I Hate Change but I Have Learned to Live with It

by Dr. Ircel Harrison

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NRSV)

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “Change is the only constant in life. One’s ability to adapt to those changes will determine your success in life.” Few of us like change or, perhaps it is more accurate to say, “We don’t like being changed.” I certainly don’t relish change, but I have found it to be a great motivator even if it is sometimes difficult to accept and endure.

First, change is painful. It forces us to adapt our patterns of doing things, often getting outside of our comfort zone. Some of this is psychological--going against our personality type--but it can be emotional as well. Losing a loved one or a job causes real pain. Missing an opportunity hurts. Seeing the failure of something in which you have invested time and energy is hard to take.

Second, change is normal. The world is not static. People are certainly not predictable. Circumstances intrude on the best laid plans. As someone said, “Change is the only sure sign of life.” Whether we like it or not, change is a given. Nothing remains the same for long.

Third, change is necessary. We love our children and grandchildren when they are small, accept their dependence, and rejoice in their learning. However, we don’t want them to stay that way. They grow, they learn, they develop their own personalities. They come mature individuals. This is what God intended.

During recent days, most of us have dealt with change in our activities, lifestyles, and work. It has not been easy--much harder for some than others, I must acknowledge--but we have invested ourselves in coping with change. We have learned new skills. Church leaders have discovered new opportunities for ministry. We have done new things out of necessity. The challenge now is not to lose what we have learned during this time of change.

In a recent blog, Carey Nieuwhof noted that “So many church leaders are poised to re-embrace a model of ministry designed to reach a world that no longer exists.” The pandemic has accelerated change that was already coming and forced us to move on to new ways of engagement and outreach. Churches have learned new ways to minister, but the temptation is to default back to the old, discarding hard-earned learning.

Change takes us to a new level. Once we are at that level, we must learn to adapt and thrive. We are at that new level. Another Franklin quote is, “When you’ve finished changing, you’re finished.” Are you finished? If you try to go back to where you were, you may well be. New paths have opened up, and God is with us as we walk the ways of change.