Philippians 4:10-13
A few years ago, Pat and I visited a little village somewhere west of London, Moreton in Marsh. Stepping into Moreton was like stepping back into another century—not the twentieth.
We arrived on a Tuesday, the day of the weekly village market. Stalls selling everything from tea towels to lamb chops were set up on the square. Next to the square were old buildings that seemed unchanged for generations. It wasn’t like downtown Worthington. Here in Worthington you get the impression that some years ago the civic leaders said to themselves, “Let’s keep the old buildings we have and even require any new buildings to look like they were freshly built in colonial New England. We might attract a few tourists and, besides, think of the fun we’ll have making the merchants and homeowners follow all the rules.”
In the center of Moreton in Marsh there weren’t any new buildings. The buildings didn’t just look like they belonged to another century; they belonged to that century.
Now, I’m sure you could buy a computer in Moreton or a power drill, but I never saw a computer store and to buy tools you had to visit the ironmonger’s shop. We had tea in a quaint little café where, if you wanted the washroom, you had to go to a little building at the end of a path.
Toward the end of the afternoon, we decided to eat before going back to the train. It was about 5:00 when we went into one of restaurants. “Are you serving dinner,” Pat asked. The proprietor looked at us as if we had just suggested Queen Elizabeth wear a miniskirt the races at Ascot. He said, “Dinner is at 6 o’clock [period].” The “period” was unspoken but it was there.
I can only imagine what he’d think of one of our restaurants advertising “Breakfast Served All Day.”
Change is hard. If dinnertime were the only change we had to contend with most of us would be happy.
Change happens all around us. It happens in every facet of our lives. Schools are changing. The workplace is changing. Families are changing. Even our churches are changing.
We don’t care for change because it impinges upon our comfort zones. The status quo makes us feel safe and secure. Change—at least at the beginning—brings insecurity.
Columnist Ellen Goodman has written
“We cling to even the minor routines with an odd tenacity. We’re upset when the waitress who usually brings us coffee in the breakfast shop near the office suddenly quits, and are disoriented if the drugstore or the cleaner’s in the neighborhood closes…. We each have a litany of holiday rituals and everyday habits that we hold on to, and we often greet radical innovation with the enthusiasm of a baby meeting a new sitter.”
We don’t care for change because change demands learning new ways of thinking and doing. Change can be hard work. Some of those teachers you’ve had who are using the same lecture notes they used a decade ago may simply be too lazy to change.
We don’t care for change because change opens the door to conflict with others. In fact, most students of conflict tell us there is no change without conflict.
Dr. Spencer Johnson in Who Moved My Cheese? says we can be like mice who have become so attached to their cheese they fail to notice when it has become rancid. Such mice are unwilling to seek new cheese, so unwilling they starve.
The Bible nowhere addresses the issue of change. It does assume that change is a fact of life. It does portray a spectrum of responses to change.
* The men and women who had been carried away from Israel to Babylon as living spoils of war looked at the change and cried out, “By the rivers of Babylon we wept when we remembered Zion—the way things used to be, before it all changed. On the willow trees we hung our harps, unable to sing the Lord’s songs in a strange land.”
You’ve known such men and women. They seem unable to move into the now, to accept the changes which have occurred in their lives. They may dwell on the past—for them, “BC” refers to that portion of their lives “before the change.” Their “joy” never seems full or complete. You can easily imagine them clicking their heels together and whispering, “There’s no place like home, there’s no job like the old job, there’s no church like the old church, there’s no house like the old house.” The litany could go on and on. They have never moved into “AD”—accepting the difference.
You’ve known such men and women. They seem unable to move into the now, to accept the changes which have occurred in their lives. They may dwell on the past—for them, “BC” refers to that portion of their lives “before the change.” Their “joy” never seems full or complete. You can easily imagine them clicking their heels together and whispering, “There’s no place like home, there’s no job like the old job, there’s no church like the old church, there’s no house like the old house.” The litany could go on and on. They have never moved into “AD”—accepting the difference.
* Paul, sitting in a prison cell, reflected on all the changes in his life and wrote, “I knew plenty, then things changed and I knew hunger; I was popular, then things changed and I was despised. In all of these changes I have learned how to be content. Through Christ I’ve handled the changes.”
You’ve known men and women like Paul. They seem to be able to accept whatever life throws their way with hardly a loss of stride. They can go from lunch at The Refectory to brown-bagging it without losing their balance, their joy.
Some men and women in the Bible handled change well; some handled it poorly. Some men and women we know handle change well; some handle it poorly.
