Change: Is It Pain or Gain?

Ashley peered through the windshield at the detour signs. The new route took her off the interstate. I could get frustrated … or I could enjoy this, Ashley thought.

The picturesque drive wound through the rolling countryside and deposited her back on the highway, adding just a few minutes to her normal drive. Ashley smiled. A different attitude could have ruined her day. Instead, her choice to enjoy the route change left her energized.

Tim and his wife studied his job transfer packet. His new position would mean a move to another state, away from their home and community of ten years. Yet the move would also bring them closer to extended family and to the beach, and Tim would be challenged in his new job. Let’s see what God has for us in this new situation, Tim and his wife agreed. As they looked back a year later, the couple saw their combined positive attitudes allowed them to grow closer together, navigate a difficult transition to put down new roots quickly, and thrive.

Change presents a choice.

The Choice You Face About Change

Ebbs and flows are part of life. Like Ashley and Tim, each of us faces changes – some small adjustments to routine, others more significant life events.

Changes large and small are inevitable. The choice is not whether you will confront it. Rather, the choice you face lies in how you view change.

You choose one of two paths: change means pain or change can mean gain.

The two paths trigger two different chain reactions which affect your behavior … and even life’s outcomes.

The Path of Loss: Change Is Negative

If you see change as a loss, ask yourself why. You may be embracing something other than God first – perhaps a personal agenda, individual comfort, or preconceived notions. The threat to your ideas can lead to negative attitudes like insecurity, restlessness, fear, and doubt.

By deciding that change means pain and loss, you allow death to take root – death of hope, death of relationships, death of opportunity, or death of purpose. If your mind and heart head down the “this-change-is-not-good” path, check your motives. Chances are you’re placing your own plans before God’s desires.

The Path of Gain: Change Can Be Positive

When you ask God to reveal His purpose in your change and move forward with a heart open to Him, He cultivates life. Even when the change is difficult you can cling to the promise God works all things for our good (Romans 8:28). This approach breeds an upbeat attitude of excitement, anticipation, hope, and strength. You are inspired to focus on what you can do to help accomplish the change, investing your efforts and energy in productive activities. Because this path is rooted in God’s promises for your gain, you can be purposeful and fulfilled.

The Choice Is Yours

Can’t the choice about change be simply avoided?

Not for Christ-followers … because God sets the choice before us. For instance, He challenged the Israelites to choose how to view challenges they would face upon entering the Promised Land. “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses,” Moses said to Israel just before they left the desert. “Now choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19, NIV).

By avoiding a decision, you unintentionally make a choice – one of denial and rebellion and death.

By consciously deciding that change will mean gain, you choose life.

Does change mean pain – or can change mean gain? The choice is yours.