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by Pete Schrank
As the CELC Newsletter heads into its seventh year, I know we are touching on some subjects we have covered before. I know we have talked about change in the past but this subject can be viewed from many different perspectives. As Christians, we know that God never changes. God is the same today as He was when the foundation of the universe was put in place. His mercy and steadfast love endures forever. However in our lives, people, society, economics, politics, family, climate, organizations, and lots of other things change. And it may not always be the change we don’t like, but the unknown aspects of the change.
Many people dislike or fear change, but many changes are wonderful. I am enthusiastic, as I believe most of us at Christ Lutheran are, for the installation of our new Associate Pastor, Pastor Chuck Johnson. Pastor Johnson and his family are also heading for a significant change. Chuck, as a child of a military family, has had to deal with change throughout his entire life. His wife Lauren and their children Ellie and Russell will all be eager and nervous about this change. However, this is an exciting time for all involved and is the answer to many fervent prayers. God is good, change is good.
What about other changes? Many of you know I am still dealing with the change of retirement. This change, like a lot of changes, is both a blessing and a source of anxiety. I am blessed to have the time to do more of the things I choose to do. I also struggle with how to prioritize all the things that I want or that I need to do. I see the value in embracing the ambiguity of not having all the answers. The common Christian axiom is “let go and let God”. We see examples of this many times in scripture . . . Moses led the Jews out of Egypt even though he was not a good public speaker; Noah built an Ark for a flood even though he never saw rain; and David went from being a shepherd boy to becoming the King of Israel. The Apostles changed their complete walk in life, and many more Bible witnesses have given their concerns over to God. We need to do the same thing when facing changes that appear to be overwhelming.
Like I stated earlier, change can often create fear, uncertainty, and doubt. All of these feelings are directly prevented or greatly reduced by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We can deal with fear because we have a warrior in Christ who battles with Satan for our very soul. The victory was won on that first Easter morning. As it states in the book of Hebrews, faith is having confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see; therefore we are not concerned with the uncertainty of change. Finally, with change there is always doubt about whether this change will be a good or bad. We all should know there is no doubt that we are the forgiven and redeemed children of God. So as the changes in our lives keep coming, and they will, remember we can deal with anything.