Christopher Chikwanah Sr. - Embracing Change - Reflections from A Lifestory: Reflections From a Life Story

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ) .

T he EVENT of CHANGE is something that has been around for a very long time. It has transcended generations and millennia and has been the source of many a debate. It is a subject about which many books have been written, and a multitude of opinions have been voiced and expressed. Change is something that cannot be avoided, yet some have embraced it, and others have not.

My purpose for writing this book is not to add to the plethora of arguments, views and opinions regarding change; instead, my aim is to approach and communicate the power of embracing change not from an intellectual, theoretical or anecdotal perspective but from an experiential perspective.

I say this because I am a man who has faced and undertaken a lot of change processes spiritually, geographically, professionally, relationally, socially and in other aspects of life and I believe that I can inspire others to embrace their own journeys of change proactively and not reactively, on the front foot rather than the back foot.

Change is the law of life.
And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

(John F. Kennedy)

This book is very special to me in many respects, but especially in one: it has given me the courage and boldness to do what I would not normally do, and that is to lay bare my life. I am, by nature, a very private individual, as those who know me well would attest. I do not often share my life experiences, as I have tended to avoid the negative emotions some of those experiences evoke.

It is my hope that you, the reader, will be encouraged by the insights I have gleaned and learned on my journey through change. I trust that the principles and concepts shared therein will inspire, direct and bring a much different perspective when you are faced with change. Perhaps, they will even help you respond differently to change!

Let me state this at the outset: change is a PROCESS ; it is very important for me to acknowledge that each individuals circumstances and experiences will vary, but I believe some parallels can be drawn nonetheless. As I reflected on the various changes that I have encountered, the letter P kept flashing in my mind, and I could not shake it off. Eventually, I realised that it represented patterns.

When I further analysed each process or phase of change I have been through, it became very clear that each was characterised by (or was usually typified by) certain PATTERNS and PRINCIPLES . These patterns and principles had been present whenever I encountered change, even when I was not consciously aware of them. These are the Ps of change that I will refer to throughout this book.

Understanding of life begins with the understanding of patterns.

(Fritjof Capra)

Even though these patterns are present in most peoples journeys of change, one can easily fail to identify them and totally miss them as was the case in my own life, so it can be in your life, too! It is important to know and identify these patterns because they will heavily influence and inform how we face, manage and handle change.

Change is always happening around us. In which case, why do people fail to recognise the patterns? I believe its because change is not always in the spectacular or the dramatic. Think about it: with each ticking second, we are older by one second. In other words, we have entered a place in time, even by that short and seemingly insignificant small interval of time, that we have never been in before. Thats change! And guess what? It happens 86,400 times every single day!

Ecclesiastes tells us in chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 that There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven A time to... I like the part that says, A time to you can put anything after that statement that is representative of your change! A time to go to nursery; a time to go to junior school; a time to go to university; a time to encounter the Lord; a time to be married; sadly, a time to die; and so forth.

Timing is everything.
If its meant to happen, it will,
at the right time for the right reasons.

(Unknown)

In the simplest terms possible, this illustrates that there will be change in various aspects of life and that change will come at its appointed time. Note that the appointed time of change may not always appear or occur at a time that is convenient or appropriate to you, but there is an appointed time!

In his hardest time, Job knew that change would come; he probably did not know the when, the why or the how, but he acknowledged the inevitability of change, saying, all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:14, KJV).

In spite of the changes we encounter, our heavenly Father knows what lies ahead, and He has His plans for us clearly laid out, even though we may not know them yet. The changes we face have not and will never catch Him by surprise. I cannot imagine God ever saying, Oops, even I never saw that coming! We, therefore, are the ones who need to be in tune with what God is doing and with what He has planned for us. He gives us guaranteed life plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
(Jeremiah 29:11).

Even though God does not change, He does initiate change for our good. To be absolutely clear, He changes situations rather than His nature all one needs to do is to go to the beginning, to the book of Genesis. There was an undesirable status quo in place, and change was needed. Order needed to be established over chaos, light over darkness, fruitfulness over barrenness, life over death. God had to initiate change, and the outcome of that change was good (Genesis 1).

The New Testament writer, James, the brother of Jesus, echoes this truth in his letter to the early Christians: Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. (James 1:17).

God always sees the good in what He changes. Yet, as people created in the image of God, we struggle to see the good in the change(s) we face and encounter. I am not solely referring to the actual processes, because from my own experiences, not all the processes were pleasurable or good. And the problem is that we tend to become preoccupied with what we are experiencing and going through rather than focussing on the end results of the change. However, with the right mindset, we can press through the tough processes and be strengthened in and by them. The key is that our eyes must be on the good outcome.

Carrying a child in the womb for nine months must be a really uncomfortable change. Now some may say, Christopher, youre a man what do you know about the discomforts of pregnancy? Well, when my wife was pregnant with our twins, she never had a single day of morning sickness I was the one who experienced sickness in the mornings, so I know what Im talking about!

The discomfort of pregnancy then continues to the labour pains and finally to the birth itself. During pregnancy, labour and birth, there is only one thing at the fore of every mothers mind THE BABY! All of the discomfort and pain is soon forgotten when the end result (the baby, the good) comes. And some women even go on to have more than one child how about that?!