Change is in the air!

This seems to be such a time of change, so many of my friends and ourselves too experiencing change in so many different aspects of life:- little ones going off to school for the first time, bigger ones going up to high school, others on to college, all leaving gaps of different kinds, leaving us to face changing roles, changing lives, changing situations.  Then there are the new jobs, and for some even new countries!!

I don’t really embrace change, I brace myself for it. I like the comfortable, the familiar, it takes a while for me to adjust both in my thinking and in my practice.

But we too are facing change, huge change in daily life, daily routines  and roles.  All for the better, yes, but it doesn’t mean that the transition is any easier and it shouldn’t be undermined.

So how do we face change, how do we embrace it instead of fear it?

I suppose really it is a matter of trust.  Trusting that God has got us in this time too, trust that He has this planned, trust that He will walk with us in these new times, just as He has in past times.  It is the old saying isn’t it:

“I don’t know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future.”

So in the days ahead I may walk tentatively, I may be a bit shy in stepping out, in seeing what this new phase may bring, but I can put my hand in the hand of “the one who walked the water” and I can trust that He will be there walking right beside me, every step of the way.

What a glorious assurance and one I need to hold onto and bring to mind each and every time the fear and anxiety of change arises.

“Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!””
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭7:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬,

I can say with Samuel “up to this point the Lord has helped us”, so what do I fear, the Lord with me, I can raise my Ebenezer to Him and embrace the future with Him, He is faithful!

 

 

Centering on Jesus

Sometimes life just seems full-on, you just complete one thing, get one thing out the way and something else comes in to demand your attention.  You pass over one hurdle, only to find the next is higher.  For me, it is the emotional energy these things require which I find draining and as I get older it seems to take me longer to recover from these things.

I am in more need now to recharge and to do so more frequently.  It is not just a case of relaxing, but more of re-centering of getting my serenity back, of centering myself on Jesus.  Only He is able to carry me and enable me to face each hurdle, only He gives the grace and strength to keep going and face the next one, but I need to draw aside and find Him.  In the midst of the demands, in the midst of the emotional roller coaster of life I need to take the time to center, focus, breathe, look to my Lord and recharge from Him.

To center on Him is to trust that He has your situations covered, you have to know that fundamentally, so that you can let go of all the stresses and strains, otherwise you keep a tight hold of everything because you don’t trust that the God who made and sustains the universe is capable of looking after you too.  To center is to hand over and see that the Lord is sovereign, that He is in control and that He has you in His care.

So this week I am going to frequently draw aside and center, focus on Jesus and be rested and strengthened by His presence.  And by knowing that He is God, I can leave matters with Him, thankful that He has it covered!