It's The Small Changes

             

          Changes!  There have been so many changes over the past year!  2020 has proven to be challenging for most every person on the planet!  There have been devastating fires, earthquakes, damaging flooding, catastrophic hurricanes, ravaging tornadoes, wrecking hail storms and even huge snow storms that have rocked our world.  On top of this, we have a disastrous Pandemic which is a huge game changer.   And we have a stressful election, which again, tends to unsettle one side or the other!

            Regardless of where our lives fit in the equation, there have been changes.  Some have had to rebuild or move, others have had to replace vehicles (hail), restore businesses, lost everything, dealing with broken relationships, and some have lost lives.  These, from my perspective are large changes.  

But what about the seemingly smaller ones?  Replacing a roof or windshield, replanting a landscaped yard, wearing a mask every time we venture out, our shopping norms or educational routines or even our workplace routines?  And I’m sure you could name a whole lot more!

When negative changes come, our stress levels rise, health issues increase, and our emotional state is often rocked.  Sometimes even our spiritual health is shaken.  We tend to say “When is it going to stop, Lord?”  Or “Why does my family have to deal with this loss?”  “I can’t handle any more, God.  Where are you?”

Our days feel dark and lonely without a sliver of sunshine to see us through.  There is no light at the end of the tunnel; just this grey cloud suffocating the life out of us!

But when we look closely, we can see God creating small changes in our lives, that are for his good.  Sometimes it causes us to muster up courage to break out of our comfort zone and try something new.  Other times it requires us looking for the tiny shoots of green, beneath the snow that are peeking their tiny heads up looking for the warmth of the sunshine that is sure to come.  While still more often, as Believers, we are drawn to His Word to search out the golden nuggets found there, that will give us His strength and wisdom to carry on.

When we look inside ourselves we can see tiny grains of growth, regardless of the pain and difficulty we’ve suffered.  Spring is coming, even within our souls.  We’ve just got to look for the small changes that God gives us every day.  These small gifts allow us to grow in love and understanding when our hearts are open.  It may require taking a risk of some kind, but within the confines of God’s love we can’t possibly go wrong.  He’s always with us!  

As Thanksgiving is this week, I’d like to wish each of you an amazing day!  The COVID changes have altered our lives, and many of those changes aren’t necessarily small!  Take heart!  God is with us regardless of our circumstances, and I pray you are each safe as you may or may not be gathering with your family, as you normally would.  We still have much for which to be thankful and I am thankful for YOU!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!