To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

For all of you who thought the Byrds made that up, it’s actually Ecclesiastes chapter 3.  It’s a season of change for a lot of people right now. For my South Sudanese brothers and sisters, it’s a season of change right now. The town of Bor as it was before is essentially gone. Our friends are scattered between Juba to the bush to refugee camps in Uganda. A peace accord has been signed, but the fighting goes on.

For myself as well, change has happened. One chapter in my life has ended, but another has begun.  Let’s be honest, we all hate change, or at least being in the midst of it. We hate change not because things don’t need to change, but because we don’t know what that change will bring.

There are spiritual forces that bring change into our lives. Some want to bring evil, some good. If you don’t think this is the case, start looking more closely into what happens around you. As C.S. Lewis put it, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”  

Well, I’ve recently gone through a time where the spirits of darkness attempted to do me harm, and it was a very difficult time. But God has other plans, and where the enemy thought he could do me harm, God used it as a way to bring me out of the comfort of what I am doing to move me to new plans He has for me. Without discomfort, I’m almost certain I would not have moved.  Consequently, I can no more be angry with anyone who caused me harm than I can be with God for blessing and using me for His purpose, because they were used as a tool in God’s hand. The example is Christ, who even while He was dying on the cross, forgave those who had wronged him. What His enemies intended for evil, God used for the good of the whole world.

So change happens when it needs to happen. Difficulty comes when we are comfortable doing what we are doing, to help us move to what God has  for us.  There is nothing wrong of course with doing good, but sometimes it keeps us from doing what is best. So with that, I accept with gladness the change that is coming, because it’s in God’s hands.

For my South Sudanese brothers and sisters, change has come, and on a much larger scale than my own. I don’t know what the future holds for them, but I do know this; “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.  It does not mean anything will be easy, just that things will work out for good.

I don’t know when or if I will see them again, but God’s will be done.