I
communicate on a daily basis with many peer group friends who are
advancing in age. They email me, write me, phone me, and we meet at
church or in the community. There is not one of us who is not going
through some changes in his or her life.
Changes come in all shapes and sizes. Among them are Changes in living
circumstances, being uprooted in living space and having to move; needing to downsize possessions and part with precious memorabilia, decisions overlaid with emotion; changes in long time relationships,
children relocating, friends dying, perhaps being left to grow old
alone without our life's companion; changes in bodily and mental health,
diminishing strength and energy, more medical appointments than
social engagements.
Like
it or not, we all have to cope with changes in some way. Changes are
inevitable, and they come thick and fast as we grow older. For the Christian, changes
are not accidental or incidental. They are God’s means for our
growth in maturity. They are part of the Heavenly Potter’s
maturing, finishing process and plan, shaping us like clay until our
final day of life. Changes move us further along toward holiness as
we are being transformed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ
from glory to glory.
In
our youth, by and large, we welcomed changes eagerly. But older people
tend to resist changes whether inward or outward. To compound the
problem, our negative attitudes and habits become more pronounced as
we grow older. We become more rigid and drag our feet insisting that
it's too late to change. That isn’t true. We lose a blessing if we
refuse to change. We gain and progress when we view changes as new
challenges and opportunities to grow. Even while living in our summit
years, we can still change so that the
rest of our way will
be more pleasing to the Lord. We can face life’s changes anchored
to the Unchanging One, the Lord who is “the same yesterday, today,
and forever.” Living in our vintage years, we must try to roll with
the punches and meet changes of life head on with courage and trust
in God or we become anxious and miserable.
God
apparently uses changes to make us malleable.
That seems like a strange word, not often used in daily
conversation. When applied to matter, malleable
is defined as capable
of being extended or shaped by a hammer or by pressure from rollers.
OUCH! What a painful analogy!
The word mallet
comes from the same root referring to a hammer-like tool usually of
hard wood. A judge’s gavel is a mallet of sorts when he uses it to
demand attention and order in court. When applied to people, the term
is used to mean adaptable or tractable, able to adjust, open to
change. Other synonyms are compliant, obedient, amenable, supple,
flexible, and pliable. The latter are all good and positive spiritual
attitudes.
When
unwanted changes come into our lives, they may seem like painful
hammer blows. Those of us in our later seasons of life often find
ourselves far from malleable! To the degree that we remain
spiritually malleable, God can extend our horizons, teach us more of
His truth, and shape us into the vessel that He envisioned us to be
when He planned for our lives before the foundation of the world.
At
the same time, God also created us with free will so that we can
either resist His work in our lives or accept it. The Lord doesn’t
force us to receive His blessings or more of His truth. With love He
leads us gently in that direction—but the choice is ours. If we
wholeheartedly will to do His will and try to live in a state of
grace surrendered to His leading, we open ourselves to receive His
blessings in overflowing abundance and become His instruments to draw
others to Him.
Can
I say, “Thanks, Lord, I needed that! Help me
become malleable and grow through the changes You bring into my
life.”?
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