OVERSEEING CHANGE IN YOUR WORLD

Psalm chapter 37






Today we are walking in: Overseeing Change In Your World










Habakkuk 1:11


Then shall his mind change H2015, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.




CHANGE








Today we look to the word- CHANGE- H2015- haphak- a primitive root; to turn about or over; by implication, to change, overturn, return, pervert:—become, change, come, be converted, give, make (a bed), overthrow overturn), perverse, retire, tumble, turn (again, aside, back, to the contrary, every way).










The Torah Testifies…………….




Genesis 35:2


Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that werewith him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change H2015 your garments:


Leviticus 27:10


He shall not alter it, nor change H2015 it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change H2015 beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.



Leviticus 27:33


He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change H2015 it: and if he change H2015 it at all, then both it and the change H2015 thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.










The Prophets Proclaim………



Jeremiah 2:36


Why gaddest thou about so much to change H2015 thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.




Zechariah 3:4


And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change H2015 of raiment.




Malachi 3:6


For I am the LORD, I change H2015 not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.








The Writings witness……………



Job 14:14


If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change H2015 come.




Psalm 102:26


They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change H2015 them, and they shall be changed:




Proverbs 24:21


My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change H2015:





Overseeing Change in Your World
Keys to Planning and Preparing for Change


He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today. —Tryon Edwards, theologian and descendant of Jonathan Edwards


In teaching one, I described various ways people react to change. The first two reactions were that people (1) watch change happen, and (2) let change happen. You have the option of doing nothing while change happens to you, or you can make change happen—even in the midst of inevitable transition or of negative change that you can’t prevent from occurring. You can determine whether you will initiate change to improve your life or merely allow your circumstances to undermine it.


The Paradox of Choice


In the teaching “The Mind-set of a Change Agent,” I introduced the idea that being called to a purpose, in itself, does not prepare you for that calling. You must put certain things in order in your life to get ready for it. In other words, you have to choose your chosen destiny. I call this decision the “Paradox of Choice.”


The decisions and plans related to my purpose that committed to as a young teenager set the course of my life on a positive path, one that I continue to follow in fulfilling my purpose and serving others in my generation. Other young men my age who were brought up on the same street as I went on a completely different path—and the results were also completely different. The only difference between the direction in which I went and the direction in which these other young men went were the changes that we initiated based on our decisions. Our decisions created our unfolding futures—distinct futures. Therefore, even though you may understand that transitions occur and environments change, you must decide the kinds of positive change you will introduce into your own life.


We know that not all change is improvement. Yet without change, there can be no improvement. If you want to improve, you have to alter something in your life. Again, the fact that Yah gave you birth to do something significant doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to accomplish it; you have to choose what He has chosen.
Will you actively choose the purpose Yah has given you?


Established but Not Guaranteed


Our challenge is that our destinies are established, but they’re not guaranteed. Let me give you an illustration of this fact. I paid the tuition for my daughter and son to go to college. But whether they graduated was up to them, not me. My “destiny” for them was already established, and I was committed to paying their college fees. In my mind, I’d already seen them with their degrees at the end of their university studies. But, would they make it to the completion of their purposes? To do so, they had to go to classes, pass exams, complete projects, and fulfill all the school’s requirements. And my daughter and son did graduate from college. (Now, they both also have their master’s degrees, so they took that purpose even further.)


Yah operates in a similar way. He has already established your end, but whether you make it there requires your participation. Our Creator doesn’t obey Himself for you, write down plans for you, or develop skills for you. Every human being is given a free will, and this is why we must make the decision to choose our chosen destinies and to do what is necessary to fulfill them. We are not animals, which live on instinct. We are human beings who direct our lives based on our decisions. Therefore, even though Yah has a good plan for your life and knows what He wants you to accomplish, it is up to you to plan your course, to make life changes that will move you toward it, and to stay on course, as we saw in the previous teaching.


