Changes

And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

 

Daniel 2:21

 

 

In the words of the great philosopher, Forrest Gump, "Change happens." Change occurs to anyone, anywhere, anytime, expected or dreaded, wanted or unwanted, inflicted or by design, sooner or later. Although change is a one-syllable word, it has a variety of meanings, comes in a diversity of forms, and causes different results.

 

What is change?

 

Some dictionary definitions of change are:

 

• To make different in form
• To transform
• To give and take reciprocally
• To transfer from one to another
• To become different
• To pass from one phase to another

These are just a few of countless definitions and we could further the search in a thesaurus and discover an infinite amount of synonyms such as revolutionize, adjust, amend, swap, trade, switch, conversion, movement away, digression, and restore. The list seems endless…

 

We can choose to react or be proactive toward change.

 

God can use changes to strengthen us, build character in us, test or prove us, humble us, and get our attention. How we accept, deny, or otherwise react to the change or changes before us is entirely up to each individual. Through this process, God reveals His strength, His character, His love for us, and the fact that He is God.

 

Resisting or accepting change is a personal matter. In the poem known as the "Serenity Prayer" by Reinhold Niebuhr, the first part of it says:

 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

 

The key word in this poem is God and it is only through prayer and studying the Word that we will be able to "know the difference."  We need to find a time in our day to set aside to be with our Heavenly Father, spending time in prayer and in the Word. Remember that good communication requires a sender and a receiver—God may be trying to send you a message of a change.