Sep 23, 2013
Embrace The Change
By Lauren Telford
I’ve heard it said that “there are no friends like SDB Conference friends” or SDB friends in general. For the past four years, I’ve been privileged to serve in Summer Christian Service Corps, and during that time, my fellow SCSC and Stained Glass participants have become like family to me. Even though we are only together for about a month each summer, these friendships are still the closest to my heart.
Tim Lawton once described our Conference as “a small version of heaven.” I couldn’t agree with his description more. Every night while everyone is worshiping and fellowshiping together, I wish we could stop time and stay in that moment together for the duration of our lives. That would be close to perfection.
As we all know, life goes on and we return home and resume our daily lives. This year, the transition was harder than usual for me. A friend told me recently that saying “I hate such and such” can often be substituted for “I fear such and such.” I think it’s sufficient to say that I hate AND fear change.
In August, I returned to college for my last semester. Because I am graduating a semester late, the majority of my friends with whom I spent my last four years have graduated. The friends I still have at school are busy with their rigorous schedules, and I am student teaching, so none of us have much spare time.
Upon returning to school, even though I was around people who I loved, I felt alone and despaired. I knew that in December, I would be graduating, and I had no idea where I would go after graduation or what I would do.
I say this not to complain, but I know all of us have been at the proverbial crossroads or felt that we were at the end of the road entirely. We find a happy chapter of our lives coming to a close, we don’t see the point of going on, and we don’t see how things can be the same.
God has been showing me that things won’t be the same. Our lives have different seasons, and as Ecclesiastes 3 says, there really is a time for everything. What I’ve been learning to ask myself when approaching change is “Who brought me here? Who led me down this beautifully familiar road that I so badly don’t want to end?”
The answer is always “God.” In this case, God led me through college and through SCSC. God gave me all of these incredible friendships and experiences. God blessed me abundantly and provided for all my needs.
If God knew what I needed then, what makes me think He doesn’t know now? God has already written each chapter of our lives, and even though it’s not always enjoyable, we have to trust Him to turn the pages as we read along.
In stories, characters’ lives go crazy for a while, but by the end, everything is resolved. As believers, our resolution was settled by Christ’s death on the cross. Now we have to obediently follow along to see how our stories tie into God’s ultimate story.
Even though a lot of things change, God never does and never will. God is with us now and will be with us during change. The verse I cling to during difficult times of change is Matthew 28:20b—“And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (I used to pretend “lo” was short for “Lauren”, and it felt personal.) God is ALWAYS with us.
For those of you struggling with the idea of change, please know God is always with you, and He will see you through. I’m still not a big fan of change, but I am thanking God for what He has yet to do and for the ways He will provide.
