You Can’t Stop Change, but You Can Trust God

By Tom Stolle

Change. It’s a part of life. Change happens constantly. It’s in us and all around us. We are constantly affected by all kinds of change.

Some changes we roll with. We change clothes. Eat different foods at various times. Our hair grows, and we cut our hair. Our waistline may grow! Thousands of examples can be listed. We experience many changes daily, and often we don’t even notice them.

However, there are changes forced upon us. Sometimes they are forced by people in authority, or by circumstances, and sometimes by our own bodies. We don’t always deal well with those changes.

Ask any pastor who has served for a period of time, and they will have stories of how change has impacted them and the churches they have served. Some of these changes have posed difficulties, and others have had far worse consequences.

What are you enduring today as a result of change?

Whatever it is, God knows, sees, and understands.

Perhaps no person in recorded history went through more rapid, catastrophic changes than Job.

The Bible says in Job 1:1 (ESV), “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”

Scripture says Job feared God. Job turned away from evil. Yet Job’s property was taken and destroyed, his seven sons and three daughters were killed, and his own health was decimated. A man who loved and served God had almost everything taken from him.

This account is one of the most powerful accounts of unwelcome, brutal change.

A few years ago, my pastor at High Tide Church, Dagsboro, DE, Andy Ehlers, along with his family, experienced the loss of his beloved wife Tanya to cancer that spread throughout her body. I watched as they fought. I watched as they served. I watched as Andy loved her incredibly well.

Catastrophic change showed up, and in the midst of it all, Andy and Tanya were faithful. Their love for each other was evident, as was their love and very public commitment to Jesus.
Our relationship with Jesus does not make us immune to painful events. Look at the world around us — it is rapidly changing. Do we know what the future holds? Of course not, but we know who holds us.

Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33 (NIV)

We can’t stop change. It will find us. God says we will have trouble.

Know this: While the change you are experiencing may be painful, our God is equipped, and He is a provider. Ultimately, if all else is stripped away, our God is all you need.

Remember, this isn’t home. We are just passing through. Our home is with Jesus in heaven.

I look forward to the day I am told by my Heavenly Father, “It’s time to come home”— My eternal address change!