A letter from Anthony...
Change is something that can be positive and helpful, but it can also
be something that causes fear, concern or worry. This year has been a year full of big
changes; Covid-19 has changed our world in lots of different ways. Just last night at the dinner table one of my
girls asked, ‘Will church ever return to normal?’ What she was referring to was the way that
we are meeting together in three separate halls in this stage of this season of
change. And I have to admit that I
wasn’t able to say with any certainty that life will go back to how things were
before the pandemic, because no one knows the answer to that question.
But it isn’t just the pandemic that causes change; change is
constantly taking place all around us.
Tonight is the first Tuesday Men’s Bible Study, and while there’s no
reason why it should make any difference to me which day it is on, I’m finding
that it feels a little strange to have Bible study on so early in the
week.
And while that might be a trivial example of change, there are other
changes in our lives that can be far more difficult to adjust to, because they
force us out of our comfort zones. But
despite being difficult to adjust to, they can also be something really
positive. And interestingly, the
difference between these two isn’t so much ‘what has changed’ but rather ‘how
we react’ to the changes that are happening around us.
One of the most helpful ways to view change, is to view it through the
lens of Ecclesiastes 3. As the writer of
Ecclesiastes puts it, there is a time for everything and a season for every
activity. When we view our lives as a
series of seasons that are guided by the Sovereign Lord of all, the One who is
working all things together for the good of those who love Him, it is much,
much easier to adapt to change. It is
not so much ‘if’ change will or should happen, but ‘when’.
The second thing that is helpful for us to remember as we live in this ever-changing world is that God does not change. As James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” In a world full of change it is helpful to keep reminding ourselves that Christ the Rock of our Salvation remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And finally, it is helpful to remember as we engage with the changing
seasons, that as those with faith in Christ we are a people who are called to
embrace change. As 2 Corinthians
5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
gone, the new has come!” We are all
encouraged to continue changing to be more like Jesus as we grow in the
knowledge and love of Him.
As challenging as it is to adjust to the various changes that have and
will take place in our lives, may we hand our concerns, worries and fears over
to the Lord. So that in every season,
whether good or bad, we might find our confidence in Christ who is both our
Rock and our Redeemer.
In Christ, Anthony
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