Doug Creamer: Change Happens
Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 13, 2017
Change Happens
I was talking to a younger colleague earlier this week who was complaining about being sore after working hard last weekend. I chuckled. Wait until you get to be my age and you decide to work hard over a weekend. The sore muscles can last several days. When you are young you don’t realize how quickly you can recover from a hard day’s work.
When did these changes occur? When I look in the mirror from day-to-day, I don’t notice any changes. I picked up a copy of my first book the other day and wondered whose picture was on the back cover…that guy has hair! His beard is brown not the pretty shade of white that stares back at me in the mirror.
A colleague showed me pictures of their new daughter. In the first she was a newborn, then at one month, two months, and three months. She was growing and changing right before my eyes. Obviously, when we are young like that we change a lot, but are we expected to change as adults?
Well, I know that things change. My wife and I are at the age when we will be experiencing many changes. We are both close to retirement, what will that be like? I have been going to a school since I was four years old, I can’t imagine life without bells and announcements. Yet someday in the near future I will experience these changes.
We all know that our health changes as we age. Overall, I have been lucky to have good health most of my life. My Dad said recently that he has enjoyed good health through his sixties and seventies…it was that next group of years that brought more health issues. I look at my parents and see how hard they work and how they both stay active and hope I will be doing as well when I get to be their age.
In every area of our lives we all experience changes. The most common phrase in our household is, “Pardon me?” I used to hear my students whispering in the back of the room, not any more. No matter what we do, we can’t stop changes from occurring. I really don’t like change. I like routines. I like knowing what to expect. Why do things have to change?
Life is full of changes and our spiritual lives are no different. If you can remember when you were born again…think of all the ways you have grown up spiritually. We have learned about God through reading the scriptures. We have learned about how to pray and hopefully discovered that we have a God who hears and answers our prayers.
One of the biggest things I have learned is that God’s ways are different than my ways. He has changed my thinking on so many issues. We are called to forgive those who have wronged us. God even wants us to bless our enemies. I have to learn to trust God. I have to believe that God sees the big picture and He will take care of the details. I need to believe God is good.
While God expects me to change, to grow and mature in my spiritual walk, He never changes. We can trust God. We can depend on God. When life feels like it is spinning out of control, we can know and believe that God is a solid rock upon whom we can lean and trust. He will always be there for us. He will never leave or forsake us. He is loving, merciful, kind, and very good.
While God is an agent of change in our lives we can know and trust that He is keeping a close eye on us. I learned a new definition for the word grace a few years ago. Grace is the power of God to bring about change. God wants us to change and become like Christ, and He gives us the strength and ability to make those changes. We have to learn to rely on His power to get us through the changes and to overcome.
We serve an awesome God and I want to encourage you as you walk through the many changes of life, that God’s grace is truly sufficient for you. He’s there to help you, to guide you, to give you the strength to see it through. God wants to make us more like Christ…which means He is going to be changing us. I believe God is going to help us make it through the many changes in life…it won’t be easy, but by His grace all things are possible.
Contact Doug at doug@dougcreamer.com
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