from Ron Rose
January 5, 2009

Preparation

Within our current cultural climate you can depend on one undeniable prediction—2009 will be a year of change. President-elect Obama’s campaign focused on this very prediction. He was able to point people in the direction of hope, despite future uncertainty. But the campaign is over; now is the time for truth---for reality.

Change is not just invading our culture; it’s landed inside us. I’m not talking about the old familiar life-change stuff; this invasion knocks us off center, threatens our assumptions, and destroys our comfort zones. Clouds of doubt, apprehension, and isolation darken the sky. Our silent cry is, “God, where are you? It seems like everything is broken. I’m running out of options. I’m trapped and alone.”

We can deal with comfortable, manageable, and predictable change, but this is uncomfortable, out of our control, and unpredictable. You might call 2009: the change invasion. Broken families, shattered marriages, foreclosed houses, lay-offs, drug abuse, distrust, lost dreams, business failures, and moral bankruptcies have overrun the neighborhood. We could handle one at a time, but as this year begins, the changes are coming in waves.

It’s not time to re-invent ourselves, it’s time to re-assess ourselves. Take a “big picture snap-shot” and you will discover a spiritual truth, we are not alone and lost; we are in-between, in transition. God is in control…He has planned our journey, using waves of changes to open our eyes. Remember, “See, I am doing something new, don’t you see it?”

Keep your eyes focused on the transition…the emerging new story of life on the other side where everything is new.

Now you’re in-between, in transition. Get used to it and look for the door…it’s there, sometimes obscured, but always there.

It’s a transition door; it’s your vision from God. Jesus said, “I see what you've done. Now see what I've done. I've opened a door before you that no one can slam shut.” (Revelation 3:8a The Message)

This is not a time to re-shape, or re-invent yourself; it’s a time to follow Jesus, to live like we believe his words. The transition door is not locked or slammed shut, it is wide open… but to walk though it requires change…it’s not just a moment in time, it’s the way of the future, an adventure of faith.

Inspiration

The movie versions of the familiar old stories tend to be re-written and re-framed. One of the revised tales is that of Chicken Little. Although there are various versions, the one before the movie had a clear message.

When an acorn dropped on the head of Henny Penny, she is overwhelmed with panic. “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” she exclaims. “I must go warn the king.”

So Henny Penny runs toward the palace, telling everyone she meets along the way about her distressing discovery. Before long a large group of frightened animals are following her to warn the king.

The group grows more and more concerned each time the story is told; so when they meet a fox along the way, they are blinded to the danger and follow him on a “shortcut” to the palace. He leads them into his den and to their death.

I guess for them the sky was falling.

Motivation

The question: “Are you dealing with a stray acorn, a wave of acorns or do you see God’s transition door?”

This is a good week to begin a journal for 2009. Take the time to muse a bit. Stake your future on Jesus and his open door. Your perspective will change. Think about it. What difference does this “open door” awareness make in our life? How does that perspective impact your courage, your willingness to risk, and your view of the future?

With a transition perspective, when an acorn drops on your head, which are you more likely to do: try to fix it, run from it, grow bitter, blame God, flounder alone in the deep; or, will you stand on faith, listen for God’s voice, and walk though HIS door, and enter the adventure of transition?

Remember, it’s not random change you are going through; it’s God empowered transition… into what God has planned for the next chapter of your life.