Open Yourself Up to Change!

Changes: to make or become different, the act, process, or result changing.

2020 has been a year of changes - a year like nothing we have ever experience before in this life time. But I'm here to tell you that God is a miracle-working God and He can use all these situations to prepare us for something better. I once heard Joel Osteen say, “what you thought was a setback is actually a set-up.” We must embrace the changes and acknowledge that God is the head. We have to tackle the tasks put in front of us with love and thanksgiving in our hearts. Instead of trying to fight things we don’t understand; things we can’t fix anyway - just trust and believe that God is ordering our steps.

Accepting change is a choice, of course and it often costs us something to change. If you think about it, change often comes at inconvenience times. That’s because God is checking our attitude to see if we are going to agree with His master plan. Let’s look at the situation with the virus, we can’t go as freely as we might like (at least some of us!) and we have been asked to wear masks and to social distance. It’s an inconvenience to some of us, but it comes a time when it's imperative that we stop thinking about ourselves. If we could accept the changes as they come at us, then we stand a greater chance of seeing the good in them. If all else fails, and we can't see the good - then let's just agree to trust God - He won't lead us astray.

Some people don’t like change because they fear the unknown. Others don't like change because it interferes with their lives and can make them feel like they've lost control - especially those who are creatures of habit. Those folks tend to love routine and procedures and may be more open to change if they understood the reason why they were being made to change or if the change was their idea.

Let’s take Jonah for example: God told him to go to Nineveh and preach to the people so that they would change their wicked ways, but Jonah resisted and went his own way. Jonah resisted God’s plan for change that was about to take place, and as a result, he got swallow up by a great fish. The fact is there can be consequences to not accepting changes, and in Jonah's case, think about all the lives that would have been lost. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of Hell and when that fish spit him out, he went to Nineveh and preached. The people turned from their wicked ways, cried out to God and God changed His mind and saved them all... all because Jonah opened himself up to change.

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!