Change

Change is something we often resist. “Never did it that way.” “This is who I am.” “It’s a tradition.” We can muster up all kinds of reasons to stay the same and not evolve.

What are we missing when we stay the same?

There is actually a scientific description for this feeling of change resistance. It is called Gleicher’s Formula which has many interpretive levels, but basically can be interpreted this way:

The pain of loss is greater than the power of gain.

(or so it would seem…)

Letting go of something often is more of a struggle when compared to the feeling of doing and getting something new. The new thing’s joy does not offset the pain of letting go of the old thing. Sometimes we may call it a “cost/benefit analysis.” What will the pending benefits be if I change and what will the sacrifices be if I change? Will the gain be better?

It causes a feeling of upset because the brain actually sees change as a modest form of a threat and we all want to resist threats to our thinking and well being.

Enter the Lord!

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

How blessed are those words!

Let’s be faithful to the changes life puts before us knowing God’s presence is ever there.