Grace for Disruption and Change

Lord Jesus, I don’t like disruption, surprises, and change. I like newness, excitement, and adventure; but when it’s all said and done, I love to come home to the normal and the predictable. Grant me grace to be more flexible, because, until the Day of “all things new,” we live in a world of all things disrupt-able.

Flights get canceled, and the flu season gets prolonged; good friends move on, and loud neighbors move in. A new “top dog” in org chart creates chaos for all the “puppies” below. The Dow Jones Average goes high; just as fast, it goes South.

How thankful we are that there’s one part of our lives that will never change, cannot be disrupted, and is always certain. And that is you, Jesus, and your love for us. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever; and your love for us neither, peaks nor dives.

That doesn’t make you predictable, Jesus; and, even less so, manageable. But it does mean that we can trust you, and have your peace, no matter what is going on in our hearts, circumstances, and world.

The most fundamental disruption we should always welcome is the journey of becoming like you, Jesus. Our sanctification is the most unmanageable, out-of-our-control, and, often, painful change we’ll ever go through. And you often order difficult events and challenging people as a part of that process… drat it.

But, hallelujah, disruption and change don’t have sovereignty. Only you do, Jesus. Nothing is random in this world. Nothing catches you off guard. The scary becomes the sacred when we’re wearing the lens of the gospel. Hard providences become the theatre of grace. It’s not about always making lemonade from lemons; but it IS always about trusting you.

Jesus, help each of us see and accept disruption and change as parts of a far better story than we could ever hope to write. Until then, Jesus, may we love you with abandon, serve you without question, and trust you with gladness. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and matchless name.