Finding Your New Normal

Life changes. It is inevitable. Nothing stays the same. Not forever, anyway.

Life might stay somewhat balanced or at least moving along a predictable trajectory for a while through certain seasons of our lives. We get used to the regular routine of children getting up for school every day for 20 years. We might get used to the schedule of a steady job we have reported to for 35 years. We might have a certain rhythm we understand and groove to in our thirties. Or forties. Or fifties. Or sixties. And beyond.

We love our familiar patterns and predictable routines. They bring stability. Comfort. Safe steps. Known outcomes. 

Like children we thrive in environments and schedules that have understandable results and create a sense of security. Most of us desire consistency in life.

Expected changes are hard but we anticipate them. We know the children will eventually move out. We are aware that retirement will eventually come. We understand that seasons and ages change.

Unexpected changes, however,  can intensify the level of difficulty we experience because we didn’t have time to prepare. Plan for it. Practice a new normal or even anticipate one. We are often left anxious, afraid and shaken to the core when life changes without notice. 

Suddenly, normal life looks, feels and IS different for all of us due to a pandemic that has changed everything. Overnight. Without warning. Without permission. Without a plan.

I have a child whose room often needs a healthy …. Let’s call it… assessment and overhaul. I want to move in with garbage bags and organizing bins and he wants it to stay just as it is. He can’t see the value of changing anything. 

I get it. I don’t like people messing with my stuff or plans either. 

We are not any different than a child who has had their bedroom purged for spring cleaning when something in our lives gets rearranged or changed.

Change can often be healthy, like a bedroom purge, but can still create a sense of instability and confusion as we walk into an “old room” with a “new look”. It might not feel the same or look the same as what we became comfortable in or familiar with. 

When change happens there is a space in between what we knew and what we don’t know that challenges us. I call this space, “Finding a new normal”.

It’s in this space that most of us ….. FREAK OUT! Oh, we may not show you the alarms and sirens going off on the inside. BUT our panic button has been pushed! 

The challenge in change is trusting that the confusion or chaos you feel in the unknown will become settled and safe again. It might not return to what it was, but we will find a new normal that will provide us with another chance at beauty and stability once again. 

Throughout the last days Covid-19 concerns have changed everything for everybody. This tiny virus has caused gigantic problems, and has challenged our normals.

I have said to many people (and myself) over the last couples days, “It’s going to be alright.” 

This is not meant as a trite easy way to ignore the epic problem we are facing as a planet. 

It is meant to remind us that it might not feel ok right now. It might not be ok right now. This might not look ok right now (as you face empty shelves and dark storefronts), and it just isn’t ok. Right. Now.

But it IS going to be ok!

Jesus knew we would struggle with change. He knew it would be hard. He knew it would shake us and stir us up. He knew it would require more than we were able to handle sometimes. He knew we wouldn’t be able to find a new normal on our own. He knew that even small things, like viruses, could cause big disruptions to our lives. 

Imagine the disciples when their friend, mentor, guide and Savior was crucified. Their lives changed. Quickly. Talk about a challenge! Grief met them instantly. Loneliness was inevitable. Despair and fear were initiated. Their lives changed. 

I imagine their thoughts were full of fear and great concern, for their own lives, and for the message they had lived to proclaim with Jesus. Most of them ran and hid. That’s a pretty normal response when facing a change we have no understanding of and no prior framework to put it on. 

There was a big gap in between what they  believed and what they could see.

The disciples were faced with a change. And a challenge. They were waiting for a new normal. 

Jesus had given them the hope of a promise. Jesus promised He would defeat the grave and overcome the world.

I am certain it was hard to wait for that promise to appear while they were hurting and hiding in fear. 

For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24&25 

Hope preserves the promise while we  wait for our new normal. 

Whatever change you are facing, will you pause and ask the Holy Spirit to help you preserve hope as you wait for your promise to appear in your new normal?

While you wait for your new normal be encouraged that God is really really good at doing new things. 

Behold, I am doing a new thing;  now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

Friends, through these changing and challenging times, hang on to hope while you wait for your new normal.