{"id":6844,"date":"2020-07-17T00:51:23","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T05:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/?p=6844"},"modified":"2020-08-04T15:07:31","modified_gmt":"2020-08-04T20:07:31","slug":"disrupted-following-christ-during-unplanned-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/2020\/07\/17\/disrupted-following-christ-during-unplanned-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Disrupted: Following Christ During Unplanned Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t

We just moved to Oklahoma City from Atlanta, and things went so smoothly\u2026 at first. We received a contract on our house three days after it went on the market. The new home that we purchased was the second one we viewed, and within forty-eight hours, we had a contract on that house. We signed the contract on it less than 25 days later. Everything was falling into place.<\/p>\n

Then came the disruption. The day we closed on the house in Oklahoma, we prepared for the moving truck to arrive. Well, it\u2019s been twenty-three days since the company packed our belongings, and they have yet to deliver them. Suddenly, we are dealing with an unplanned change.<\/p>\n

How do you handle unplanned change? How\u2019s your heart four months into our world\u2019s pandemic? Are you at peace, or do you find yourself angry, fearful, and depressed? It\u2019s natural to want to be in charge of our lives, and most of us can maintain a considerable level of control normally. We schedule our hours, our days, our months, and even our years. We move through rhythms and routines and barely notice the comfort they bring until something happens. So, let me ask that question again: How are you handling the unplanned changes brought on by COVID-19?<\/p>\n

Instead of seeing an unplanned change as a disruption to God\u2019s will, what if we saw it as a chance to prioritize and rely on the Holy Spirit for wisdom and direction? In his book, Gospel-Centered Discipleship, Jonathan K. Dodson notes that unlike us, Jesus\u2019 Twelve lived ready for the unexpected: \u201cThe disciples in the New Testament often followed their Lord expecting unplanned change. We on the other hand like to manage our lives in order to eliminate unplanned change\u2026 When our planned course of action is disrupted, we frequently respond impatiently or angrily. What if you begin to expect unplanned change and interpreted it as an opportunity to rely on the Spirit? Obstacles, challenges and trials would take a very different meaning. Instead of becoming inconveniences and injustices, unplanned change could be an opportunity to rely on the Spirit to discern God\u2019s will and purpose in our circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

What then do we do when our plans derail? How do we run a home, a ministry, or a business when we don\u2019t know what the following week will bring? First, we must prioritize what matters. When we get into emergency mode, it\u2019s easy to divert to things that seem urgent but are, in reality, insignificant. Instead, we need to continue in our calling. Whether that\u2019s in our home or ministry, unplanned changes can be markers where we stop to differentiate between essentials and non-essentials. For example, as disciple-makers, we should always be encouraging and supporting our people to be in God\u2019s Word. There is never a time when that is unimportant. However, what we do need to reimagine is how we get people into the Bible.<\/p>\n

What are those essentials for you and your ministry? In my role as the National Kids\u2019 Director, I must always focus on teaching children to pray, worship, and learn from God\u2019s Word. I also pour into parents as the primary disciplers. Finally, I support and equip children\u2019s ministries leaders. These things are my mainstays. However, an unplanned change, like Covid-19, challenges me to ask the Holy Spirit to help me in re-imagining how to do that most effectively. It pushes me to learn new methods of ministry, connect with local ministry leaders, and, most importantly, rely on God and not myself. Unplanned changes take the emphasis off of our experience and expertise. They humble us. They help us recognize our idols of self-sufficiency. They remind us who is really in control and call us to lean on Christ.<\/p>\n

While Covid-19 has challenged me, so has not having my furniture. To be honest, there are moments when I\u2019m incredibly frustrated. It feels like an unjust situation, and I\u2019m tired of being inconvenienced. However, as I pray, God reminds me that He is in control and that my belongings on that truck are only things. He\u2019s also reminded me that although I am ready to be settled and make this new place \u201cours,\u201d that house is not my home. I\u2019m an alien in this land and on my way to my forever home with Him. So if it takes some unplanned changes (major or minor) to refocus our eyes on Jesus and be about His business, let\u2019s fight to see this time as a gift, even as we pray for an ending to this unwelcome change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\n
\n\t
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\n
\n\t\t\"\"\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n
\n\t

Kristi Cain currently serves as the National Director of Children's Ministries. She has served in a broad range of discipleship capacities since she graduated from Emmanuel College in 1997. She was formerly the Executive Editor of Curriculum for the IPHC and has also enjoyed being on the staff of two churches where she directed student and children\u2019s ministry programs. Through the years she has taught and worked on the campuses of Emmanuel College and Wheaton College<\/p>\n

