I was 4 years old when I first came to Taiwan. Obviously I’ve come a long way. I’m 18 now and I’m getting ready to leave to start college life in America.

I’ve had to go through a lot of changes and scary times in my 14 years of ministry here. For example, when my sister broke her arm, our when our oven exploded, there was also the move down to Tainan. I’ve lost loved ones along the way and gained some as well. God has been with me every step of the way.

It’s ironic, the presence of change is actually one of the only things in life that will never change. No matter who you are, where you live, there will always be change in your life. I’m going to be in college soon, and that means a lot of change. Eventually, I’ll find the woman God has for me, and that’s going to mean a lot of change as well.

Change is…scary. Nothings going to change that. What we can change is how we view it. First of all, we have to realize something. “God is God, and God is good.” Is one of my favorite quotes from NBA champion, Jeremy Lin. When we go through change that we would consider bad or maybe uncomfortable, the important thing to realize is that God is still God and God is always good. Job learned this lesson the hard way. He experienced mind boggling pain in his life, but even when all his children were killed by a deadly tornado, all his animals slaughtered or stolen, and he was inflicted with terrible boils, he still held fast and said amidst all the troubles, The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord!

Lastly, we need to remember that God knows what He’s doing. Former Heisman trophy winner and NCAA football champion, Tim Tebow said this. “I don’t know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future.” As I said before, God is God and God is Good. If we truly believe this then we should know that God is good all the time! He will never put something in your life just to hurt you. On the contrary in fact. If you are experiencing some painful changes at the moment, don’t fret or complain about it. Rather, take time to pray and see why this change is in your life and how you can be a stronger Christian because of it.

Now I’m not going to lie, I have worried about these big changes coming up. I mean come on, I’ve never been away from my family for more than two weeks at a time before. I don’t know a hundred percent where I’m going to college, and I’m still praying about what God wants me to do for my life. Just like everyone else, I wish God would just go ahead and reveal his entire plan to me right now. But that won’t happen. It’s a long process, but I know that I can trust the God that spoke the universe into existence. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. The God that created every aspect of my crazy self. “I don’t know what the future holds but I know who holds my future.” “God is God and God is good.”

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11

-by Davey Green, MK to Taiwan