Learning to Bend Without Breaking

 

I’ve never been one to love change. In fact, I’d rank it right up there with root canals and long lines at the DMV. Somewhere along the way, I decided that routine equals peace. My coffee mug goes in the same cabinet, my socks have their own drawer, and my favorite chair has a perfectly molded dent that fits me like an old friend. Why mess with perfection?

 

But life doesn’t consult our comfort zones before it starts rearranging things. One day you’re cruising along, windows down, music playing, and the next day—boom!—the map changes. Jobs end, kids move away, health shifts, friends drift. The seasons of life seem to come faster now, and I can’t find the pause button.

 

I used to think if everything stayed the same, I’d finally feel secure. But honestly, if nothing ever changed, we’d probably get bored out of our minds. Can you imagine living the same day on repeat forever? Even Groundhog Day had to end eventually.

 

Still, it’s strange how easy it is to find security in stability. Maybe it’s because when things are predictable, we feel like we’re in control. But the truth is, that’s just an illusion. Change reminds us—sometimes painfully—that we’re not running the show. And maybe that’s the point.

 

Growth doesn’t come from sitting still. It comes from those uncomfortable, stretching seasons that make us want to hide under the covers and wait it out. Every time life has shifted under my feet, I’ve learned something new about myself—and about God. He doesn’t just allow change; He uses it to shape us.

 

When I look back, the times I’ve grown the most were never the easy ones. They were the times I had to let go of what was and trust that something better was coming, even if it didn’t feel that way. It’s funny how we cling so tightly to what’s familiar, even when God’s trying to hand us something new.

 

So these days, I’m learning to bend a little. To roll with the punches. To laugh at the unexpected and find peace in the unknown. It’s not always easy—some days I’m more creaky oak than flexible willow—but I’m trying.

 

Because underneath all the shifting sands of life, one thing never changes: God’s faithfulness. When everything around me feels uncertain, He remains steady. That’s where true stability lives—not in my routines, not in the things I can control, but in the unchanging hands that hold it all together.

 

And maybe that’s what growing older (and hopefully wiser) is really about: learning to trust the One who never changes, even when everything else does.

 

Dear Lord, thank You for walking with me through every season of change. When life feels uncertain and the ground beneath me shifts, remind me that You are my anchor and my peace. Help me to loosen my grip on what was and open my heart to what You are doing now. Teach me to find joy in new beginnings, courage in unfamiliar places, and faith that You are working all things for my good. Even as the world changes around me, let my trust that You remain unshakable. Amen.

 

"Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

They will perish, but You will remain; they will all wear out like a garment.You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but You are the same, and Your years have no end." Psalm 102:25–27