Eccl 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: NKJV

If there is one thing we all have to admit, it is the fact that everything changes, and nothing stays the same. We go for a period of time when we get in a comfort zone; when things seem to be going the same every day, and we get used to our ruts. We even get somewhat upset when something happens to shake us out of our ruts, when something happens to change the way we are doing things. We are creatures of habit, and we do not want our habits broken.

Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3 stresses that things change, whether we want them to or not. Nothing stays the same. We are born, we live the time allotted on this earth, and we die. During the time we are here, we grow up, marry, have children, watch as the children leave the nest, and then grow older. We go through job changes and life changes constantly. We don’t like the changes, but we deal with them and go on.

Some changes are not for the better. In my lifetime in this country I have seen the morals of this country sink to new lows, and these morals (or lack of them), whether we wish to admit it or not, will sink us as a country. Throughout the Old Testament God made it clear that he is in charge of all nations, and all nations will have to answer to him for what they have done. When a country – any nation – sinks to the level of immorality that we continually descend, God calls them to account and destroys them. I cannot believe that God will allow America to get away with the rampant sin and shame to which she is sinking. We will be called to account!

Some change is for the better. Usually, when we get “shook up” with a change in our life, while we are going through it we are not happy, but after we get through the change or “trial” we come out on the other side better than we were before. We are forced out of our comfort zone, and forced to grow with the change, or get “stuck whining and moaning” about it and get set in our ways. I am convinced that God allows us to go through these things to try us, and to mold us in the image he has for us. He knows we can be better, stronger, more full of faith, but the only way we can get to that point is by going through the change.

How do we negotiate change? First and foremost, keep your focus on God. He is the one who changes not (Hebrews 13:7; Malachi 3:6). He must be the focal point in our lives while we go through the changes that we are all destined to go through. He wants us to have faith in him, and know that he will be with us as we ride out the storm of change.

Second, we need to look at how change can affect our lives for the better. It is so easy to become negative and not see any good that can come out of the change; but it takes faith in God and realizing that he knows what he is doing that helps us navigate the change and know that it is for the better. God is always working behind the scenes to make sure that his will is being accomplished. Even changes that are for the worse, God works for His glory and praise. So in simple faith know that God is in control, and know that all things will work out!

Change happens, whether we wish it to or not. Will we be better for it, or not? It depends on us and our faith in the God that changes not!