Change to the nth power

The mechanism of change is an enigma. Because we can only know the past and not the future, we have a comfort in what has been. Even if it is difficult, traumatic, awful, it is still in the realm of the known because it is past. The future is not knowable. We can project. We can think through possible scenarios. We can evaluate and disect and weigh and consider but in the end there is just no way to know. And we attempt to trace through the ramifications as far as we can postulate, but we cannot possibly consider and predict every outcome.

If one is completely selfish, the choices are relatively easy. There is only one person to consider: me. But if the well-being of many people is of concern, then the complications mount exponentially.

Then there is the consideration of point in time. What is weighed to be the best course of action at one point in time may not be at a later one. Not only is the timing of related events of concern in terms of overlapping or separation, the time that passes after events can make all kinds of adjustments that can make a questionable change prove to be far better or far worse than anticipated. Wants, needs, judgments, evaluations, unanticipated eventualities, and emotional responses all adjust over time and make choices and changes appear in different light at a different point in time.

How is one to know? The answer is that one cannot know. God tells us to ask for wisdom and promises to give it. But even the best wisdom still leaves us uncertain about an unknowable future. Faith in God and faith in the wisdom He provides is our only hope of navigating the maze.

Not to choose is to choose. One must at some point make a call and move ahead in that direction. This is something we must face every day. But some days present a fork of huge significance. God help us to go the way that will prove best not today necessarily, but many days from now and far into the future.