How Are You Handling Change?
“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them” Joshua 1:2.
Change is inevitable—and much of it is welcome. To watch a healthy toddler grow into a happy child and become a productive adult is the hope and prayer of all parents. To see a single friend find a loving spouse brings joy. To get a much needed check in the mail prompts praise and a happy dance (at least it’s my response!).
But change can also be painful, disorienting, and demanding more of us than we feel capable of. Loss of what was a precious part of our lives is crushing. Experiencing a broken relationship leaves deep hurt. Getting an unexpected and debilitating diagnosis brings fear and God-directed questions.
Our personal worlds are full of change. Our larger world is also full of change—with more changes to come. How are you handling it?
God turned Joshua’s life upside down when He called him to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. And Joshua’s first reaction to this life change was fear. He had never faced this before. God knew, and Joshua knew, that he didn’t have the wisdom and strength to move forward relying on himself.
How about you?
Faced with the many changes happening around us, and possibly personal life-changing situations as well, are you:
- Wondering how you will manage?
- Where you will get the courage and wisdom needed? And,
- How you can experience the outcome God wants for you?
God’s command to Joshua is for you and for me!
“Be careful to obey all the Law… meditate on it…be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” Joshua 1:7-8.
- Believe God’s Promises. Change brings endings and ushers in new beginnings. When God calls you to a new path, listen for His promises—because they are there to give you courage! He gave the same promises to Joshua as Jesus gives to us: I AM with you. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you (Matthew 28:20). In every challenge, and down every scary, new path you face—get your strength from God’s promises.
- Meditate on God’s Word. Meditating is more than reading, scanning the text, or rushing through a segment of Scripture. To meditate is to think about, ponder, to see connections to your life, your attitudes, and your assumptions. It then becomes living, active, penetrating, hope-giving, and faith building—a tool the Holy Spirit uses to lovingly produce transformation (Hebrews 4:12-13).
- Be Careful to Obey. Believing God is with you and counting on His promises, releases His power into your situation. And, no matter how wimpy you are naturally, He will give you the courage to obey His Word and make wise choices.
- Joshua moved forward believing and trusting God’s promises and found himself filled with the courage he didn’t have in himself.
- He accomplished God’s promised purposes for Israel, and for himself.
- Through the changes that came into his life, Joshua glorified God.
I’m praying that will be true for you and for me.
I’d love to hear your story about how you have handled change and how you’ve grown in faith through it!
Poppy
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