Some months ago, I found out that the company that I work for was sold to a non-affiliated company and that all of the employees’ positions were assets that were included in the sale – effectively, we were all automatically employees of the new company. We received no advance notice. We simply walked into work one day and received the news that the sale had occurred, that those who were in key positions of authority thought that the acquisition was a great thing and they believed that we would see it as a great thing too, and we could either jump on board with the change and stay or freely go, but transitioning to a position working for the well-established company that sold our company was out of the question.
Just like that we were all filled with numerous questions: What about our tenure with the company? Our vacation time? Retirement accounts? Schedules? Job duties? Health insurance? The questions came, and came, and came. They were relentless. The company’s name was changing. All of us employees whose positions were sold in the acquisition would be moving to a different part of the building, and then to an entirely different building altogether. And because the company was in a transition period – separating from the old company while developing the new company – we employees experienced a lengthy period of time during which we did not know to whom we belonged, the old company or the new one. Everywhere that we turned all we saw was change. And change, especially when there is a lot of it at once, can be scary.
Jesus’ disciples knew something about change too, especially the traumatic kind. I mean, there they were, walking, talking, living, working, and communing with Jesus. They were just beginning to gain some influential footing in the Kingdom of God, and they were already serving as the first evangelists. They were on an upward rise, riding a high of spiritual proportions that could only be refueled by Jesus.
And then it happened. Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, the King, allowed Himself to be taken captive, tortured, and then crucified. One minute He was there, the next minute He was gone. And just like that their hopes, dreams, sense of direction and instruction, and even their identities were violently shaken. This was not the way that it was supposed to be; He was supposed to fix everything, take charge, and rule. But He. Just. Gave. Up.
Now, the Bible does not tell us what the disciples were thinking, but as human beings who are on our own journeys of experiencing the fullness of Christ, we can imagine that this might be what they thought, if even just for a few moments. Eventually, though, they had a choice to make – would they go in peace and continue the work that Jesus assigned to them or would they return to their old lives and pick up the old, broken pieces of a life that truthfully no longer fit them? What did they do? Well, initially, they went back to their old lives, but they were no longer satisfied because they were not the same men that they had been. After all, they had been with Jesus, Who had become to them closer than a brother. Then, an encounter with a Man on a seashore, the Man, our resurrected Savior, woke them up, united them, and refueled them, redirecting them back onto the path of fulfilling the Great Commission.
We oftentimes find ourselves standing in the disciples’ shoes, wondering what we should do – find a new job or stay where we are, find a new spouse or make it work with the blessing whom God has already given to us, allow the mountain of bills that we face to stress us out or drive us to our knees at the feet of Jesus? We all end up in that same place at some point, and it’s up to us to decide what we are going to do – will we allow the fears and challenges in this life to derail, frighten, and destroy us, stifling our growth, or will we choose to go forward with Jesus and allow peace to rule in us and in every nook and cranny of our lives?
When the Apostle Paul admonished the Corinthian church to, “let the peace of Christ rule in [their] hearts, since as members of one body [they] were called to peace” Colossians 3:15 NIV, we were included in that audience too. Let’s face it, change is going to come. Life will bring with it its share of disappointments, crises, sufferings, heartbreaks, and moments of fear and uncertainty. But there is always a choice. Even when it seems like no choice remains. We can either allow peace to rule or stumble through this life in the footsteps of misery. What will you choose? Be Blessed. #sanguinemango
Sanguine Mango 