How Do You Do with Change?

A year ago, my boss turned to me and asked, “How do you do with change?” At that time, the question only stirred up pain. But it turned out to be a question God would use to help me make one of the biggest changes of my life. Could I change from a church I had been in for 30 years to a new ministry in a new church? Was I flexible enough to listen to God’s voice and be ready to move when he said to move, even though it was at great cost? I took the question to the Lord and said, “Yes. I can change if you ask me to.” And he did.

Now we are nine months in to our new church home, and it is cozy and wonderful. But the move has come with another huge change.

I’ve been a Southern Baptist my entire life, but our new church is with Converge Northwest. It’s an association of churches in the Pacific Northwest. This has been a hard one for me. I value Southern Baptists for the deep love of missions God has given me. My whole life I have been caring about what God is doing in the world and praying for and giving to support missionaries. To think of leaving that has brought me to tears on more than one occasion.

Matt and I set out on Wednesday for northern Seattle, to attend the Converge Northwest annual conference. “Let’s go see what they’re about,” Matt said. I was willing, but I’ll admit that I also felt like a traitor. Fifty-five years as a Southern Baptist? How do you just walk away from something you’ve been part of for so long?

But I’m reporting in that we got to this conference, and the worship was sweet and authentic. The support of missionaries around the world and of God’s work starting churches in the Pacific Northwest felt just like what I was used to. We found like-minded leaders in that room, and I left feeling like I could be all-in with these folks. I left there realizing that when you stay in a place for a really long time, it’s easy to develop a layer of pride in what you have and maybe even to start to think that it’s God’s only way of working. Indeed, God is doing valuable work in our neck of the woods and it’s through an association of churches that I didn’t know existed until this year.

When we were deciding on the transition to a new church, I told my mom about my boss’s question. We talked a lot about change. She said that there are a whole lot of changes as you get older. Her church had just gone through massive, painful change as well. We were both hurting. But we decided together that things are always changing, and we don’t want to be rigid women who are unwilling to move into new things because we’re so set where we are. These huge changes God has brought my way have been painful journeys, but there has been so much good and beauty on the other side. I’m thankful for them, and I’m glad I had a “yes” in my heart.

In children’s church this Sunday, the lesson is on Abram. God told Abram to pack up and move from his land and his people and go “to a place I will show you.” Abram went, and all of the blessings of God have come to us through him. We have the invitation to know Jesus because of Abram’s yes. It seems fitting for me that this children’s lesson would fall right now, when I’m in my own new country.

So, let me ask you: Is God bringing change into your life? If so, I’m sorry for any loss and suffering you’re experiencing because of it. I know how you feel. Will you say a humble yes, though? Will you trust the Lord and lean forward into the new, even though it’s hard and might feel like the end of all things good in your life? God’s goodness and mercy are chasing us, you know. It’s a lie from Satan that what you’re leaving was ALL of the good and what you’re moving into won’t have any goodness in it. Go ahead and say yes. Expect God to be with you through the change and to be glorious on the other side of it.