Hurtgen: Don't be afraid of change

The most terrifying combination of letters are C-H-A-N-G-E. Change ignites feelings of losing control and sparks fears of an unknown future. In your organization, change can kindle concerns over a loss of your job or the opposite: more work on top of what you are already struggling to complete. Despite the emotions accompanying change, change cannot be avoided. Briefly, then, what are some principles that help navigate change?

First, understanding that change is constant. Paul encouragingly writes, "Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16). Each of us has unavoidable physiological changes. Aging forces changes upon us. Our eyes fail, so we get glasses. Knees give out and are replaced. Yet, while we endure physiological changes, internally we can grow younger. Navigating change recognizes that there are matters, regardless of your resistance and adaptations, which cannot be stopped. But there are matters of change within your influence. A revived spirit, a renewing mind, a reinvigorated curiosity. Change is constant, but so is renewal.

Second, realize that change is resisted because the distress of what you know is less than the perceived agony of the unknown. I know of people with addictions, sat with couples in marriage counseling, and been with those whose lives are falling apart, all of whom knew they needed to change, identified what to change, and created action plans to facilitate change. But they didn't change. The suffering they knew was better than the unknown pain change brought.

One day, a man of great wealth comes to Jesus, wanting to know how to have eternal life. Jesus gives him a clear and drastic answer. The man departs disappointed. Jesus turns to his disciples and says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25). The man's wealth, which he knew and relied upon, was the barrier to the change he wanted. The pain of change was greater than the strain of staying the same.

Change is the heart of Christianity. By faith, God makes you a new creation. "The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Cor. 5:17). God is in the business of making things new. He continuously changes and remakes you into the person he has created and is recreating you to be. Change is still terrifying. But through the lenses of faith has a greater purpose.

Robert Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more of him at robhurtgen.wordpress.com.