Change: Embrace it!

Read Joshua 1:1-9

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” -Hebrews 13:8

Right now, I am facing a really big change in my life: I am graduating college and getting kicked out into the real world. This kind of stuff can be scary, especially if you don’t like change. I’ve got a history of not liking when things change. When I was seven years old, my family moved from California to Tennessee. It was traumatizing to me! I lost all of my friends and all of the places that I was familiar with, and all of the people’s accents were different from what I was used to.

Now, looking back over most of my short life, I have realized why I never liked change: if things change, then I am out of control of my situation. And I like control. It brings me comfort to know exactly how things are going to pan out, and if I’m in control, I can determine how things pan out.

But life doesn’t always work that way, and God doesn’t want us to try to control everything. I have learned that embracing change is a necessary part of life. Did you read Joshua 1:1-9? In it, Joshua takes over Israel in Moses’ place right before God brings Israel to the promised land. For 40 years Joshua has gotten used to wandering the desert, and now he has to adapt to a new leadership position and a new place he’s never been, all at once. Not to mention, there are enemies all over the place. But Joshua understood this: that even though things change, our God does not change!

So I’m a little apprehensive about graduating, but I’m even more excited about how God is going to grow me through the change. And I take comfort in the fact that even when I don’t know how things are going to pan out, my God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.