Change! - Katrina Nickell
Hi! I'm Katrina. I'm a wife, mommy, and missionary to Thailand!
I was baffled when Mrs. Amy asked me to write something for this wonderful page. I prayed hard about it, because I didn't know what I could share. The Lord gave peace, and He has given me very clear direction in what to share with you. I claim to be no expert, but I am sharing my heart.
Today, I want to talk to you about a scary word: CHANGE!
Did that make you cringe? Sorry, but if there is one thing that I know well, it is change. Change has been a part of my life from the very beginning. From the time I was born, things have changed. Within my first 2 months of life, my living space (you really cant even call it a home at that point) changed SIX TIMES. My dad was military. Which means everything changed ALL THE TIME! or at least every 3 or 4 years. More recently, we have come off of 2 years of deputation and moved our family to a whole new culture and country, THAILAND! So, maybe I am an expert in something?
Yeah, change has been in my life a lot. Some change has been good! For example, when I was six, my family moved to Italy and my parents got saved (followed by me 3 years later): that's a GREAT change. Or, when I was 23, I got married to the man of my dreams! Another GREAT CHANGE. In 2018, 2019, and 2023, I got to give birth to my children! AMAZING CHANGES!
All those changes were good and pretty easy to get on board with! But, we all know there are some HARD changes! When I got married and moved from big city Tennessee to small town Iowa (the population was 81!), I LOVED it, and had grand dreams of staying there forever!! But, within 2 years, my husband told me God had called him to Thailand, called us really. I was 1000% willing, but giving up those dreams was a HARD change. When we had our house sold out from under us while on our survey trip giving us only a week to pack up all our things when we returned home, I STRUGGLED with that change! Going from the security of having a home to living in a van was HARD and those emotions from change came in waves for the next 2.5 years. When we had to say goodbye to our home church, our friends, and our family for the forseeable future, I thought I would CRUMBLE under that change. It hurt in places I didn't know hurt was felt.
As I look back over my vapor of a life, especially deputation, of course there have been some hard changes, but Ecclesiates 1:9 says, "there is no new thing under the sun." Therefore, I became determined as I read my Bible to see how others in the Bible dealt with change. I've read about people like Adam and Eve: they had hard change brought on by their own choices; Job: his change was brought on for no reason that he ever saw but to strengthen his trust in God; Abraham: his change went from a stable home to a tent for the rest of his life; Isaac: like his father, his life was always changing. The list could go on forever!
Have you ever heard someone say they hate change? Oh how that makes me cringe! Now, I don't expect anyone to ever say, "I love change! It's the best!" But look at your Bible! Would we have a Bible if not for changes in people's lives?
• Would we have the Pentatuch (first five books) if Moses had not left Egypt, become a shepherd, then become a leader of a nation?
• Would we have the Psalms if David had not gone through so much heart breaking change?
• Would we have the Gospels if the disciples had decided to stay in the boat, at the tax collector's table, under the tree?
• Would we have the Epistles if Paul had not gone through change of moving for the rest of his life?
• Would we have salvation if God had not chosen to change our course of sin by sending His Son?
One thing God has made clear to me, especially on deputation, is that change comes. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is HARD.
But take heart! God has not forsaken you! He is there with you, and guess what! He is the only thing that never changes! Malachi 3:6 encourages us "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
According to Strong's Concordance, one of the alternative words for "consumed" is "waste." God doesn't change, and because He doesn't our change need not be wasted! Allow it to bring you closer to Him and to see the Scriptures in a new light!