Life continually changes, doesn’t it?  Just when we think we are in a rhythm we like and enjoy, something changes.  Change can be financial, relational, emotional or spiritual.  Change can be the result of something we have done or someone else has done or no fault of anyone.  For whatever reason, life changed.  It’s different than it was last year or last week or last night.

“Life is change.  Growth is optional.  Choose wisely.” – Benjamin Franklin

The book of Ruth, found in the Old Testmanet of the Bible, is a book about change.  It is about a woman, Naomi, who is walking through a major reset in her life.  She is originally from Israel.  Naomi is forced to move with her husband and two sons because of a famine in the land.  While they were in Moab, her two sons marry two local girls.

Reminder | When life changes our control is challenged.

Naomi didn’t choose any of the major and painful changes that happened in her life.  Ruth 1:1-5 tells us that while in Moab her husband dies as well as her two sons.  And according to the customs of her day, when her sons died she lost the righ to their property.  Her financial condition changed for the worse.  And what is challenging is that none of this was in her control.

Some changes are easier than others.  How we do our hair… what to wear… where to arrange the furniture.  Those changes are easy because we get to choose.

Change is demanding when we don’t get to choose.  Maybe it is sickness or being quarantined or  furloughed or the loss of a job or even online learning with your kids.  Change is demanding when we don’t get to choose.  It reminds us that we are not in control.

“Real contentment must come from within. You and I cannot change or control the world around us, but we can change and control the world within us.” – Warren Wiersbe

Reminder | When life changes our comfort is challenged. 

In Ruth 1:20, Naomi has a common reaction to change.  She goes from being pleasant and kind to bitter.  Why?  Because change moves us out of our comfort zone.

“If we prepare ourselves for life’s inevitables, we will not be perplexed by life’s transitions.” – Jack Hyles

Reminer | When life changes we discover that our faith is challenged.

There are times when life changes that we feel like God is punishing us.  It’s as if we feel God has somehow changed.  

Can I encourage you that God is not punishing you.  He is developing you.  I want to share three things that the Bible tells us will never change about God regardless of what we experience in life.

God’s LOVE never changes. (Jeremiah 31:3)

God’s WORD never changes. (Isaiah 40:8)

God’s PLAN never changes. (Psalm 33:11)

If you are walking through a season of change, be encouraged because God is ready and willing to not only guide you but carry you through this change!