Topic: Learning to Embrace Change – Daily Devotional by Proverbs 31 Ministries 17 March 2020

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.” Jeremiah 17:7 (NIV)

Looking out my kitchen window, I wonder where this wave of sadness is coming from. Life is good. My kids are out on their own, working in careers they studied for and are passionate about. I should be happy about that, right?

I am! I am happy about that.

So why the tears?

Then I see my yard for what it is: empty. No kids on the trampoline. No one playing in the springtime sun. Quiet. Empty.

I hadn’t expected these feelings to filter into my heart. My kids have been flying back and forth from this nest for many years, slowly but surely making lives of their own. The release has been small, manageable steps to the independent lives they live today. And while I’m excited for their adventures, I’m also a little sad in this change of season for me.

Isn’t it just the worst to have to admit something is over? Transitions in life can sometimes be exciting. And sometimes they’re just plain hard. At times, they can even be an odd mixture of both. That’s where I am. It’s exciting to see my kids doing work they are gifted for, and it’s hard to have them so far away and not see them as often as I would like.

I am trying to embrace different.

There have been many seasons of different in my life; I’m sure there have been seasons of different for you, too.

Bringing home a baby for the first time, starting a new role or learning a hobby. Different can feel so uncomfortable. What am I doing? I don’t know how to do this. Overwhelm tries to take over. Doubt seeps in. Leaving a secure job to stay at home or leaving the safety of home to secure a job. I knew how to do that. But this … I don’t want this. From potty training to personal training, from restoring failed finances to restoring failed relationships, our hearts and minds whisper: It would be so much easier to just check out. Slip into survival mode.

Maybe we’re there already.

During these times of transition and change, we have the opportunity to look again at where our confidence lies. Have we been basing it on our titles of “mom,” “employee,” “daughter” or “volunteer”? With that season gone, has our confidence gone as well?

Today’s key verse helps us take a close look at our confidence and where we are putting our trust: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him” (Jeremiah 17:7).

When we build our confidence in the Lord, trusting Him for our worth, our purpose and our next step in life, Jeremiah 17:7 says we will be blessed. It doesn’t say we will have it easy, but we can be blessed with peace and the knowledge that no matter what changes next in our lives, the Lord never will. He is secure, stable and steady.

Is it OK to still grieve in our times of change? Absolutely! Acknowledge it. Cry those tears and share your pain with a friend. Whether the change is something good like a marriage or painful like a death, change is still hard.

Yes, it is a good thing to see change for what it is. So, I’m going to sit here for a bit, let the tears fall, and thank the Lord for all the good, even while I grieve a little.

Oh, dear Jesus, thank You that You get me even when I don’t get me. I am so grateful, Holy Spirit, that You are in me, helping me to process change and preparing me for the next season of my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.