There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven…
a time to tear down and a time to build…
a time to tear and a time to mend…
Ecclesiastes 3:1,3, 7

As I compose these thoughts, construction is going on across the street from our apartment. Actually, at the moment it seems more like destruction than construction, as the demolition crew is tearing away at the building’s facade.

For the past four years this former hotel has housed the largest women’s yeshiva in the world. Ironically it’s a building we considered buying for a ministry center when it was freshly built back in the early 80’s. It’s only 25 years old, but already desperately in need of a facelift.

The contractor explained to me that the building was not going to be torn down completely but a small wing was being added. Also the original building’s interior would be fully upgraded. Outside, the massive wall of glass (so out of character with Jerusalem architecture), will be removed and the building will be refaced with high quality Jerusalem stone. I also discovered that they are building a beautiful rooftop garden.

This was music to my ears—the eyesore outside our bedroom window will be changed!

It got me thinking about our lives. Most of us bristle at the thought of personal change. We especially dread the transitional phase—-the move from the known to the unknown, from the predictable, to the unpredictable, from our comfort zone, to uncharted territory.

And yet, if we never allow God to make changes to us and in us we’ll never grow. Without change we’ll never be stretched enough to discover our full potential. Without change we’ll stay stuck in a rut. (Someone once said, “The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.”)

Change for the sake of change is not healthy. Some things need to remain rock-solid and immoveable—like our 100% commitment to the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever. We don’t whimsically change marriage partners and we don’t trade in our children, to name just a few immutable principles.

But so many other things in life need not be carved in stone. A change of scenery can be as good as a rest. A change of residence, even a change of workplace or position of ministry can be the means for great personal development.

Winston Churchill said, “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.”

I don’t know what time or season you are in. Perhaps God has started stirring up your nest and is challenging you to step out of the nest, to spread your wings and fly. If you’ve really heard from God and you are careful to hold His hand tightly, you can be sure that you’ll soar to places and heights you never imagined.