Americans are taught, almost from birth, that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. That kind of grit and determination is a good thing. It’s one of the things that make America the greatest country on earth. But it doesn’t prepare us very well for the vagaries of human existence – the things that are completely out of our control. One of the keys to mastering unexpected change is coming to grips with our limitations as human beings and completely trusting ourselves to the will of God.
J. R. Love of Ruston Louisiana reflects on how he learned that when reading some old magazines.
On a vacation in October 2001, I was thumbing through a pile of dated magazines, and in Time magazine I stopped to read the column called Winners & Losers.
In the "Loser" category in an August 2001 issue was Rudy Giuliani, lame duck New York City mayor, suffering from crumbling health, a crumbling marriage, and a crumbling political career. What a loser, Time suggested. Who would want to be this guy?
In the "Winner" category a month earlier was Ted Olson, rising star as Solicitor General of the United States. What a winner, Time proclaimed. Who wouldn't envy this guy?
How things change. Within a matter of weeks of these two issues, Time would refer to Giuliani as the "Mayor of the World" and a "tower of strength" for his leadership in the aftermath of September 11, and a few months later the magazine would name him "2001 Person of the Year."
By contrast, we ached with Ted Olson as we watched him bury his wife, Barbara, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. No one envied him at that moment.
James 4:13-15 says, 13) Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14) Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15) Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." (NIV)
The great temptation for many of us is the temptation to control. We want to do A and get B and we expect God to cooperate with our plan. We want our kids to be perfect, our colleagues to follow through and our partners to please us – all the time. Funny when you think about it, that “a mist and a vapor” should have such pretensions. But we do and it’s a lousy way to deal with change. Better, much better, to embrace the humility that says, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Mastering Unexpected Change Part 2
MASTERING UNEXPECTED CHANGE Part 2
By Dane Skelton
In 2003, my daughters had a funny lesson on the inevitability of change. Their uncle Mike had given them a gift, a whole box of VHS tapes containing 144 episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation. The videos dated back into the 1980’s so watching them was like being in a time machine for commercials. But what really tickled the funny bone was seeing an ad for a brand new 1989 Chevy truck on Tuesday night, and then standing at the bus stop Wednesday morning, watching that same truck with fourteen years and 175,000 miles on it go by. “It’s a heap!” They cried. Talk about a lesson on the inevitability of change!
Change is inevitable. It’s how we meet it that matters. The one luxury we cannot afford is to assume it will not touch us and refuse to prepare for it. And that’s a hard one. We work hard at creating stability and predictability so that we can enjoy life with the least amount of hassle. We are control oriented. Unexpected change upsets the apple cart, reveals our lack of control and makes us feel naked in the cosmos.
The Bible is full of examples of God’s people meeting unexpected change. One of those is Joshua. Consider the changes that Joshua had witnessed or been part of: Deliverance from slavery in Egypt; A miraculous escape across the Red Sea; The Ten Commandments and finally the wandering in the wilderness.
All these changes across forty years Joshua had witnessed but they paled in comparison to what he was about to do. He was about to lead the people of God into the Promised Land itself, he was facing the walls of Jericho and he was doing it without his mentor and friend, Moses.
God had two specific commands for Joshua as he took up the challenge of this change. You can see them in Joshua 1:7-8.
7) Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8) Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (NIV)
God’s instructions for Joshua work for us as well: The first lesson for facing unexpected change is: ‘be strong and courageous.’ The world is a difficult place, our challenges are great, and sometimes we have to meet them without the people we have come to depend on. We need strength and courage for the battle.
The second lesson is: stick to your core principles (Vs. 8). When the walls in front of you are thick and the danger is high – when the change you are faced with seems unmanageable - it’s tempting to forget your core commitments and do something expedient. God warns us: “Don’t fall for it.” Strength and courage in the service of those principles enable us to adjust our approach to meet the need at hand. Trust God and obey what you know. He will manage the rest.
Change is inevitable. We can prepare for it or be overwhelmed by it.
Those manage change best whose principles are changeless.
Those manage change best who trust that God is still at work in unwanted change.
Those manage change best who meet it with a positive attitude.
By Dane Skelton
In 2003, my daughters had a funny lesson on the inevitability of change. Their uncle Mike had given them a gift, a whole box of VHS tapes containing 144 episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation. The videos dated back into the 1980’s so watching them was like being in a time machine for commercials. But what really tickled the funny bone was seeing an ad for a brand new 1989 Chevy truck on Tuesday night, and then standing at the bus stop Wednesday morning, watching that same truck with fourteen years and 175,000 miles on it go by. “It’s a heap!” They cried. Talk about a lesson on the inevitability of change!
