We, at Just Between Us, want to help you handle change well. We’ve gathered articles written by others who have encountered difficult transitions in their own lives. We hope that, in reading their stories, you’ll discover you’re not alone and the one constant you can be sure of in this life is God’s presence. 

Change is a part of life on earth that God has ordained. He gives us days of sunshine and days of rain, changing seasons throughout the year. Seeds sprout, grow, produce fruit, and die, scattering seeds to the ground to begin the process all over again. As humans, we grow up, grow old, and trade in our worn-out earthly shells for heavenly bodies. As the writer of Ecclesiastes put it:

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There is a time for everything,

And a season for every activity under the heavens:

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal,

A time to tear down and a time to build,

A time to weep and a time to laugh,

A time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

A time to search and a time to give up,

A time to keep and a time to throw away,

A time to tear and a time to mend,

A time to be silent and a time to speak,

A time to love and a time to hate,

A time for war and a time for peace.
(Eccl. 3:1-8)

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Many of us find change difficult, however. As I write this, 2020 is coming to a close. This year has been especially hard, presenting unanticipated changes in what we consider our normal lives: a worldwide pandemic that caused entire countries to close their borders or put in place stay-at-home orders; more than 1.5 million people died and millions more sick from the disease; livelihoods disrupted as businesses closed; healthcare systems under severe stress as we await a vaccine or, better yet, a cure. Many have said that even after the pandemic ends we will have to adjust to a “new normal.”

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But what is “normal,” anyway? If we are living in Christ, normal should involve constant growth. And what is growth if not change? If we’re not growing in Christ, we’re stagnant or, worse yet, dying.

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So rather than being dragged kicking and screaming into a new normal, let’s try to embrace it. Be willing to die to what was—even though it may have felt familiar, comfortable, and safe — and see how God might be using change to bring new growth in your life. As Jesus reminds us: “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).

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