My wife and I are both part of social networking sites and over the last couple of months we have enjoyed being connected with old and new friends on Facebook. For those of you who are not familiar with social networking sites, it is NOT a dating service lest you think my wife and I are kind of weird. It is simply a place to interact with people you know and a convenient way to keep up with their lives, even if they live far away.

There was definitely a learning curve when we started using Facebook. For the first several weeks we were trying to understand how everything worked - the layout, the updating, and the processes. At times things did not make sense and we struggled to figure out the progression and how everything fit together. It took about three weeks or so to get comfortable with the site, but our perseverance paid off - we became pros and are now contemplating writing a Facebook for Dummies, if that has not already been done. Now, we have perished the thought because this past week Facebook unveiled a completely new interface. Curses! Initially, when my account was converted my thought was, “I like this.” That was short lived as I struggled to find my way around. I had worked so hard at learning the old Facebook and now all that was gone, except for that little link in the top right corner of the page “back to the old Facebook.” In my initial frustration, I clicked on the link and my computer screen went completely blank and I lost everything on my hard drive. Just kidding. When I clicked on the link, a box appeared which reads, “If you switch back, you will lose any changes you have made to profile boxes, tabs, and bookmarks since you started using the new Facebook.” The you are faced with two choices, “okay” or “cancel.” Without thinking, I clicked “cancel.” I was up for the challenge. For a few days this week, I was very frustrated with the changes and the inconvenience of adjusting to the new Facebook, but I think I have put all the pieces together…I think.

What is it that makes us fearful of change? At the core, I believe it is the feeling of not knowing what to do. Who wants to appear unprepared, embarrassed, or confused? Who likes to be unable to communicate a process or make sense of life? Think about how Adam and Eve must have felt when they were created in a perfect place as perfect people, but then were kicked out of the garden and sentenced to death because of their sin. They went from only knowing good to fully experiencing evil. They went from a life without death to a life of certain death. They knew God intimately, only to become fearful of their Creator. That is change. I’m sure Adam and Eve would have appreciated a “back to the old life” link; however, this was not possible as forgiveness could not be granted until the price for sin was paid. But in His unending mercy, God promised a way to get back to the “old life.” He promised that He would send someone to completely erase death and sin. This promise caused Paul to write, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ is our link back to the “old life.”