What made them so tired (or what wore them out)? It is the same thing that wears us out … CHANGE. We can only take so much change and then we begin to shut down. Change is inevitable. Change is happening all the time. It can be unnoticed until it is a surprise. It can be resisted until it causes submission. It can be enjoyed if it is our plan, or loathed if it imposed by another. Change that is looked forward to with pleasant anticipation we may call adventure. Change that feels forced upon us because we had no say in the matter is always spoken of as “unfair”. We will live through everything from “nuisance” to “earthshaking” but will always come out of the “change” with the lasting effects of different degrees cause by the stress on our lives. Our reaction to change makes us what we have been, what we are and what we will be. Our attitude and responses to change will create the legend of who we were ("Remember Jeff, Boy he was a grouch!).
There was a man in scripture whose name has been intertwined with this concept of painful change – “Job”. We have seen the “patience of Job” attributed to those who seem to be able to put up with a lot and still come out mild mannered. Remember though, patience is not a virtue …it is a choice. It is only seen as a virtue by those observing one that appears to be handling suffering well; it is a different story when seen from the vantage point of being the one suffering.
Job’s life changed radically in a moment. He went from prestigious prosperity to pity-filled poverty overnight. In the book of Job chapters 12 -14, you can read Job’s amazing self-reflection of his situation while struggling with the change in his life. Here is a sound bite from Job’s wrestling with all the dimensions of the radical and disappointing change in his life: Job 14:14 – “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come”. Job here is viewing death as a welcome change because of the intense struggle he is trying to endure. Most of mankind will only struggle for a while. We have a limit, and when it wears us out, we crave rest no matter how it may come. BUT … THERE … right in the midst of the change … is our unchangeable God. “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6 (Therefore, placed in His care this change is never “wasted”)
It is easy to fast forward to the fact that if we know Jesus, then we will be with Him in Heaven, and all this will be over. But God never has intentions of “wasting” our lives and allowing this time of change to pass without reward. He doesn’t want our lives to be lived in vain. Change is a constant gift of a renewable vantage point in which we have the opportunity to see Him in His unchanging glory. This glory is evidenced in His active role of loving us through the change. He is the supply for all of our needs according to His immense riches that are amassed for our sake during this life of ebb and flow.
We will change, times will change, positions will change, possessions will change … everything changes but our God. Strongly note this: He is appropriate in His care for us in all of this change. Trust Him. The only time change is a waste is when we decide we can handle this ourselves. The life that is truly blessed is the life that acknowledges that HE WILL TAKE CARE OF ME. So as I am strapped into this car seat of life, when I am overwhelmed by my vantage point, I will lay my head back, close my eyes and trust Daddy to get me to where ever he is taking me. It will all be good. It will be Okay. “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” II Tim. 1:12
HLFA,
Jeff
PS. By the way – the picture has a subtle message for me as I view it –“resting while trying to go too fast”; There is a limit to what we can handle … (reminds me of the awkward position we put ourselves in when we really aren’t trusting God).