James 4:14a “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.”
Very few people like change. Most people have anxiety issues, stomach aches and all sorts of problems when a big change is coming to their lives. Some people have problems with even small changes. You see that in young children especially, they can have real problems when something in their daily routine changes. Change is just plain hard for most people.
But change is also something that is always happening. We grow older, we get married, we find a new job, we buy a house or move to a different one. A family member grows old and infirm, a close friend moves across the country, a child goes off to college. We all have changes going on all the time. It is part of life.
For that reason, we need the Lord. Only with the Lord helping us through the changes of life can we walk through them smoothly, especially the big changes and changes we did not foresee coming or want. Many changes we can handle pretty well because we know they are coming and look forward to them, but those that are unknown and unwanted are the hardest to deal with. So, we need the Lord to walk with us through any and all changes.
I once presented a seminar on change, changes in work, changes in personal lives, changes in health. I tried to cover the major changes that families go through. What I wasn’t prepared for in doing that presentation were the tears on the faces of some of the participants.
These were people who had seen many changes in their lives and in their work. I thought they would have welcomed the teaching and nodded their heads in understanding, which many did, but some teared up in the middle of the presentations.
Then it dawned on me, those were the people in the middle of big changes. One couple was considering a move. One couple was facing an empty nest in just a few months. One couple was considering retirement. Another couple was looking back on the death of a loved one just a short time ago. Those with tears on their faces were going through the pain of some transition or another. Those without tears were between big changes, but big changes would come for them too. That is what the seminar was for, to help us all better prepare for the big changes that happen to all people.
James talked about that, changes in life that we may or may not be ready for. He talks about people who were talking large. They were going to go out into the world and make a lot of money or do some other big thing in their life. They had plans, big and bold plans.
James tells them, people who had only recently been forced to flee Jerusalem due to prosecution, to be ready in their lives for whatever God had for them. Yes, they should make plans as best they could, but they also needed to be ready for God to disrupt their plans and lead them in a different way. They needed to be open to whatever God had for them.
So do we. Our lives will never be all in our hands to direct. We need to be open to the changes in our plans that God has for us, expected or unexpected, good or difficult.
For that reason, we need to stay close to Jesus, close to the One who can help us walk through any change in our life. Changes can come suddenly and unexpectedly, so we need to be walking with Jesus before they come so He can help us when they come. And even then, we need to turn to Him when they come and hold onto His hands and seek His guidance to get through the changes in our life. Hold onto His hand and He will see you through.
Pastor Gary.
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