One of my best friends tells everyone I love change while she is opposed to it. My husband and I both grew up in Air Force families which allowed us many opportunities to embrace change. After saying “I do” 25 years ago, we’ve stayed put in Oklahoma. Although we haven’t endured drastic changes like a cross-country move, we still experience change. All you have to do is compare our wedding pictures with our current pictures! (Yes, my hair is lighter because it’s easier keeping up with the gray!)
Change is inevitable.
And as much as my friend teases me about my love for change, I also like the comfort of things staying the same. Lack of change can feel comfortable but it puts us at risk for stagnancy.
We have a pond in our backyard view. After 17 years of observing this pond something altogether different and disturbing happened last week. We noticed the water become greener and greener. Green is a great color for the grass but not for a pond. It became so stagnant that something dangerous began brewing under the surface; blue-green algae which are deadly to wildlife. A stench blew through our backyard and later that evening I noticed something out of the ordinary floating on the pond’s surface – a plethora of dead fish.
Life cannot sustain itself in an oxygen-deprived, stagnant place.
There is nothing wrong with comfort and consistency but stagnancy is dangerous. To be stagnant is to be inactive – not changing, not flowing, not progressing. To have life is to have the ability to grow and change (Mirriam-Webster Dictionary).
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10
At birth, we take our first breath and the moment we ask Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, we take our first spiritual breath. The Holy Spirit takes up residence within us. We were created to be living beings and the Lord longs for each of us to enter into an eternal, abundant life in Him. No longer allowing the enemy to keep us stagnant – inactive, not changing, not progressing, not flowing – but fully alive, breathing deeply of the Holy Spirit.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3-4
New birth. Living hope.
I remember taking my babies in for their “well checks”. The first thing the nurse did was weigh and measure them. Healthy growth was always the goal. In fact, when babies do not gain weight they are said to have “failure to thrive”. No parent wants to hear those words out of a doctor’s mouth. Failure to thrive requires drastic measures for survival. In order to thrive, nourishment must be taken in. Weight must be gained. Growth must take place.
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1 Peter 2:2-3
The enemy of our souls loves to declare the words “failure to thrive” over us. Do not allow him to have the final word. Jesus gave His life so that we could live and not die. Not only does Jesus want us to live in Him but His desire is for us to thrive in Him; to experience abundant life! A steady intake of the spiritual milk of God’s word leads to healthy growth and nothing else truly satisfies like Jesus does.
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
Psalm 34:8
The disciples saw Jesus multiply two loaves and five fish to feed a crowd of over 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21). Not only was everyone satisfied but there were leftovers – abundance.
Lack cannot stop His abundance and neither can our enemies.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5
What about our backyard view of the stagnant pond with blue-green algae? Our neighbor has been busy disposing of the dead fish and pumping out the water to clean the sludge. A broken fountain feature is being repaired to keep moving the water.
For with you is the fountain of life: in your light we see light.
Psalm 36:9
Let’s not become stagnant or fail to thrive. The Lord has given us everything we need for life. We must keep moving with the flow of the Holy Spirit. Growing. Changing. Living. Thriving. In these days of uncertainty and inevitable change, we must place our hope and faith in the Lord’s unchanging nature.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8
Although Jesus stays the same, He is beyond our finite understanding and bigger than any box we may try to put Him in. As we continue to seek the Lord we come to know Him more. Growth takes place. His Spirit leads us. Our perspective shifts. We become aware of facets of His nature we’ve not experienced before. We receive a breath of fresh air – a stirring of the heart that keeps us moving and guards against stagnancy.
Embrace the inevitability of change – it will look good on you – and a little hair color helps along the way!
