For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace... Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. -Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11
Change is hard, no matter the kind of change it is. Good change, bad change, change we initiate, change we have no control over... Most people are creatures of habit because that is how we feel safe. When things change, it can often interfere with our feelings of safety and our sense of control.
As I sat in a recent Celebrate Recovery meeting and lamented all of the things happening in my life, I looked at the white board in the front of the room and saw God's answer to my self-pity staring me in the face:
Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. -Celebrate Recovery Principle 5I had missed the prior two weeks of Celebrate Recovery, which had focused on this very principle, however the remnants remained on that white board seemingly just for me.
It is easy to fight change, even change that we really want for ourselves. That is why the dieting industry is so popular, and fad diets never go out of style. We all want to appear attractive and visually appealing, however the lifestyle change necessary to achieve that goal is difficult for many people. And as difficult as it is to submit to change that we ourselves desire, it is much harder to submit to change that God wants to make in our lives- especially when the process is scary or difficult.
The wording of Principle 5 really struck a chord within me, because although I had resigned myself to submit to the changes God was making in my life, I was not voluntarily submitting. When an individual volunteers, they are freely offering their services to complete the task at hand. When we voluntarily submit to the changes God wants to make in our lives, we are making a choice to submit to those changes out of the freedom God has given us to make our own decisions. When we make a choice to voluntarily submit as opposed to submission out of duty or fear, our attitude naturally changes and becomes more positive. We no longer see the change as something we have to do or something forced upon us, but we see it as a choice we are making out of love and obedience to our Lord and Savior.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to proper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11In addition, Principle 5 calls us to voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make- not just some of them. If we pick and choose which changes we will submit to and which we will ignore, we are stifling God's plan for our lives and likely making things more difficult for ourselves. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has a plan for us as believers, and that plan can only be brought to its full potential if we are willing to hand over all aspects of our life- not just bits and pieces.
Change can be hard, and scary, and can make us feel like we have lost control. When we feel like we are losing control of our lives, it is important to remember that we never had control to begin with. God promises us that He will work all things together for His good, for the good of His kingdom, according to His purposes for our lives. The process may not be easy or pleasant, but the end is well worth it because it will glorify Him.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. -Romans 8:28
Additional reading:
Celebrate Recovery Lesson 14: Ready
Celebrate Recovery Lesson 15: Victory