. One of Merriam-Webster\u2019s definitions of \u201ctrust\u201d is \u201cto place confidence in; rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is no easy task. Will we choose to rely on God even when we see that He is calling us to embrace a change that worries us? Will we choose to place our confidence in Christ when it seems our peers are receiving what we wish we could have?<\/p>\n

On Christmas Day 1939, the first Christmas after Nazi forces invaded Poland and started World War II, Britain\u2019s King George VI gave a speech, quoting from the poem, \u201cGod Knows,\u201d by Minnie Louise Haskins:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: \u2019Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.\u2019
\nAnd he replied: \u2018Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trusting God through change \u2014 or while hoping for change \u2014 is hard. But think what we gain from the trusting! Hope, knowing that our Father is <\/em>working in our circumstances for our good <\/em>(knowing that the God of the ages is with us always (Heb. 13:5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What\u2019s around the corner?<\/h4>\n

There\u2019s one more thing. \u201cYou do not know what a day may bring,\u201d Solomon wrote<\/a> in Proverbs. This verse reminds us of our limits, how we shouldn\u2019t boast in what may happen next since we literally can\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

But doesn\u2019t this also excite us? We don\u2019t know what will happen tomorrow. <\/em>These changes we worry about may be great blessings. The changes we fear may never come could be just around the corner. Tomorrow, even.<\/p>\n

Over five years ago, I emailed a few article ideas to Boundless. I thought I wanted to get more writing experience \u2014 to add something to my resume. But God has used my years blogging for Boundless to do much more than that. I\u2019ve grown in countless ways and learned so much about living for Christ during this season of my life.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to take a blogging break as we go into the new year. After several years of blogging twice a month, I\u2019m ready to free up a little more time and mental energy to focus on other things. But I\u2019m incredibly grateful for what God has done in my life through Boundless, all of which happened because of trying something new \u2014 a change, if you will.<\/p>\n

As each of us looks to the coming year, who knows what even one day may bring forth?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe soul that has learned the blessed secret of seeing God\u2019s hand in all that concerns it cannot be a prey to fear,\u201d said Susannah Spurgeon. \u201cIt looks beyond all second causes, straight into the heart and will of God, and rests content, because He rules.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Copyright 2023 Lauren Dunn. All rights reserved.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trusting God through change \u2014 or while hoping for change \u2014 is hard. But think what we gain from the trusting!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":39965,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[4,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39963","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Joy and Pain of Change - Boundless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trusting God through change \u2014 or while hoping for change \u2014 is hard. 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