A Prayer for When You’re Facing Unwanted Changes
By Betsy de Cruz
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” – Mark 2:22
I don’t like change. I drag my feet every time we move to a new city. I feel nervous about starting a new job, and even the thought of changing churches makes my heart lurch. I just wish everything could stay the same, thank you very much.
When my husband felt called to plant a new church, I didn’t want to leave the fellowship we’d already grown to love. When God called us to return home to America after 16 years on the mission field, I felt like staying put. Most recently, when my husband wanted to move to a new city, I resisted until God spoke to me loud and clear.
Predictability feels comfortable and reassuring.
Change feels scary. And I am not a fan of it.
Yet sometimes God wants to do new things in our lives, and before He does, He may call us to make changes that feel unfamiliar or even downright uncomfortable.
When Jesus told the parable of the wineskins, he was responding to the Pharisees. They didn’t like that Jesus was eating with sinners and that His disciples weren’t fasting. (See Mark 2 for these stories.)
The Pharisees clung to their old ways of doing things, yet God was doing something new. Through Jesus, God opened a new and living way for us to enter into relationship with Himself. Beggars, sinners, and outcasts could become God’s children through faith in Christ. But the Pharisees missed it.
Friend, if you’re struggling with unwanted change in your life, consider whether you might be clinging to old ways while God wants to do something new. Maybe you don’t like your new school, city, job, or relationship status. It feels uncomfortable, even painful when we have to let go of the old to move forward.
May I encourage you to hold tightly to your Heavenly Father’s hand? He has good plans for you, and He will guide you through it all. Just for today, choose to believe God has a hopeful future in store and take the next step forward. Then tomorrow, do it again. Before long, you’ll see His plans for good unfolding before you.
Let’s pray:
Lord, I don’t like change because it makes me feel uncertain and insecure. Forgive me for holding on to my own ideas of what security looks like. Help me remember you are my firm foundation when the winds of change are rocking my boat. Give me the grace I need to hold your hand firmly as I take steps into unknown waters.
Father, I want to be open to you and your plans. Give me wisdom to follow your leading and help me be open to new things when they feel uncomfortable. God, help me follow you even if your ways seem unfamiliar.
Lord, when my path feels uncertain, help me follow you with courage and joy. I rejoice in your rule over my life, and I praise you because you are my faithful Heavenly Father. I know your plans for me are good.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
