Life in Grace

by Lara Cook, North Side Baptist Church

Adapt or die

The word change can provoke many feelings, especially when it is in regard to our lives. We sometimes do not like the idea of change, particularly when it means we have to leave our comfort zones, but then change usually always requires us to leave our comfort zones.

We have been going through a book together as a staff called “Canoeing the Mountains,” by Tod Bolsinger, a great book about adaptive leadership. It is applicable in both work and personal life because change is inevitable in life. Two things happen when change is coming – you either adapt, or you die, meaning that if you want your life, organization, or business to progress, then you adapt with whatever comes. Change comes whether we welcome it or not. If we fight it and choose to not adapt, we will die in our comfort zones, or at the very least stagnate there. Some people are okay with that – they are happy to stagnate forever rather than be uncomfortable in growth.

Every season of change brings the unexpected, which can be terrifying. It is all uncharted territory as we have not been there before. We do our best to foresee what may be coming but we cannot know everything. The book talks about how when Lewis and Clark were exploring, they were prepared to find a waterway to the Pacific Ocean, but instead they found the Rocky Mountains. They were prepared for a waterway. They had the proper tools and supplies for a waterway. They had experience with waterways. But they found themselves facing mountains instead, as far as the eye could see. They had to adapt, quickly. The canoes and supplies they thought they needed were of no use in the mountains.

Our lives are essentially uncharted territory with one unexpected terrain after another. We do everything we can to be prepared and often believe that we have it all under control. We actually believe that we can determine in our own power whether we will take the water route or scale the mountains. We have no control over what comes around the bend, but there is a great mapmaker who does know and is in full control. He has gone ahead and not only scouted it all out for us, but He has carved the paths for us and scooped out the waterways. God knows everything we need to traverse this life and He will provide it for us at just the right time. We don’t have to worry about what is coming – He created the path!

That does not mean we don’t need to be smart about preparing for the future. It means that we need to live our lives with open hearts and minds because we really don’t know all we think we know. He will regularly move us along, out of our comfort zones to build our faith muscle. There are plenty of mountain peaks to scale and a few green valleys along the way too.

God wants us to trust Him with all the uncharted territory and unexpected twists and turns. The world we are living in today is changing quickly but He walks with us every step of the way if we invite Him.