To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven: . . . a time to break down and a time to build up, . . . a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, . . . a time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away.
—Ecclesiastes 3:1–6
—Ecclesiastes 3:1–6
If you are stressed out all the time, something will have to change in order for the stress to be relieved. It will not just go away as long as you keep doing the same thing. If you want different results, you have to change the ingredients. Now, as soon as I mentioned the word change, perhaps you tensed up because you are afraid of change. Almost one hundred years ago, the clerk of Abbington Presbytery came up with percentages for the kinds of attitudes people have about change, and I think they still apply today:
Early innovators (2.6 percent) run with new ideas; Early adaptors (13.4 percent) are influenced by innovators but are not initiators; Slow majority (34 percent) are the herd-followers; Reluctant majority (34 percent); Antagonistic (16 percent) will never change.
If you’re like the bottom 84 percent of people in the above list, you want the safety of sameness. It is amazing to me how some people spend their lives resisting change while others thrive on it. Change keeps life fresh and adventurous.
Lord, my time is in Your hands. Help me to be fearless as I face change and embrace change. I want to be vibrant and fully alive. Amen.
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