Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 26/July/2022]

2022 seems to have been a year of quite a lot of change for me – the birth of a grandchild, ongoing changes at work, family members moving away or getting married & financial challenges. Perhaps it has been the same for you too.

Life is full of many challenges and one of them is how to deal with change. It is as inevitable as sunrise and sunset.

Of course change is not always a bad thing and can be something we initiate ourselves such as a change of job, moving home or even a change of our wardrobe or hairstyle! Sadly there other changes we have little or no control over such as changes in relationships, unemployment or deteriorating health. These are harder to deal with and can sometimes result in a grief reaction where we experience feelings of denial, anger, bargaining, and depression (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 1969). These are very human and understandable reactions and I know in my past I’ve experienced them all. As a wise person once said, feelings are neither good nor bad … they just are.

There are many things to help us face change including prayer and people who show us they care. Before I was a Christian I know I relied on my own (inadequate) resources too much, and looked to friends to help me find answers to my problems. I know that the times I’ve struggled the most have been when I’ve tried doing things in my own strength, and have not appreciated that I am loved and cherished by God and that He is always with me and wants the best for me. And that he hears my prayers, even those unspoken.

It strikes me that our faith in Jesus can help us above and beyond anything else when we face change and perhaps find it difficult. We are also blessed to have the gift of God’s living word, the Bible, which is an incredible source of wisdom, counsel and comfort. There is such richness in the Scriptures and so many passages I could have chosen, but this psalm kept coming back to me this week so I hope it might encourage you if, like me, you have found yourself trying to adjust to new changes in your life, whether positive or less so.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you – the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore. Psalm 121

And may the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

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