The year 2020 will leave its mark on people all over the world. I wonder how generations to come will speak about it.
Here, we contended with prolonged drought, floods, and widespread and devastating bushfires which threatened the lives and livelihoods of so many. Little did we realise that a further catastrophe was lurking; a challenge that the whole world would face; wholesale infection and death, often in tragic circumstances.
Such changes and challenges followed! Churches were closed. We watched services at home. Social distancing became the norm. Older people were told, “Stay home”. That meant that retirees, who were very active volunteers, had to cease their work. How could we serve when we were isolated? How could we spend our time? Our fellowships, our congregation’s life, our work, our family life – all suddenly changed. We certainly realised that all our careful planning couldn’t be followed through.
How do I respond to change? Embrace it? Accept it? Feel powerless? Resist it? Perhaps it depends on whether I’ve felt I had any control over the situation.
My mother was always a great example to me as she dealt with major changes in her life. Her children have always admired the way she coped when her pastor-husband died suddenly while giving private communion to some members. He was 53. She had to vacate the manse quickly, join a new congregation, find her first paid job … Wherever she was after that, she adapted to change, looking ahead, and acting on decisions, such as retirement living. Serving her Lord was the constant in her life. In her mid-80s, she died suddenly after helping distribute Holy Communion at church.
What changes are we experiencing? How are we coping? Which ones make us feel life will never be the same again? Do we wish we could go back to the way everything was? Or have I learned that some of the changes are an improvement and can help me look at things from a fresh perspective. Above all, am I putting everything in God’s hands? Do I worry about what’s ahead? As one friend reminds me, “Don’t be afraid of tomorrow. God is already there”.
So, I can thank and praise God for the many changes in my life through which he has grown and moulded me, just as he still continues to do so as I age. I look forward to what God has in store for me as I travel closer to my destination: life in heaven with him.
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