Every day I encounter individuals and groups that are in the throws of change. Whether that change is relational, physical, job related, church related, or family related, it is still change and it is still stressful. I personally think that the greatest challenge of change is the uncertainty or fear of the unknown future. This fear drives us to ask such questions as how will this turn out? What's next? How do I get through this?
A well known 20th century author once wrote, “You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.”
― Thomas Merton
It is important to recognize, as I believe Merton did, that what is before us is not all that there is. Change will happen; it is inevitable. It is not the changes themselves that cause us to grieve, but rather it is the way that we engage those changes and respond to them that determines our stress level. The good news is that there is a power that is greater than ourselves, whose face is Jesus, that has prepared the fulfillment of hope and faith for us. As the prophet Jeremiah reminds us:
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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
Today's Prayer - Gracious God, we give thanks that in our times of fear and frustration you are only a breath away. Father, we want nothing more than to live in hope; Your hope. God we ask that you might grant us the strength we need today to face our fears and walk through the changes that lie before us. We know that you are faithful to your promises and so we lean into this wondrous hope that we find in our relationship with your Son, our Savior, Jesus and we ask these things in his holy name. Amen.
A well known 20th century author once wrote, “You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.”
― Thomas Merton
It is important to recognize, as I believe Merton did, that what is before us is not all that there is. Change will happen; it is inevitable. It is not the changes themselves that cause us to grieve, but rather it is the way that we engage those changes and respond to them that determines our stress level. The good news is that there is a power that is greater than ourselves, whose face is Jesus, that has prepared the fulfillment of hope and faith for us. As the prophet Jeremiah reminds us:
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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
Today's Prayer - Gracious God, we give thanks that in our times of fear and frustration you are only a breath away. Father, we want nothing more than to live in hope; Your hope. God we ask that you might grant us the strength we need today to face our fears and walk through the changes that lie before us. We know that you are faithful to your promises and so we lean into this wondrous hope that we find in our relationship with your Son, our Savior, Jesus and we ask these things in his holy name. Amen.
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