The times, they are a-changin'

Isn't that the way it goes? Just when you get used to doing something a certain way, things change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The problem is, most of the time you can't tell the "better" from the "worse" right off the bat. So we learn, hopefully, to roll with the changes -- especially those we have no control over.

When we are the ones orchestrating the change, it's easy to get prepared; to know what lies ahead (or at least think we know what to expect). Making a planned career change, for instance, or making a move to another home or locale, or getting married. We may not know how these changes will eventually turn out, but at least we know they are coming and we can "build in" buffer zones and "what if?" scenarios to account for any downturns that may occur during the change.

However, when the changes are forced upon us, it's an entirely different matter.

One day the sun is shining and the birds are singing and then someone -- or a group of "someones" -- pulls the proverbial rug the from under your feet and the bottom seems to fall out of your world.

To some, it can be downright disastrous. These types of changes can leave folks devastated and cause folks to take -- or contemplate taking -- all kinds of actions they would not normally remotely consider. When Wall Street crashed, for instance, we are told that men were jumping to deaths from upper floor windows because of the change that had been forced upon them.

But for believers, those who follow Jesus the Nazarene and try to live by his words and teachings, there is always a ray of hope. We know, for instance, that God is our provider and as such he will not let his children face more than they can bear. It really doesn't matter what things look like on the outside. Those who believe in Jesus as the Christ are made righteous through the sacrifice he made on the cross. And the Psalmist tells us that, though he had lived a long life, he had never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging for bread.

What that tells me is this: No matter what changes come -- those we knowingly choose and walk into on our own, or those forced upon us by outside circumstances -- we know we have a protector and provider and a father who loves us and continually looks out for, and leads us to, that which is "better."

And that's good enough for me.