The Need for Change

My father was born in 1907. One of his first cars was a Ford Model T so I was naturally interested in that car and its designer Henry Ford. Mr. Ford had a man working for him as production manager on the Model T. His name was William Knudsen and he became convinced that it was time to update the Model T because it had been in production for 4 years.

But there was a little problem; Mr. Ford would not even consider the idea. Ford loved his creation just as it was and was opposed to any changes at all. While Mr. Ford was away on a vacation in Europe, Knudsen decided to put together a car to demonstrate his ideas for changes using a new design and color.

Ford returned from his European vacation, and he went to a Highland Park, Michigan garage and saw the new design created by Knudsen. The new car had four doors, and the top was down, painted gleaming red and built on a new, low version of the Model T.

One eyewitness tells how "Ford had his hands in his pockets, and he walked around the car 3 or 4 times…. Finally, he got to the left hand side of the car, and he took his hands out, got a hold of the door, and ripped the door right off! He jumped in, and kicked out the other door! He busted out the windshield! He jumped over the back seat and started pounding on the top. He ripped the top with the heel of his shoe. He wrecked that new car as much as he could."

Knudsen left for General Motors. Henry Ford nursed along the Model T, but design changes in competitor’s models made it more old-fashioned than he would admit. Competition made it necessary to make changes and he grudgingly produced the model A, but his heart was never in it. Henry Ford was one of the most creative men of his age. And yet Henry Ford resisted the obvious need for change.

Change in this world is total and constant. None of us can avoid being affected by the change around us. But it is all in God’s plan. The plans and the changes he has for us are for our good. Changes can offer us hope even if we don’t particularly enjoy change.

God is the only unchanging constant in our changing world. Knowing that can help us be open to changes in our community, changes in our families, changes in our church and even changes in how we understand God. Are you open to change?

What changes are happening in your life right now? How are you handling them?