She is married to her best friend, Jamie, and together they have three children: Cullen, Owen, and Annabeth. Kristi loves exploring new places with her family, conversing over morning coffee with her husband, reading, and teaching at her church.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":6845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4,1],"tags":[1260,1268,16,188,22,1127],"class_list":{"0":"post-6844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-childrens-ministries","8":"category-discipleship-ministries","9":"category-general","10":"tag-1260","11":"tag-change","12":"tag-discipleship","13":"tag-family","14":"tag-kids-ministries","15":"tag-kristi-cain","16":"entry"},"title_es":"Desorganizado: Seguir a Cristo durante un cambio no planificado","content_es":"Acabamos de mudarnos a Oklahoma City desde Atlanta, y las cosas salieron muy bien ... al principio. Recibimos un contrato de nuestra casa tres d\u00edas despu\u00e9s de que sali\u00f3 al mercado. La nueva casa que compramos fue la segunda que vimos, y dentro de las cuarenta y ocho horas, ten\u00edamos un contrato con esa casa. Firmamos el contrato menos de 25 d\u00edas despu\u00e9s. Todo estaba cayendo en su lugar. Luego vino la interrupci\u00f3n. El d\u00eda que cerramos la casa en Oklahoma, nos preparamos para que llegara el cami\u00f3n en movimiento. Bueno, han pasado veintitr\u00e9s d\u00edas desde que la compa\u00f1\u00eda empac\u00f3 nuestras pertenencias, y a\u00fan no las han entregado. De repente, estamos lidiando con un cambio no planificado. \u00bfC\u00f3mo manejas el cambio no planificado? \u00bfC\u00f3mo est\u00e1 tu coraz\u00f3n cuatro meses en la pandemia de nuestro mundo? \u00bfEst\u00e1s en paz o te encuentras enojado, temeroso y deprimido? Es natural querer estar a cargo de nuestras vidas, y la mayor\u00eda de nosotros podemos mantener un nivel considerable de control normalmente. Programamos nuestras horas, nuestros d\u00edas, nuestros meses e incluso nuestros a\u00f1os. Nos movemos a trav\u00e9s de ritmos y rutinas y apenas notamos la comodidad que traen hasta que algo sucede. Entonces, perm\u00edtanme hacer esa pregunta nuevamente: \u00bfC\u00f3mo manejan los cambios no planificados provocados por COVID-19? En lugar de ver un cambio no planificado como una interrupci\u00f3n de la voluntad de Dios, \u00bfqu\u00e9 pasar\u00eda si lo vi\u00e9ramos como una oportunidad para priorizar y confiar en el Esp\u00edritu Santo para obtener sabidur\u00eda y direcci\u00f3n? En su libro, Discipulado Centrado en el Evangelio, Jonathan K. Dodson se\u00f1ala que, a diferencia de nosotros, los Doce de Jes\u00fas vivieron listos para lo inesperado: \u201cLos disc\u00edpulos en el Nuevo Testamento a menudo segu\u00edan a su Se\u00f1or esperando cambios inesperados. Por otro lado, nos gusta administrar nuestras vidas para eliminar cambios no planificados ... Cuando nuestro curso de acci\u00f3n planificado se interrumpe, con frecuencia respondemos con impaciencia o enojo. \u00bfQu\u00e9 pasa si comienza a esperar un cambio no planificado y lo interpreta como una oportunidad para confiar en el Esp\u00edritu? Los obst\u00e1culos, desaf\u00edos y pruebas tendr\u00edan un significado muy diferente. En lugar de convertirse en inconvenientes e injusticias, un cambio no planificado podr\u00eda ser una oportunidad para confiar en el Esp\u00edritu para discernir la voluntad y el prop\u00f3sito de Dios en nuestras circunstancias ". \u00bfQu\u00e9 hacemos entonces cuando nuestros planes se descarrilan? \u00bfC\u00f3mo manejamos un hogar, un ministerio o un negocio cuando no sabemos lo que traer\u00e1 la pr\u00f3xima semana? Primero, debemos priorizar lo que importa. Cuando nos ponemos en modo de emergencia, es f\u00e1cil desviarnos a cosas que parecen urgentes pero que, en realidad, son insignificantes. En cambio, necesitamos continuar en nuestro llamado. Ya sea en nuestro hogar o ministerio, los cambios no planificados pueden ser marcadores en los que nos detenemos para diferenciar entre lo esencial y lo no esencial. Por ejemplo, como hacedores de disc\u00edpulos, siempre debemos alentar y apoyar a nuestra gente a estar en la Palabra de Dios. Nunca hay un momento en que eso no sea importante. Sin embargo, lo que necesitamos reimaginar es c\u00f3mo llevamos a las personas a la Biblia. \u00bfCu\u00e1les son esos elementos esenciales para usted y su ministerio? En mi papel como Director Nacional de Ni\u00f1os, siempre debo enfocarme en ense\u00f1ar a los ni\u00f1os a orar, adorar y aprender de la Palabra de Dios. Tambi\u00e9n sirvo a los padres como los principales discipuladores. Finalmente, apoyo y equipo a los l\u00edderes de ministerios de ni\u00f1os. Estas cosas son mis pilares. Sin embargo, un cambio no planificado, como Covid-19, me reta a pedirle al Esp\u00edritu Santo que me ayude a volver a imaginar c\u00f3mo hacerlo de manera m\u00e1s efectiva. Me empuja a aprender nuevos m\u00e9todos de ministerio, conectarme con los l\u00edderes del ministerio local y, lo m\u00e1s importante, confiar en Dios y no en m\u00ed mismo. Los cambios no planificados quitan el \u00e9nfasis de nuestra experiencia y pericia. Nos humillan Nos ayudan a reconocer nuestros \u00eddolos de autosuficiencia. Nos recuerdan qui\u00e9n est\u00e1 realmente en control y nos llaman a apoyarnos en Cristo. Si bien Covid-19 me ha desafiado, tambi\u00e9n lo ha hecho sin tener mis muebles. Para ser sincero, hay momentos en los que estoy incre\u00edblemente frustrado. Se siente como una situaci\u00f3n injusta, y estoy cansado de ser molestado. Sin embargo, mientras oro, Dios me recuerda que \u00c9l tiene el control y que mis pertenencias en ese cami\u00f3n son solo cosas. Tambi\u00e9n me record\u00f3 que, aunque estoy listo para establecerme y hacer de este nuevo lugar "nuestro", esa casa no es mi hogar. Soy un extraterrestre en esta tierra y camino a mi hogar para siempre con \u00c9l. Entonces, si se necesitan algunos cambios no planificados (mayores o menores) para reenfocar nuestros ojos en Jes\u00fas y estar en Su negocio, luchemos para ver este momento como un regalo, incluso mientras oramos por el final de este cambio no deseado.","author_name":"Kristi Cain","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/Unplanned-Change.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-1Mo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}