Some Thoughts about Change

I dug up “Matt’s Thoughts” from March 2016. Some of these thoughts come from my 2016 post.

Throughout most of history, CHANGE happened at a snail’s pace. People could go their entire lives and experience less change than you and I experience in just a matter of days! Since 2020 began the speed of change is happening even more rapidly. There is more change happening at this moment than many experienced in a lifetime. CHANGE is our way of life. And change is hard because change can cause a loss of control over things we desperately want to control.

Each of us has dozens of areas where minor changes could lead to improvement in life. Diet, exercise, sleep, kindness, patience, where we spend spare dollars, who we spend time with, and who we allow to influence us - these are all areas where minor changes can yield significant benefits.

There are also countless areas in life that we have almost no capability of impacting the change that is taking place. The COVID-19 virus, the economic fallout, much of the BLM issues, what the start of school will look like, are a just a few of the circumstances we have little or no control over.

There are things we can control and there are things that we can’t control. We often become stressed, worried, and frustrated about the change happening that we have no ability to control. On the other side, we take a ‘laissez-faire’ attitude towards the areas we could and should control.

We fret over what we can’t control, all the while not controlling the things we can. Why not control the things that we can and relax and trust Jesus with what we can’t control?

The Apostle Peter instructed believers about control when he wrote: “Prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control.” 1 Peter 1:13 NLT