Changes

Change is in the air and Spring is almost here as we set our clocks ahead an hour this Sunday to Daylight Savings Time. Although change is a consistent part of our lives, why is it that we never get used to it? I believe its because we were created for permanency. Yet, it seems the only constant in this world is change. People come and go, places change and possessions are gained and lost. Why do we keep looking to these very things for security? Albert Einstein stated, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.” What can we learn from change in order to stop this insanity?

We tend to set our sights on the wrong goal in life. We unwittingly pursue happiness not realizing it makes us victims of our changing circumstances. The word “happiness” comes from the old English word “haps” which means luck, chance or fate as in “happenstance.” When seeking happiness, we are setting an unrealistic goal to have all our circumstances just the way we want them. All it takes is for one thing to go awry, resulting in our unhappiness.

God’s desire for us is far greater than happiness. Joy is not a product of our circumstances, but life overflowing from our inner being. We were created for joy but have tried in vain to substitute fleeting happiness for God’s intention. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is an example of the superiority of joy. He wrote his most joyous letter while imprisoned after many years of persecution for sharing the Gospel.

Joy is not taught as much as it is caught from other Christians. It is as we share other believer’s challenges in life that we experience their contagious joy. This is why discipling is so important. We need the encouragement and example of others.

Shortly before Jesus was crucified He shared with His disciples the secret of joy in this tumultuous world. Knowing that in a matter of hours their world would be turned upside down, He left them the antidote to unhappiness and greater still the very source of joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:11) Jesus had just repeated the secret no less than ten times, hoping they would not miss it. May we too not miss it, for the secret to joy was and still is to abide in Him!

Keep on abiding,

Steve