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In a way, this is a slight departure from the topic of Lenten thoughts. Please bear with me.
The disciples faced a major change in their lives. Their Master told them He was going to leave them. They could not fathom what Jesus said. We have Peter and his misguided declaration of following the Lord to the end.
The youth at our church are facing a change in their lives. Our youth leaders all graduate from college this spring. All three of them came here from an adjacent state. The main youth leader and his fiancée, also a youth leader, will get married sometime this summer. We believe they will all return to their home state.
Several of us have been aware that this time was coming. Those in church leadership roles have been discussing this upcoming time and how to transition through this change.
Word has come to me that one of the comments heard from a youth member is, “I don’t like change.” I understand the thought. At different points in our lives, none of us like change. I believe one reason we don’t care for change is we have a fear of the unknown. We sometimes have seen change whose result caused more problems than were present before.
When I was a freshman in college, about midway through the first semester, one of the girls in the dorm told some of us she wasn’t coming back for the second semester. Some of us took it hard. Another freshman girl mentioned it to some upper-class girls in her Greek organization. She shared the response with some of us.
“That’s going to happen the rest of your life.” The response referred to people moving out of our lives. As I have become older and have seen many changes in my life. I know the response given to one of my peers is true.
The disciples faced and eventually went through losing their Master. All but one of them deserted Jesus as the cross loomed bigger and bigger on the horizon. Our Lord promised to send a helper, the Holy Spirit.
Because of the arrival of the Holy Spirit, they yielded themselves to Him, returned to Jesus’s teaching, and grew in their faith to aid in enlarging the Kingdom.
As a young adult, I taught a junior high Sunday school class. Late one winter, the pastor announced he had accepted a call to pastor another church in the southern part of our state. This pastor was departing our church after at least 15 years. (Memory won’t give me the exact number of years.)
When our class met again, the subject came up. One of the boys told the class that pastor was the only one he had known. I didn’t know what to say. Later, I realized these boys and girls feared the unknown.
Change will come:
Children grow,
Young people go to college or start working.
People get married,
People move to another neighborhood, community, or state. (I discovered earlier this year that a friend of mine’s stepdaughter moved to London, England.)
Marriages fail and dissolve
People pass away
Neighborhoods change
Cities change
Relationships change
Not all change is bad. When Jesus went to the cross, God sent the Holy Spirit to help us through the difficulties of our lives. We grow because of the work of the Trinity. Without the Holy Spirit, the disciples would have returned to their previous trades and God’s Kingdom would not have been enlarged at that time.
How do you react to change in your lives? Do you accept things easier as an adult than you did as a child? Do you have any suggestions for the up and coming generations about changes they will see in their lives?
Change is inevitable the longer we live on this earth. It is something we all have to deal with as we age and see our loved ones and friends either move away or pass away. Life goes on...just differently. We count our blessings for having known those who have moved on, and are richer for their presence in our lives...but God always brings new people to help fill the void. Just as He sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us when Christ left earth for heaven...He has promised to never leave us comfortless. I have found that to be so true in my life. We may miss the ones who have left us, but we are never left alone if we know Jesus. This was a great post, Cecilia. Thank you!
ReplyDeletePam: This subject has been on my heart for quite some time. God has blessed me in that He has been with me when I had to face major change in my life. I would like to be able to explain to those coming up that we will face many changes before we leave this earth. Bless you and I hope you enjoy your weekend. I got some good porch time this afternoon. It was 75 degrees here today.
DeleteHi Cecelia! What a great reflection on change, and how hard it can be at all stages in our lives.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin just died of a brain tumor, leaving his wife and eight children and who knows how many grands. I'm sure the change in their lives will be so hard to take, and yet we all know that we'll ultimately die, and some even have a better idea of when that will be. As you said, change will come. I remember reading that nothing is constant in our lives, except change.
It's the will of God, it's what life is. As a person, it's hard for me to accept sometimes.
Blessings,
Ceil
Ceil!, I met a woman who worked in thevery therapy department of the nursing home I was in. Sometime after I was released, I saw in the paper that her dad had died. I do visitation at that facility. I had a couple of brief discussions with he after her loss. Christmas was coming, she told me þhey were looking for a new normal, whatever that would be. Her dad was a retired preacher, I believe hehe taught his children very well. I will pray for your cousins family.
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