...turn and face the strain...

Have you been feeling the strain of change lately?  I know I have.  The interesting thing is, whether the change is "good" or "bad," it's still a strain.  There's a little tool called a Life-Change Stress Rating that I found (https://secure3.inetwave.com/helptochange/lifechange.htm), and I noticed that a number of the stressful events are great!  "Outstanding Personal Achievement" was one that stood out to me.

Whether good or bad, I have discovered one consistent factor in change other than stress:  Change is an opportunity.  Perhaps that's what makes it stressful.  In a "bad" change, we have the opportunity to "curse God and die" or "rejoice in the Lord always," and we must choose which direction we will go.  In a "good" change, we can give God the glory and praise, or we can take it for ourselves.  Change opens new doors, and we can often choose which ones we will walk through.

Often, change is an opportunity for growth.  I think God is observing our response to change.  When we are given more responsibility, do we become prideful too?  When we must sacrifice, do we grumble?  If we answer "yes" to these kinds of questions, we can anticipate the next change as an opportunity to do things differently.

I want to share a couple of stories about change that impressed me.  Recently, a new addition came to our home.  His name is Jayden.  In reading about newborns, I discovered that before babies are born, their hearts have a little bypass from the major artery to the aorta (called the ductus arteriosus), because their blood does not need to flow through their lungs.  While they are in the womb, the babies get oxygen into their blood from the mother, through the placenta.  But, after the baby is born, a change takes place in the baby's heart.  That passageway begins to close, and the blood begins to pass through the lungs to get oxygen.  Isn't that amazing?  We are designed perfectly to breathe fluid for 9 months, and then when we are born, our heart changes to accommodate breathing air!

I wonder what kind of changes the Son of God had to undergo in order to start "breathing air", as opposed to the glory of God.  How strange and different it must have been to walk on earth as an equal to humans.  How different the scoffing of the religious leaders must have sounded to one accustomed to angelic praise.  At times the change was anything but "good" - being whipped, beaten, crucified.  But it was most definitely an opportunity.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, the choices were clear as day.  Jesus could call angels to his defense and wipe out his opposition, or he could submit his will to the divine plan.  He could choose the "bad" that would result in greater good - the salvation of humanity.

Regardless of what changes we may experience, we can always rest assured that God is with us.  Hebrews 13:5 says "I will never leave you or forsake you."  If God is with us, God can use the change for our benefit and His.  Let's start looking at change as an opportunity rather than a crisis.  Who knows what good might come from the "bad" changes in your life?