Change is Beautiful

For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify [praise and worship] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 15:4-6

I recently purchased a sign for my home with a saying that is now engrained in my mind and is etching it’s way into my heart. “Fall is proof that change is beautiful”. Perhaps you’ve heard it before but it is new to me and I love it. While I am a creature of habit and don’t necessarily go looking for change, it has never really bothered me – with the exception of senseless or absurd change – but that’s a discussion for another day. I think the reason this statement grabbed at my heart and ended up in my shopping cart is because many people in my life either battle change or are weathering the storm of age and change can almost be detrimental to them. Somehow this writes a different story though, maybe not for all change but it is certainly true of the change that comes with fall, especially here in my native West Virginia. God bedazzles the hillsides and the mountaintops year after year with extraordinary colors that are great competition for my beloved green buds of spring or the flower filled yards of summer. I’m not a fan of snow. However, despite the chaos it can cause, I must admit, even it can be beautiful when it is stretched out across the hills and valleys like a down-comforter piled high upon the earth.

As I have contemplated the truth of the statement on my new sign, I began to realize that in actuality it could be said of every season – for to those who adore the snow, or the beautiful colors of spring and summer the meaning would no doubt take on the same wonder it has for me when applied to fall. However, it also strikes me that God’s Word offers the same truthful reality that change is beautiful. After all, was it not His spoken word that brought creation into being?¹ The dark sky lit with stars and a captivating full moon, or the blue sky and its dazzling display of fluffy clouds, or the billowing waves of the ocean riding in on the shore. John refers to Christ as being the Word that was with God in the beginning and then later says that same Word became flesh and dwelt with man on the earth – and boy, did that bring some beautiful change and hope to a lost and dying world. Because, as John goes on to write, “we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.”² That grace and truth changed everything!³ It set the captives free⁴ and has turned darkness into light,⁵ and death into life ⁶– for those who believe.⁷ Which brings us to our verse for today – and the written Word of God, which Paul says was given for our instruction and our encouragement through the Scriptures to not only help us endure but so that we might have HOPE. For me, the change that comes with the seasons is the constant reminder for believers that God, our God, is radiantly beautiful and this is made clear through His creation⁸. Likewise, the change that comes through His written Word in us⁹ changes us from the inside-out¹⁰ and by it we grow into radiant lights¹¹, living testimonies¹², savory salt¹³, and beautiful messengers of the good news¹⁴ that brings faith, hope, and love to the world.¹⁵

 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Romans 1:19-20

¹Genesis 1 … ²John 1:1-18 … ³Ephesians 2:8-9 … ⁴Romans 6:14 … ⁵1 Peter2:9, John 8:12, & Ephesians 5:8 … ⁶ Romans 6:23 … ⁷John 3:16-17 … ⁸ Romans 1:19-20 … ⁹ Romans 15:4-6 … ¹⁰ 2 Corinthians 5:17 & Jeremiah 15:6 … ¹¹ Matthew 5:14 ¹² Matthew 5:16 … ¹³ Matthew 5:13 … ¹⁴ Romans 10:15 … ¹⁵ John 3:16-17