Change is inevitable. It’s how we meet it that matters. The one luxury we cannot afford is to assume it will not touch us and refuse to prepare for it. And that’s a hard one. We work hard at creating stability and predictability so that we can enjoy life with the least amount of hassle. We are control oriented. Unexpected change upsets the apple cart, reveals our lack of control and makes us feel naked in the cosmos.
The Bible is full of examples of God’s people meeting unexpected change. One of those is Joshua. Consider the changes that Joshua had witnessed or been part of: Deliverance from slavery in Egypt; A miraculous escape across the Red Sea; The Ten Commandments and finally the wandering in the wilderness.
All these changes across forty years Joshua had witnessed but they paled in comparison to what he was about to do. He was about to lead the people of God into the Promised Land itself, he was facing the walls of Jericho and he was doing it without his mentor and friend, Moses.
God had two specific commands for Joshua as he took up the challenge of this change. You can see them in Joshua 1:7-8.
7) Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8) Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (NIV)
God’s instructions for Joshua work for us as well: The first lesson for facing unexpected change is: ‘be strong and courageous.’ The world is a difficult place, our challenges are great, and sometimes we have to meet them without the people we have come to depend on. We need strength and courage for the battle.
The second lesson is: stick to your core principles (Vs. 8). When the walls in front of you are thick and the danger is high – when the change you are faced with seems unmanageable - it’s tempting to forget your core commitments and do something expedient. God warns us: “Don’t fall for it.” Strength and courage in the service of those principles enable us to adjust our approach to meet the need at hand. Trust God and obey what you know. He will manage the rest.
Change is inevitable. We can prepare for it or be overwhelmed by it.
Those manage change best whose principles are changeless.
Those manage change best who trust that God is still at work in unwanted change.
Those manage change best who meet it with a positive attitude.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Mastering Unexpected Change
MASTERING UNEXPECTED CHANGE Part 1
By Dane Skelton
The world is changing more rapidly than it ever has before. Just take a look at some recent statistics.
Population – It took until 1850 for world population to reach 1 billion. By 1930 it was at 2 billion. By 1960 it was 3 billion. Today it is somewhere close to 7 billion.
Books – There were almost no books until 1500 and Gutenberg’s press came along. By 1900 there were 35,000. Today, in England, America, China and Russia alone there are over 600,000 published every year.
Top Speed – Until 1800 the top speed for a human being was around 20 mph. Trains reached 100 mph in the nineteenth century. Now we routinely travel at 400 mph. Supersonic jets are three times faster.
Pick any field and a few minutes on the internet will yield data on the hyper pace of change in every one, medicine, robotics, chemistry, physics, you name it.
Change is picking up speed and for some folks that’s unsettling.
It’s much easier to adapt to change over time. But sudden change rocks us. And it doesn’t matter who you are. Unexpected change comes upon everyone. The good news is that scripture gives us timeless principles for mastering the winds of change.
The first principle is to expect the unexpected. Hear what Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said about change.
I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11NIV).
The pros and the CEOs, the prima donnas and the politicians, each one, not to mention the rest of us will experience change. Change is inevitable. We can expect it, prepare for it, or be overwhelmed by it.
The good news is that Christians need not fear unexpected change. As the people of God we belong to the One who knows the end from the beginning. He isn’t caught off guard by change. As people of God’s Book we have reliable charts and a sturdy vessel for sailing through the winds of change.
Over the next few weeks we’ll look at these principles in depth but for now a summary might be helpful to you:
Change is inevitable. We can prepare for it or be overwhelmed by it.
Those manage change best whose principles are changeless.
Those manage change best who trust that God is still at work in unwanted change.
Those manage change best who meet it with a positive attitude.
By Dane Skelton
The world is changing more rapidly than it ever has before. Just take a look at some recent statistics.
Population – It took until 1850 for world population to reach 1 billion. By 1930 it was at 2 billion. By 1960 it was 3 billion. Today it is somewhere close to 7 billion.
Books – There were almost no books until 1500 and Gutenberg’s press came along. By 1900 there were 35,000. Today, in England, America, China and Russia alone there are over 600,000 published every year.
Top Speed – Until 1800 the top speed for a human being was around 20 mph. Trains reached 100 mph in the nineteenth century. Now we routinely travel at 400 mph. Supersonic jets are three times faster.
Pick any field and a few minutes on the internet will yield data on the hyper pace of change in every one, medicine, robotics, chemistry, physics, you name it.
Change is picking up speed and for some folks that’s unsettling.
It’s much easier to adapt to change over time. But sudden change rocks us. And it doesn’t matter who you are. Unexpected change comes upon everyone. The good news is that scripture gives us timeless principles for mastering the winds of change.
The first principle is to expect the unexpected. Hear what Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said about change.
I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11NIV).
The pros and the CEOs, the prima donnas and the politicians, each one, not to mention the rest of us will experience change. Change is inevitable. We can expect it, prepare for it, or be overwhelmed by it.
