Change Is Coming

Alluded to yesterday is the fact that nothing is constant except the faithfulness of the Lord. As a result, change is hard to deal with, especially multiple changes in rapid succession. Some things last so long in our lives that we start to take them as forever.  But not so because all things are moving toward an end, as we are, ourselves.

This lesson aims to help us not become unduly bothered about things that change, because we know that, though we make plans, everything depends on the will of the Lord. That has not always been the case with me. I had to learn to expect change because that is the way the Lord set things up. God does things per a plan, and according to Jeremiah 29:11 KJV, He has always had a plan for us. He put that plan for our lives in place a long time ago.

Let’s take a look at the story of Joseph in the Bible (Genesis 37:1–36 and chapters 39–41 NKJ). You see from this biblical account that Joseph experienced some unexpected, unpleasant changes in his life. He was thrown into a pit, sold to the Egyptians, and thrown into prison.

We realize that these unwelcome changes were not things Joseph planned or enjoyed, but he managed to keep his faith in God. We can see the hand of the Lord working through whatever situations, traps, and pitfalls Joseph faced. When he faced the pit, the Lord got him out of the pit, because if you will remember, it was his brothers’ original intent to kill him and tell their father that a wild animal had slain him. That’s what they thought they were going to do, but not so. The Lord already had a plan. He had the plan before Joseph was even born. Woo!

Folks, when you think about it, you know that whatever moment we happen to be experiencing in our lives, whatever moment defines this moment or this day, God is already there working things out according to HIS plan! If you adopt this attitude in your life, you will have people marveling at your faith in God.

Forward I Go

Jeremiah 29:11 KJV has let me know

That You have already made plans

For me, and armed with that

Knowledge, it is forward that I go.

I see in nature when I look around

That you never leave situations to chance

For Your meticulous preparation

Can be seen throughout all creation.

You plan things down to minute details,

And because of that fact, I get assurance,

And armed with the knowledge of Your love,

It is on down the row that I go.

When I think about the fact that Your

Omnipotent hands fashioned me in my work

In the way that You wanted me to chop my row,

I get renewed vigor and tenacity

No matter what is thrown at me by my foe.

And it is with relish that I tell the world

My God loves you and me, and this is a

Fact that I know.

For knowing that I am a part of His eternal plan,

I chop the weeds that are on my row

Whether they are tall or high.

It is with determined tenacity

That I, with my eyes on my Father, work my row,

As toward the eternal city I go

To a prepared city in the sky. (excerpt from Chopping My Row)

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Stepping On Jones