Cha-Cha-Changes

     Do you like changes?  Some people do.  Some don't.  Some changes we kinda control.  Some changes seem to control us.  Like the saying goes though, change is inevitable. 
     I don't know if you've read my blog about our weeping willow tree or not, but our beautiful willow went thru some changes recently.  Just for a recap, 13 years ago I got a willow tree for Mother's Day.  We planted it.  Watered it.  Took care of it.  Made it the backdrop of Mother's Day pictures every year since that first year.  It was recently the backdrop of our youngest child's, and only daughter's, high school graduation photos.  I kinda feel like that tree is a part of our family.  Back in the winter it was decorated for Christmas when an ice storm hit. We beat the ice off the limbs with brooms and tennis rackets in an effort to save it.  Our willow suffered greatly and we didn't know if it would even survive.  But today it is absolutely gorgeous!  Without the storm though, we wouldn't have had it professionally taken care of and gotten it trimmed up and healthy looking.  While watching our sweet tree under the weight of the ice was difficult, it brought about changes that have been very beneficial and made it even more beautiful.
     Speaking of our daughter's graduation, wow.  I can't believe it.  My baby!  Just yesterday I took her to her first day of kindergarten!  She was this tiny girl with big brown eyes who was ready to take on the world!  Today she is a young woman who will soon leave for college and still ready to take on the world.  She thinks she is ready for this change.  I don't think I am.  But I don't have a choice about this.  Change will be good.  Right?  I hope. 
     We live in Arkansas.  The weather changes constantly.  The saying goes, if you don't like the weather, hang on.  It's going to change.  In the spring we may have snow and ice one day, and record warm weather the next.  I was able to spend time working in the yard this weekend.  More specifically I worked on the pool. Of course it was raining one minute and sunny the next.  But I made a lot of progress.  And it's always fun when the seasons change and we can open the pool. 
     Someone who never changes....God.  He is always the same.  We can depend on that.  He does cause change for us though.  Have you ever gone thru difficulties?  How did you react to the problems?  Did you blame others?  Did you make excuses?  Or did you ask God what to do?  When someone hurts us, we have a tendency to lash back.  But I'm learning that's not what God wants us to do.  It's so tempting to hurt back.  God says that's His job though.  He will take care of that other person in His own way.  It has taken me a very long time (almost 53 years!) to learn to leave it all to Him. 
     But what does that mean for me?  Does God really just want me to sit there and wait while He changes the other person?  No.  He has a purpose in my pain.  I am learning to not be so quick to react to the circumstances.  I am learning to ask God what He wants to change in me.  Funny....many many years ago I even wrote a song entitled "Lord Change Me".  I don't think I knew what that meant back then.  But I'm learning not to ask God to do something unless I really want Him to do it. 
     So many times we ask God to change a situation for us.  Then when things don't go just like we think they should and when change doesn't happen as quickly as we want, we decide God isn't answering our prayers.  Thing is, if we know Him, if we belong to Him, He is answering our prayers.  He just does it in His time.  Which is always the right time.  We just get too anxious for immediate change. 
     Psalm 30:11-12 says "You have changed my sorrow into dancing.  You have taken away my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.  You wanted me to praise You and not be silent.  Lord my God, I will praise You forever!" He changed David's sorrow into dancing.  He removed David's sackcloth (his clothing of mourning) and clothed him in joy.  How did David react?  He praised the Lord!  Did David learn anything?  Yes.  He learned to let God change him. (Psalm 51, for example, was David's plea for change.) And He praised God just as He should have. 
     Do you want your sorrow changed into dancing?  Trust God.  Do you want released from your past?  Trust God and ask Him for forgiveness.  He will change you from the old you to a new creation.  2 Corinthians 5:17 confirms this:  "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."  Now that's change!  Do you know Him?  Do you want to?