How do you handle change?

To most of us, change is not something we welcome and embrace. To prove my point, just ask yourself these questions:
Do I tend to order the same things at the restaurants I go to?
Do I park in the same spot at work every day?
Do I sit in the same seat at church each week?
Do I drive the same way to and from my house?
Are you convinced yet? We are creatures of habit.

So how do you handle change? What do you do when your favorite menu item is discontinued? What do you do when a visitor at church takes your seat before you get there?

If change was easy, everybody would do it. But we tend to get stuck in the rut of life. We just do the same things over and over, and life begins looking the same, day-in and day-out. I contend, however, that change is not only beneficial, but it is critically necessary to keep us moving along in life. Let’s take a look…

Psalm 46.10a – Be still and know that I am God…

In today’s culture we are constantly on the move. We have conditioned ourselves to feed on the adrenaline of busyness and routine. But what if we occasionally forced ourselves to change? What if we threw a wrench in our busy schedules and forced a shift in our perspective, off of our busy (and often mundane) routine, and onto our great God?

Pastor Mark Batterson gives this formula: change of place + change of pace = change of perspective.

There is a highway here that runs through the middle of our city, and everything basically funnels off that highway. Every once in awhile, I will go to the top of a mountain and overlook my city. I can see that same highway that I drive on almost daily, but I get a bigger picture that I cannot see while in my car on the highway. It gives me a change of perspective. Driving on the highway, I see only the mundane — scenery I’ve grown accustomed to and traffic I’ve learned to deal with (and of course, the occasional frustration toward other drivers–you know who you are). But when I go to the top of the mountain, I see from a whole new place of awe and wonder, and I get a new perspective of my city and all that it has to offer.

Change is not easy, but what if change is the catalyst to your new perspective? You’ll realize that God really does have the whole world in His hand.

Here are just some ideas of ways to shake things up a little for a new perspective in life…
What if you changed what translation of the Bible you read?
What if you changed your workout routine?
What if you changed the seat you sat in at church?
What if you changed your work schedule?
What if you changed your busy schedule and made some time just to be still and know?

I want to grow each day in my knowledge of God in my life, and sometimes the small changes give me a greater perspective of my greater God…