Ready for Change
When my children were teenagers, they had a friend who posted succinctly one early October day, “Hello, hoodie. I’ve missed you.” We were charmed. And, also quite in agreement.
The mornings are just beginning to be cooler, and I am always so surprised that temperature has a smell. It doesn’t just feel crisp, the fragrance is also somehow clean. The sharpness in the air changes the way things sound, too. As though a frequency knob has been turned, and it is possible to now distinguish background noises that were hidden before. Maybe that’s a bit fanciful, and maybe it is simply that when the season begins to change, our senses are primed to notice. We are ready.
I want to be ready when the wind changes. I want to be tuned to the frequency of His voice. I want to move with Him when it’s time to go from this place to another. Sometimes, in the journey of life, the changes are actually geographical, but most times the moving and growing are inward. Learning how to seek, how to listen, how to notice, and learning how to let go of one thing to embrace another.
As dancing requires being present for each step, so does this journey of change. Moving fluidly in and through the sound from one position to another without breaking rhythm, even when the rhythm changes. Going from four-four time to double time can cause a stumble if one is not prepared for the shift.
When the disciples heard Jesus talking about going away, in a little while, and then coming again, in a little while, they were confused. They had not heard this music before. They were, I think, comforted a bit, without really understanding, when they were invited to listen while Jesus prayed to the Father, “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:23-24 ESV) They heard His heart and knew it to be true, even if they didn’t really understand what it was all going to mean and how it would look. For sure, as events unfolded, they would remember this holy moment.
Dear One, are you facing changing circumstances or shifting responsibilities? Have you embraced what is coming? Are your senses primed? Are your ears tuned to a new frequency? It is good to ready, at a moment’s notice, to pick up and move forward. Do not fear. Only believe. It may not be what you thought, and it will certainly be for your good.
Good Good Father w/ Lyrics (Chris Tomlin) – YouTube
Until next week, beloved, believe and be ready.