What a miracle, I can hear again. I have recently received my new hearing aids. I can’t hear perfectly, but I can better understand people speaking again.
I thank God for these miracles of our age, that our hearing and eyesight, our worn-out joints, and even our teeth, can be adjusted or replaced to help us maneuver through the years much easier than the generations before us. We are indeed blessed.
However, I have found not all changes are so positive because now I am losing my hair. Not because of the hearing aids, thankfully. Apparently, this is an after-effect for some of us who were ill with the Covid virus. How interesting and annoying.
The Bible says a woman’s hair is her glory and I certainly don’t want to lose my glory! Although personally, I’d prefer more hair than less. I really can’t complain because here I am still alive and, of course, God Himself knows the number of hairs on my head. God is in charge of my hair and my life, and He promises good to me if I am obedient to Him, so I am OK with having less hair and maybe even wearing a scarf on my head for a while.
How strange life can be, can’t it? We might be having a great day and turn the corner and suddenly find our lives changed forever. How we adapt to those changes is governed by where our faith is based.
Is our faith in ourselves, our family, our church, our job, our friends? If our faith is in anything but the living God, creator of the universe, we probably are not adapting to change well.
Christians who trust God with everything that happens in our lives know that He always desires to grow us to be more like Christ.
Realizing that changes and new experiences are part of our growth, and that God is walking us through these changes should govern our attitude to be positive. God wants good for us, and we want to follow God’s will and allow Him to make us more like Jesus.
Recently, I read a story about a man who lost his longtime job because he did not want to get the Covid vaccine, which was now required by his employer. His family then lost their main income and yet they knew and trusted that God would provide for His children and so they accepted the change and worked to adjust.
That family downsized their home and lifestyle to something much more modest than they had previously and in doing so, they experienced a blessing. They felt their separation from the physical things they previously owned (two cars, a large house, a big entertainment system, etc.) had actually brought their family closer together and closer to God. God does work in amazingly marvelous ways and always for our good when we follow Him.
When I think of people that have undergone major changes, I think of the school students going back and forth between virtual and in-person learning, wearing masks, quarantining, adjusting, adjusting, and re-adjusting day after day. What about the refugees from Afghanistan? Can we even imagine what it is like to be plopped down into a country of a different language, different customs, and mostly of different faiths?
Then there are the missionaries that had been kidnapped in Haiti whose lives have been changed forever. That kidnapping trauma will be with them constantly and yet our God will use it for His good. Our God is great, and His plan is so much bigger than what we see.
Over the years, Neil and I have walked friends through the pains of dementia and the death of the husband to this disease.
Life does not end with the death of a spouse, but it changes dramatically because the remaining spouse is still here on Earth. Even though that death brought loneliness and an enormous change, we have watched how faith in God has worked His wonders in so many widows’ and widowers’ lives, all to His glory.
I have found that change can be pleasant, or it can be disruptive, but as we have all heard, change is inevitable, so let us choose from the start to listen to God to see where He is leading us on the road of our life.
Maybe it will be a wonderful adventure. Maybe we’ll get more involved with our friends, community, or church. Maybe it will be something we never even dreamed of, like writing a column for a newspaper.
Wait and see what is in store around the next corner and give God the glory! In the meantime, I’m going out shopping for headscarves.
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City.