Ordered Change


Like the men of Issachar, if you see that the times are shifting and that you must soon take responsibility in the midst of a specific change, then you have to prepare for it.


The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand. (Psalm 37:23–24 nkjv)


Unless we plan ahead, our lives will be in disorder when change comes. The Lord Yah desires to order our steps and to uphold us. Therefore, order your plans according to your Yah-given purpose. Follow through with a mind-set of preparedness and act in ways that will enable you to be ready for the demands of change. Develop skills and abilities that will qualify you to be a change agent. Don’t wait for the change to come first, or you will likely be overwhelmed by it. This will expose your lack of understanding in regard to your purpose, as well as your lack of readiness for change.


The following are four practical keys to overseeing change in your life that will allow you to plan and pursue your purpose. They apply to both change that is already occurring around you and change that you are anticipating will arrive.


Four Keys to Overseeing Change


1. Study the trends and demands of change. This key relates to gaining knowledge, understanding, and wisdom so that you may develop the qualities of a change agent. Suppose you become aware that significant change is happening, or you begin to see certain trends occurring in your nation or culture. Start to analyze the implications and impact that will result from this change. Also, consider how this change could relate to other changes that may naturally follow it.


Particularly study the problems in your environment that were created by the change. It could be that part of your purpose is to creatively address one or more of those problems. If you determine that this is the case, you can develop a strategy to use your gifts and abilities to address and solve those problems.


Let’s look a little closer at the times in which the men of Issachar lived. We know they were able to read the change in their nation, as well as the meaning and impact of that change. The setting for their “understanding of the times” is the period after the nation’s first king, Saul, had been chosen by Yah—and after Saul had gone so far away from Yah’s purposes that he needed to be replaced as leader. The men of Issachar perceived that Yah had rejected King Saul in favor of the young David, and they went to join David. The Scriptures say they “knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).


Whoever can read seasons of change and be prepared to act on them will be a leader. The clan of Issachar was large and had many men who were able to fight. Yet it was not their size or strength that made them truly powerful. It was their capacity to understand the times in which they lived. They knew what was happening in their environment, they could interpret the conditions, and therefore they could project for the whole nation what it should do.


Such insight gives a person proactive power. This is the reason why receiving prophecy from Yah was so important in the context of the national life of the Israelites. Prophecy is, in one sense, a preview of coming change for the purpose of preparing for it.


Let us look at an incident when Yahusha and His disciples were at the temple in Jerusalem.


Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to Yah. But Yahusha said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
(Luke 21:5–6)


Yahusha went on to tell His disciples that they would be persecuted, and that Jerusalem would be besieged. He talked about it with certainty, as if it had happened already. He did so because He knew it was coming, and He warned His disciples about it so that they could prepare and be proactive in the midst of it. He also told them,


Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of Yah is near. (Luke 21:29–31)


Yahusha was saying that just as we are familiar with certain signs in nature that correspond to specific seasons, we should recognize the signs of the times. This analogy brings us back to our need to study the trends of change that occur around us. Do not be ignorant or apathetic toward your environment, but be alert to what is going on and what impact it will have.


2. Plan and prepare for change. After studying the trends of change, begin to prepare a specific plan to address them. Your strategic plan should include practical projects and programs you intend to initiate, such as developing new skills, in anticipation of the change. You can also decide if any modifications need to be made to your immediate environment that will enable you to respond effectively to the impact the change will have on you. For example, what alterations to your lifestyle and reordering of your financial commitments might need to be made in response to these trends?


When change is already directly affecting you, it’s too late to plan ahead for it. Yet you can develop plans to address what you perceive as the next, obvious, impending change that is coming as a result of the present change. In this way, you can learn to prepare continually for change.


3. Position yourself for change. Positioning yourself for change means putting your plans into action. Take personal responsibility for energizing your potential, developing your skills, and otherwise refining yourself for maximizing the benefits of the change that is coming or is already happening to you.


