Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV)
Change comes hard for me. Indeed, I often seek to flee from it rather than embrace it. I am a steady plodder, if you will, seeking to do the next right thing for God’s glory. And when He desires to shake up my “controlled” and “planned out” way of life…well, let’s say I can become a really good two year old – kicking and screaming against God’s best (ouch). God has a plan for each life and it is so often not ours (at first at least!). We wrap up our little lives in our own little boxes wishing, thinking, planning and praying that they will turn out exactly how we have envisioned them. But God (my two favorite words used together in Scripture) has far greater plans for us than our measly minds can imagine. He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV): “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.’” We must learn to let Him lead and we must learn to think higher. Much higher. It is God’s way with all His saints. Think Gideon, David, Moses, Joshua, the disciples and on and on. Flesh rarely learns in ease.
When change suddenly is thrust upon us we would do well to recall that everything God allows is beneficial to the saints – even if at first blush it seems anything but. He wants us all to be like Jesus. Remember as well, anything outside of God’s perfect will for us is captivity – and Christ came to set us free from that nonsense. Indeed, the Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 5:1 (NIV): “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Christ desires for us to listen to His still small voice. And as loud as this world is (and our own loud distracted voice within), this can be very difficult. He tells us to be still and know that He is God and absolutely nothing is too hard for Him. Nothing. Further, He is the Master of making beauty out of all of our ashes even those of our own poor choices. When we are home in heaven, how amazing it will be to behold the design of God’s loving providence that is now presently veiled. We will behold Him with a complete understanding of His perfect ways.
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.** Galatians 5:13 (NIV)**