The good news is that Christians need not fear unexpected change. As the people of God we belong to the One who knows the end from the beginning. He isn’t caught off guard by change. As people of God’s Book we have reliable charts and a sturdy vessel for sailing through the winds of change.
Over the next few weeks we’ll look at these principles in depth but for now a summary might be helpful to you:
Change is inevitable. We can prepare for it or be overwhelmed by it.
Those manage change best whose principles are changeless.
Those manage change best who trust that God is still at work in unwanted change.
Those manage change best who meet it with a positive attitude.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Snow Sabbath
The Snow Sabbath
By Dane Skelton
The recent weather reminded me of an article I wrote ten years ago, when a blizzard stopped our world for a while. I hope it encourages you as we see more bad weather on the way.
Monday morning January 24th of 2000 dawned bright and clear. But school was still out. The cold and light snow we had experienced the previous week and weekend had closed the roads and deposited a number of the neighborhood kids on our doorstep, in our den, in the basement and in our bedrooms. They were everywhere! Eating the groceries, needing their mittens and boots dried and going through art supplies like snow in a frying pan. A few of them (including my two youngest) are home-schooled but most attend C.H. Friend down the street.
When Marynn (my oldest) asked, “Are we going to school tomorrow?” Krista and I both said, “Yes! You, your sisters, the neighbors and all the home-schooled kids in the neighborhood!” Little did we know, the blizzard of 2000 was almost upon us.
But it had a different effect than might be expected. Unlike the previous week’s weather that kept only the schools closed, the blizzard brought the adult world to a standstill too. Fifteen inches of snow in 8 hours forced everyone to “be still and know that I am God”. It created a “Snow Sabbath”.
Sabbath, at its most basic level, means to cease from work. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man.” It is an opportunity for the soul to re-establish the balance and equilibrium it loses by striving in the work place. We work in a world cursed by sin. That makes work difficult and draining. It taxes us spiritually, emotionally and physically. Sabbath compensates us for the energy we spend dealing with our own sins and the challenges of working life. We need Sabbath time. It restores us.
And if you’re one of those folks that “feels guilty when I relax” then Sabbath can re-orient your perspective. I had “things to do, people to see and places to go” the next morning. I’m sure you did too. But the Snow Sabbath forced me to realize once again that, “God can run the world quite nicely without my help thank you very much.” That single thought, a Sabbath thought, will do more to relieve your stress than any other thing I know. God has worked and is working to provide for us. He wants us to know what it means to rest in him, to be humble enough to know that we can’t accomplish anything at all without him. So we can trust him enough to relax, let the world go by, and enjoy the peace of a quiet day, or even the occasional blizzard.
By Dane Skelton
The recent weather reminded me of an article I wrote ten years ago, when a blizzard stopped our world for a while. I hope it encourages you as we see more bad weather on the way.
Monday morning January 24th of 2000 dawned bright and clear. But school was still out. The cold and light snow we had experienced the previous week and weekend had closed the roads and deposited a number of the neighborhood kids on our doorstep, in our den, in the basement and in our bedrooms. They were everywhere! Eating the groceries, needing their mittens and boots dried and going through art supplies like snow in a frying pan. A few of them (including my two youngest) are home-schooled but most attend C.H. Friend down the street.
When Marynn (my oldest) asked, “Are we going to school tomorrow?” Krista and I both said, “Yes! You, your sisters, the neighbors and all the home-schooled kids in the neighborhood!” Little did we know, the blizzard of 2000 was almost upon us.
But it had a different effect than might be expected. Unlike the previous week’s weather that kept only the schools closed, the blizzard brought the adult world to a standstill too. Fifteen inches of snow in 8 hours forced everyone to “be still and know that I am God”. It created a “Snow Sabbath”.
Sabbath, at its most basic level, means to cease from work. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man.” It is an opportunity for the soul to re-establish the balance and equilibrium it loses by striving in the work place. We work in a world cursed by sin. That makes work difficult and draining. It taxes us spiritually, emotionally and physically. Sabbath compensates us for the energy we spend dealing with our own sins and the challenges of working life. We need Sabbath time. It restores us.
And if you’re one of those folks that “feels guilty when I relax” then Sabbath can re-orient your perspective. I had “things to do, people to see and places to go” the next morning. I’m sure you did too. But the Snow Sabbath forced me to realize once again that, “God can run the world quite nicely without my help thank you very much.” That single thought, a Sabbath thought, will do more to relieve your stress than any other thing I know. God has worked and is working to provide for us. He wants us to know what it means to rest in him, to be humble enough to know that we can’t accomplish anything at all without him. So we can trust him enough to relax, let the world go by, and enjoy the peace of a quiet day, or even the occasional blizzard.
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