Just One Little Change And… Hello weekend readers. I have wanted to make a devotion around change but what a HUGE description! Change is a part of our lives daily, often not wanted, but often needed. I could use a ton of scenarios about change but a few days ago two instances happened that sealed the deal on this devotion!

First, I had been waiting for information in regards to a retreat in northern Arizona that I will be leading and it was getting pretty frustrating with no answers for time, topic, etc. I know it takes a lot to put a retreat together but now it was just too close so I emailed the organizer and she got back to me saying she had responded to me 3 weeks ago! I told her I never received it and I always look in spam box and nothing. She told me she sent it to my email cywarnier@gmail.com. Oops, I told her, it is ckwarnier@gmail. And there it was, one single letter that shut the whole transaction down. We laughed and she sent everything I needed.

Second, was a billing from Al’s doctor that was 4 months delayed in arriving. Of course, it had that “pay now or we send it to a collection bureau” so I called them. I told them why it was so late—our PO Box is 75564, Phoenix—they had PO Box 85564. It kept getting returned but one of the postal folks in AZ realized our name and forwarded it to New Mexico. The lady said “let me look that up” and came back with a nice apology. I paid the bill through her and when we hung up, she said, “just one silly number can make a huge change, can’t it?”

These two incidents were certainly not done on purpose—they were just little changes that impacted something much larger. Isn’t that a description of the many changes we deal with in life? Some are a swift phone call or email, others not so much. Both of my conversations however were also a positive thing. My email friend and I laughed when we said how easy it is to be a “letter off” and the doctor’s accountant gave me a wonderful apology and, she immediately corrected the wrong address. Voila—all ended with a positive note!

This reminds me how some mistakes come out as positive things in our lives. Think about Abram—God made a covenant with him and changed his name to Abraham and changed his wife, Sarai to Sarah. Think of it—just a few letter changes and those new names marked a world of difference in their relationship with God. And how about the Apostle Paul? His original name was Saul, but one change of a letter and he was Paul—a transformed man when he met Jesus!

Think about these changes that have made a huge difference in your spiritual life as well. Why not add a few more words to your prayer time with the Lord. Or add a few numbers on to your time of devotions and Bible reading. Add one more step today and phone a friend, or reach out to someone in need. Add one more $ in your church-giving. There is so much that “one little change” can do to transform another’s life as well as your own.

We often run after the big change or cringe at the big change that was not positive for us. Those are the times we don’t “walk by faith” and changes can be devastating. And Those changes we cannot manage also impact our faith-walk and spiritual life. But Jesus had the antidote for this when he used an example of a mulberry tree, saying: “It’s not like you need a huge amount of faith. If you just had faith the size of a single, tiny mustard seed, you could say to this huge tree, ‘Pull up your roots and replant yourself in the sea,’ and it would fly through the sky and do what you said. So even a little faith can accomplish the seemingly impossible.” [Luke 17:6 VOICE]

Change will always be a part of our lives, whether good or bad, Jesus reminds us that even a tiny bit of faith can help us wade through the waters of change. And for those changes that are positive? They continue to be a part of our faith foundation that we can find assurance and peace no matter what. Perhaps we should all try something: ask Jesus today to help you make a small change in one area of your life that you are struggling with. Then be patient as Jesus gives you his results in just the right time. After all, with Jesus on our side, even little changes can bring huge results!  AMEN.