Even though the Bible doesn’t directly discuss change it does provide enough insights for us to draw certain principles for dealing with change.
The Bible reminds us that change is part of life.
Although he may have been less than enthusiastic in reporting the matter, the writer of Ecclesiastes pictures the changes which occur as we grow older.
ECC 12:1 Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
"I find no pleasure in them"--
ECC 12:2 before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;
ECC 12:3 when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few…
The writer’s picture of old age is bleak but, of course, this writer is bleak about most things. Other Biblical writers speak of the joy of getting older. The point is, change is part of life. It’s the way things are. Almost six hundred years before the birth of Christ made the simple observation, “You can’t step into the same river twice.” Even in Moreton in Marsh some of those stands were selling cell-phone cases.
Because change is part of life it is advisable to expect it, to prepare for those changes we can anticipate and to develop skills for dealing with those changes which come on us unexpectedly. The first step in preparation seem to be to make a commitment to God, “your Creator,” early in life.
The Bible reminds us to embrace some change wholeheartedly.
Jesus once spoke of the radical impact of the gospel. Using homely language he described how his message of grace and freedom could not be confined in the rigid structures of the past. Listen to his words:
MK 2:21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. [22] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."
Change can be a challenge. It seldom can take place in isolation from other changes. You can attach an automotive computer to a ’57 Chevy but it won’t make a difference in how the car runs. Other changes would have to be made as well.
A teenager who has had to move to a new school may find herself friendless, not because the school is so different than the one she left, but because she refuses to employ the simple people- skills she brought with her to the new situation. She is so angry at her parents for moving, angry at God for letting it happen, angry at these new people for not being like her old friends, that she dooms herself to failure.
It seems we seldom have the choice to change or not change. Instead, we either face the change in a way that suggests our determination to seize the opportunities that may be latent in the new situation or face the change in a way that leaves us with no voice, where we are at the whim of circumstance.
The Bible reminds us that change in our lives doesn’t mean God has changed.
In Romans 8 Paul discusses the many challenges we may face as Christians, challenges which might include extreme changes in our lives. He even says that some to these challenging changes might cause us to doubt God’s love. They shouldn’t because God’s love is steadfast and certain. In the midst of all the changes we may encounter in our lives one thing is certain: “…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (RO 8:28)
What a shame if we were to be so resistant to change that we fail to see God’s hand at work in our lives to bring his good to us.
How do we handle change?
We all know change will come to our lives. Sometimes it is bidden, sometimes it comes unbidden but change will come. How can we face it? The following suggestions deal with handling change.
In his book, Confronting the Fear of Change: What to Do When Better Seems Worse, Blaine Smith offers some Biblical principles for dealing with change.
First, Smith reminds those facing change that it is normal to have reservations about change.
This is true whether you are changing jobs or planning to get married. There are those folks who seem fearless before the changes which come their way, but you shouldn’t feel bad just because you aren’t one of them.
Second, Smith suggests those facing change take time to mourn what they’ve left behind.
A certain amount of grief results from change. Moving across the country involves leaving behind familiar friends and special places. If you didn’t grieve the loss of those friendships, those places, it would be surprising.
At the same time, grief eventually subsides. The grief which results from change ought to eventually subside.
Third, Smith encourages those facing change to pray for strength and eagerness.
We can only help ourselves if we turn to God to help us face change. In asking for strength we are saying, “Lord, with your help, I know I can face this change.” In asking for eagerness, we are saying, “Lord, with your help, I know I can have a new attitude in the midst of this change.”
Fourth, Smith challenges those facing change to take control of their thinking.
Control your thinking and your feelings about the change and the battle is nearly won.
It won’t be easy. In fact, there may be those friends whose attitudes will hinder you. They just don’t feel happy about the change you’ve made and can’t bring themselves to support you. Don’t abandon these friends but try to seek out those who are encouraging.
Fifth, Smith suggests those who facing change to accept the principle of tradeoffs.
Simply put, while most change brings losses, those same changes usually bring benefits. If a move means distance from some friends, it also means the opportunity to make new friends. If a change of employment means having to learn new skills, it also means discovering we have talents untapped before.
CONCLUSION
I’m not sure I will ever learn to love change. I’ll never buy the notion that all change is good. Yet, when you resist change you may be keeping yourself from seeing something magnificent, something grand: God’s grace at work in your life.
Blaine Smith has a final word for us:
“The best news is that God is on our side as we make the effort to confront our fears of change and embrace his best for us. We should be determined in this effort, trusting that he will give us all the grace we need as we step forward. May God grant us the wisdom to see his best at every point in our life, and the courage to move beyond any fears that stand in the way.”
