Change is inevitable. Sometimes we welcome it with open arms and sometimes we fight it off with everything that is within us. Sometimes we usher in the change with perfect intention. Other times, change imposes itself upon us and we are forced to adapt to the shifting of the tectonic plates that form the foundation of our lives. Change comes in an unimaginable array of shapes and sizes; from subtle and almost overlooked entirely, to virtually earth shattering, carrying with it the force of a category 5 hurricane. There are no patterns or set equations to determine when, and how exactly, change will knock on our door posts. But nevertheless, we know that it knocks for us all.

Change, like time, is no respecter of man. No living thing goes untouched.

In my last post, I shared that there was a major change in my own life which God had been preparing me for along the way. I posted that there was a quote that I had penned a year prior about “standing on the precipice of change” and that it still struck the same internal cord about knowing that if I stayed in the same place, I would fail to live. Let that settle into the corners of your heart; I would fail to live. I re-shared that quote 24 hours before I was tossed from my comfort zone by a change that was forced upon me and came with little warning.

To say that I did not see the change coming would be incorrect. I saw it coming… just not in the way that it manifested. In hindsight, the foreshadowing events were practically undeniable. I had worked at the same job for six years, and one month ago, I was separated from the company that I had once loved, but had grown frustrated with. I felt like I was in an abusive relationship with a place, rather than a person… yet I felt as though I needed that job. The uncertainty of not having the consistency in my life was frightening.

A couple of months prior to my separation, I was attending a meeting for the writer’s group that I had joined, and I distinctly remember telling the ladies around that table that I knew that I was going to be leaving my job. I explained that it was 100% a gut instinct and that I had no idea how it was going to happen or what it was going to look like. I simply felt the proverbial winds changing and knew that I was bound to be carried away on them.

The shock that came in the moment of confirmation was still enough to knock the breath from my lungs, however. It wasn’t clean and easy. It was messy and painful.

The circumstances that surrounded my separation were completely ridiculous. Unfortunately, I am still not at liberty to discuss details… but one day, that will be great content for its own designated post. It will leave your head spinning.

As much as I had a peace about it, which was far beyond any explanation other than the presence of the hand of God, I still woke up the next morning feeling like a lost puppy. My normal routine had been completely demolished and I had no idea what to do with my new found freedom. But, that is exactly how I chose to view it- as freedom. I did not mourn the loss, because it really was not a loss at all. In a sense, it was as if I were a baby bird- I knew that the time to leave the comfortable, yet confining, nest was impending. I knew that there was coming a time where I had to spread my own wings and head out on my own adventure. Being separated from my job was as if I were kicked out of my nest and forced to take the next step. I was forced to fly into the changing winds, and it was as liberating as it was terrifying.

There is a song that I have recently fallen head over heels in love with, by one of my favorite singers; Shoshana Bean. Days after being separated, I was listening to the live version of her song, “One Way To Go,” on YouTube. Halfway through the performance, Shoshana stops singing and talks to the audience about being in “desert times;” those moments where you have lost everything and have no idea what the next move is. She says that she thinks that those are the best moments, and that if you can just “keep moving, or sometimes stay still, but keep moving, or stay still…it is only temporary.” She then goes on to talk about how the Jews walked through the Red Sea. She exclaims; “we went until the water filled our mouths, and yet we still had faith!”

What sense does that make? To stay still but to keep moving? How do you do both?

It wasn’t until a few days later that all of the dots were connected. I was sitting in a service where my Pastor was preaching from Exodus 14. He was talking about the Israelites walking across the Red Sea, and my mind drifted to the lyrics from the video that I had had on repeat for days. As he read chapter 14 to the congregation, my ears picked up on a sequence of words that flowed from his lips;
^“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. (Exodus 14:14-15)

Stay still, but keep moving.

Now I was listening. How could something so specific be relayed so exactly, just days apart? I have to admit, I don’t always have an ear that is perfectly tuned to the voice of God… but how could I deny or ignore this message? Clearly there was a lesson here that I was meant to learn.

I took a moment to look at my situation. I was in a place that was very much like that of the Israelites. The people of Israel had just encountered an incredible change- one that they were not exactly welcoming with open arms. Of course they did not want to be enslaved by the Egyptians, but they were not thrilled by the prospect of dying in the desert either. (Exodus 14:12) They were led out of Egyptian captivity and were walking into the unknown. They were being pursued by the chariots of Pharaoh and had no other choice but to rely on the promise of God that He would fight for them. Moses responded to the cries of the Israelites by telling them to stand firm and be still, as the Lord would fight for them. Still.

In the very next verse, God tells Moses to move on. Move. The Lord did not say to stand still for a day and then move. He did not say to stand still for an hour and then move. He required the Jews to be still and move…simultaneously in the same state of being. They had no other choice- they could not turn around and go back to where they came from, and they could not stay in the desert. They had to move on if they were to live. And don’t you know… the Lord made a way, as promised. He made safe passage for His people and struck down their captors. In their stillness- their ceasing to fight for themselves and throwing their dependency upon the deliverance of the Lord- He won their battle for them. They simply needed to move towards the victory.

How familiar. I, also, was in a place where I had just encountered a life altering change and had to keep moving. I did not have the option of returning to the job that I had just left, yet I needed to move in some direction…especially since my landlord still requires payment. There was no option of standing in one place, yet I knew… still know… that the Lord has been telling me to be still in that I allow Him to fight my battle for me and bring the vindication that I know is on the horizon. Just like the Israelites, I have had no option but to rely on the promise of God. And again, don’t you know… the Lord has been making a way from the very first step.

This is not a message that is meant for me, alone. As change comes into each of our lives, we are going to be faced with situations that seem bleak. We are all going to see stretches of desert that seem unending, and oceans of impossibility that threaten to drown us. We are going to see times where we are pursued, unrelenting, by those that wish to ensnare us. But hear me; Be still and allow the Lord to move you on to the victory.

I am no where near the far banks of my Red Sea- I am still in the midst of the seabed. But I have learned that so long as I am still but keep moving… it is only temporary. The promises of the Lord do not go unfulfilled, and this change is going to prosper me in ways that I cannot even begin to imagine yet.

The water is still filling my mouth, but yet I still have faith.

X.O. C.L.Jordan

P.S. Follow the link below to watch the video of Shoshana Bean’s performance of One Way To Go!