I recently sat in front of my computer screen, fingers hovering over the keyboard. I needed to make a decision. Take a risk. Step into new territory. One “yes” is all it would take, yet I held back. I found myself craving the familiar, wanting safety, seeking assurance that I was doing the right thing. Have you ever done the same?

I don’t think we ever fully outgrow the fear that can come with a step of faith or an unexpected challenge. But I do think we can grow in our ability to be brave and move forward anyway.

Change can be hard. Yet everything we’re living today was once new to us. We walked for the first time. Said hello to someone we love for the first time. Showed up to work for the first time. All of those shifts likely came with a bit of fear, perhaps butterflies in our stomachs, questions, and uncertainties.

Of course, life brings harder changes too. Unexpected losses, expectations upended like a glass of red wine on a white tablecloth, promises broken — bullets through a stained-glass window. We’ve survived all of these so far too. We’re still here, breathing, reading these words. We got out of bed today (or at least picked up our phone and looked at the screen).

Sometimes the hardest thing about change is the unknown. Certainty is a warm blanket we wrap ourselves in as we curl up on the couch in front of the fire. But the not-knowing feels colder; it sinks into our toes, whispers that we might not have what it takes to pioneer this winter of our lives.

In those moments, here are a few things I need to tell myself over and over again:

You are fully loved, no matter what you do or do not do.

You are part of a plan that is bigger than you, and it is unfolding even now.

You have a purpose even when things don’t turn out at all like you might expect.

God is good and what I can know of His ways is like one grain of sand on a thousand seashores.

My story isn’t over yet, and I choose to trust the Author even when I don’t know what’s coming.

I don’t always like change — but it is also the door through which so many people I love, so many opportunities I’m grateful for now, and so many of the ways I’ve grown have entered my life.

I always feel nervous about change, but eventually, it becomes my new normal.

What would you add to this list?

I recently met two friends for coffee, and all three of us talked about unexpected shifts in our lives. Some personal. Some professional. All stretching us in uncomfortable ways. I said, “One of the only certainties in life is change.” When I remember this, it helps me resist change less, and instead expand to make space for it. The changes I’ve loved most and the ones I’ve hated have both led to growth. This doesn’t make me like change, but it does give me hope.

I don’t know what change you’re facing. If it’s an exciting one, I’m cheering you on and praying you have the courage to embrace it with all your heart. If it’s a painful one, I feel tender toward you as a human who has suffered too. And I’m praying you are given the comfort you need to sustain you in this season.

Most of all, in all the changes life brings, I hope you know deep in your bones the one thing that remains: You are loved — deeply, always, come what may. That is true forever, that is true today.

Does the change you’re walking through involve something hard in a relationship (friendship, family, work, or any other kind)? Then Holley’s new online course, Heal After You’re Hurt, might be just what you need! Learn more here.

 

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