Change

One of the books we have to read for Pastoral Care is When You Are Facing Change by Daniel Lester. It is one of the books on how to adapt to change. Both the change we are going through and the change that so many of those we will minister to will go through. Remember the Wilderness I talked about being change, trouble, anything that we go through that upsets our status quo. This can be a change for the good; it doesn’t have to be bad to cause us stress. I loved this part of what I read today:


“Risk is involved whenever we hear God’s call. We are asked to give up something, to experience an ending, and we may be called to move into an unknown future. Even Abraham, with a clear call from God, did not know the details or what was going to happen or where he was going. Our response to God’s call requires taking one step at a time. (Those in my home congregation of Faith might remember my last sermon about taking the changes we are led to one step at a time.) Through our risking one step, God gives light for the next. When responding to God’s call, we find ourselves supplied with the gifts and abilities with which to accomplish the work.

The point is that when we respond to God’s call. It always involves an ending. Before moving on, we first have to say goodbye to the place where we have been. If we refuse to listen and respond to God’s call, we shrink back from challenge and growth. We draw the circle of our life smaller, and we live on the human level without consideration for the vertical dimension of faith.

I am convinced that as we grow older it becomes increasingly important to be attentive to God’s call. It is easy to settle for what we have, to give up our dreams and hopes, to blot out our sense of vision for life and what it can be. At that point, we begin to die emotionally and spiritually.”

I believe we are learning so much about this so that when God calls us to do something a certain way or go to a certain place we don’t get hung up on our comfort level and prediposed tendencies. When God calls us we have to be comfortable with the change that His will might/will require. If we are inflexible we are not able to follow His will for us as easily. The more flexible we are the more open we are to hearing His word and following His will.

BTW, we had some great fellowship this afternoon with the 5 of us that stay over the weekend. We watched the Gator football game and had some pizza and chili and don’t tell anyone (beer). Only 1! It is not cheap, so it is consumed sparingly. :) Have a great and blessed rest of the weekend.  I leave you with:

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly. Richard Bach from Timeless Wisdom