A Prayer about the Joy and Pain of Accepting Change

Heavenward by Scotty Smith  –  Comments

 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heb. 13:8

Dear Lord Jesus, I don’t like change. I like newness, excitement and adventure; but, when it’s all said and done, I love to come home to the predictable and manageable—to my favorite chair and comfortable routines. So I need fresh grace to accept change, because there’s so much change going on everywhere I look.

Another freshly planted “For Sale” sign confirms old friends are moving away. A favorite tree, whose leaves gave the relief of shade and a vibrant tapestry of fall color, is taken down by a storm. The restaurant which served great food, rich conversation, and the ambiance of perpetual welcome had to close. I don’t like it, Jesus. Job changes, health changes, relationship changes, season changes; change is disruptive. Precious things just don’t become vintage things overnight.

How thankful we are that there’s one part of our lives that will never change, and that’s you, Lord Jesus. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. That certainly doesn’t make you predictable, and even less so manageable. But it does mean that we can trust you without any reservations whatsoever. In fact, it’s only in knowing you that change is put into perspective.

The one change we should welcome, like a best friend, is our need is to become more like you, Jesus; and that process is the most disruptive and painful change we will ever go through. Yet with the knowledge that one Day we’ll be as lovely and as loving as you, we gladly surrender to the work of the gospel in our lives. Grace frees us to pray, “Lord, may it hurt so good, if growth will reveal your beauty and glory in my life.”

Likewise, Jesus, the better we know you, the more we come alive to your promise to make all things new. Change has no sovereignty; only you are Lord. Nothing is random in this world. Nothing catches you off guard. The scary becomes the sacred when we’re wearing the lens of the gospel.

Jesus, help each of us see and accept changes as part of a far better story than we could ever hope to write. You are making all things new, right now—right before our very eyes, if we have eyes to see and a heart to accept it. Because of your life, death, and resurrection, we’re heading towards a place, family, and eternity in which it will all make sense and everything will be the way it’s supposed to be. Hasten that magnificent Day!

Until then, Jesus, may we love you with abandon, serve you without question, and order our lives after your delights. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and matchless name.