Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “The only one who likes change is a wet baby.” It seems like one of those proverbial truths doesn’t it? We are creatures of habit; we like to live our lives within the zones of comfort we create for ourselves, which provides us a measure of control in our lives . . . and we all like to be in control!
But for the disciple of the unchanging One, change is a way of life all the way into glory. Here are just a few examples:
- The change from natural living to spiritual living
- The change from living by sight to living by faith
- The change from living for self to dying to self
- The change from serving ourselves to serving others
These are just a few of the many changes that take place in the upside-down world our Lord Jesus created for those who answer His call. If we are going to be true followers of Christ, every aspect of what we once were must be changed.
The challenge for many Christians today is that they have an erroneous view of the goal of the Christian life. God did not save us to make us comfortable; He saved us to conform us into the image of His beloved Son, and that process involves a great deal of change . . . and that change is not comfortable! I have learned from personal experience that the greater our resistance to the change God is working in our lives, the greater the pain we will experience.
Yes, change can be painful, but it is also profitable. God is bringing us to the end of ourselves, and that end is the place where we experience true meaning and purpose in life. If we follow our natural, sinful nature, we live meaningless and purposeless lives; we live for nothing bigger than self and our own glory. True, we may help some people along the way, but we are doing it to expand our own kingdom, not the kingdom of God. But thanks be to our loving heavenly Father, He will not leave us in the condition He found us in. He will not stop short of conforming us completely to the image of Jesus, regardless of how much pain each change creates.
Have you been dealing with the pain of change lately? Don’t shrink back from it! Embrace change and be enlarged by it, because the Great Physician is working every change in your life for your good and His glory. Remember, the pain of change is the power of redemptive restoration, where our marred and scarred image of God is being restored, polished, and ultimately perfected on that day we enter into our eternal rest. Until that day, receive each change as a gift from God, who is making you just like the Unchangeable One.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 