If only we could order life the way we order gourmet coffee. Wouldn’t you love to mix and match the ingredients of your future?
“Give me a tall, extra-hot cup of adventure, cut the dangers, with two shots of good health.”
A decaf brew of longevity, please, with a sprinkle of fertility. Go heavy on the agility and cut the disability.”
“I’ll have the pleasure mocha with extra stirrings of indulgence. Make sure it’s consequence free.”
“I’ll go with a grande happy-latte, with a dollop of love, sprinkled with Caribbean retirement.”
Take me to that coffee shop. Too bad it doesn’t exist. Truth is, life often hands us a concoction entirely different from the one we requested. Ever feel as though the barista-from-above called your name and handed you a cup of unwanted stress?
“Joe Jones, enjoy your early retirement. Looks as if it comes with marital problems and inflation.”
“Mary Adams, you wanted four years of university education, then kids. You’ll be having kids first. Congratulations on your pregnancy.”
“A hot cup of job transfer six months before your daughter’s graduation, Susie. Would you like some patience with that?”
Life comes caffeinated with surprises. Modifications. Transitions. Alterations. You move down the ladder, out of the house, over for the new guy, up through the system. All this moving. Some changes welcome, others not. We might request a decaffeinated life, but we don’t get it. None of us pass through this life surprise free. If you don’t want change, go to a soda machine; that’s the only place you won’t find any.
So make friends with whatever’s next.
Embrace it. Accept it. Don’t resist it. Change is not only a part of life; change is a necessary part of God’s strategy. To use us to change the world, he alters our assignments. God transitioned Joseph from a baby brother to an Egyptian prince. He changed David from a shepherd to a king. Peter wanted to fish the Sea of Galilee. God called him to lead the first church.
CHANGE IS NOT ONLY A PART OF LIFE; CHANGE IS A NECESSARY PART OF GOD’S STRATEGY.
God makes reassignments. Over time, we discover that the thing we thought we wanted is far less satisfying than what God has prepared for us.