Change comes in many forms and through many steps. I have not found any scripts that accurately outline what will happen in a business or with an individual. In the variations there are several challenges that each experience shares. As I review a change program, a early issue that every transition shares is unbelief. Individuals have doubts; groups have doubters. One may want to think that everyone believes. Statistics and experience tell a different story.
As I reach for patience’s hand, there are three wisdom points that I keep whispering to remind my self.
Doubts, fears, and unbelief are not right or wrong. The words often carry negative connotations. For me, it is helpful to remember that describing an emotion that exists within me is required if I want to do something with it. Ignoring an emotion will not make it go away. Deny it exists does not mean that it is replaced by something else.
When one has doubts, the answers to the questions one asks may not lead to belief. Fear, doubt and belief often create crazy questions. An old writer illustrated it this way; “Some skeptic is sure to ask, ‘Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?’ If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is.” (1 Corinthians 15.35) It is important to hear the doubts and look for the heart of the real question that is within.
Change is at its core a heart choice. The answers to doubt and fear rarely come from facts. The answers come from the trust we place in another. Change that lasts is nurtured by belief and desire for something better.
As I look back I see ongoing change. I know there is more that will and should come. If I am going to change for the better, I know that I must see and respond to the fears, uncertainty, and unbelief that I find. The quest is the heart of making a difference for others and for me.