Positioning yourself for change also means continually managing all your resources closely—including your time, your relationships, your money, and your other assets—in such a way that you stop any hemorrhaging of their value and usefulness, which will be detrimental to the stability of you and your family during the change.


Make any other alternations that are necessary, even though they may be temporarily difficult, to safely come through a challenging change that is ushering in your season and enabling you to progress toward fulfilling your purpose.


4. Change on purpose. In the next section, I’ve listed some specific ways in which you can plan and position yourself for change after studying the trends of change. Yet this fourth point, “Change on Purpose,” is the overarching key and deciding factor in overseeing change in your life. Changing on purpose means making a decision always to be, to the best of your ability, on the front curve of change.


In this way, you are not pushed by change but propelled by your purpose. You initiate ordered change for the benefit of yourself and your environment, facing times of transition with optimism, energy, and personal involvement.


Seven Essential Ways to Plan and Prepare for Change


1. Change your knowledge base. Pursue information that equips you to deal with an environment in transition. This may mean reading relevant books and other literature, taking a seminar or a course, or even going back to school.


People who change careers have to become familiar with new perspectives and a new realm of information. Likewise, as you sense changes in your nation, community, or personal life, study the knowledge you need to effectively address these changes and benefit from them.


2. Change your skill sets. Gain skills that enable you to address the challenges that change presents. In the process, identify and review your natural gifts, then develop skills related to them that will enable you to better pursue your purpose.


We must make certain that we clearly understand the difference between a gift and a skill, or we may not apply ourselves diligently to developing the skills we need:


Skill is not a gift from Yah.


Skill is not inherent at birth.


Skill cannot be obtained by osmosis.


Skill cannot be transferred or inherited from others.


Skill can only be learned and developed.


Ecclesiastes 10:10 says, “If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success.” Therefore, improve your skills. Pursue the training necessary for your role in the next season of your life. Other people cannot do this for you, even though they may be able to give you advice regarding avenues that will help you to develop certain skills. We must realize that, ultimately, we have to initiate our own skill development.


3. Change your library. In the process of changing your knowledge base and developing new skills, you may need to invest in some resources—for example, books, workbooks, and utilize other media, such as podcasts, in order to prepare for and properly respond to change. Perhaps your personal library contains only novels. While everyone needs some downtime and relaxation, you can branch out from those novels and read books that will enable you to learn and grow in preparation for, and in the midst of, change.


4. Change your associations. Sometimes, responding effectively to change will require you to make new acquaintances and to enter a new circle of associates. For example, you may need to join a club, a professional network, or a community organization.


In order to address a time of transition in your life, you may also find yourself needing to adjust the levels of your relationships. You may not be able to spend the same amount of time with certain people as you used to, and you may need to increase the time you spend with others. Be sensitive to your longstanding friendships but also to the fulfillment of your purpose and your need to address significant change in your life.


5. Change your priorities. Change has a way of making us adopt new priorities. First, as we have seen, inevitable change sometimes forces us to give up certain relationships, as well as aspects of our lifestyles and habits. Moreover, in order to be successful in pursuing our purposes, we can’t be involved in everything but must be selective in how we spend our time and what activities we choose to participate in. Proactively changing our priorities means choosing carefully how we live our lives rather than just letting life happen. If we fail to prioritize what is important to us, we will be carried off by the currents of life and not accomplish our purposes.


6. Change your expectations: We can never omit this vital facet of addressing change! Remember, what protects us from disappointment and frustration in regard to change is the expectation of change. We will often need to adjust our expectations in response to new changes we experience because there is always some area of our lives in which we’ve settled into the anticipation that it will remain the same.


Perhaps you fully expected to receive a raise from your company, but now, people are being laid off, and you have to withdraw your expectation, at least for a time. Or, maybe you fully intended to pursue a certain vocation, and change has blocked that path. Your expectations for your life have to be altered. However, remember that your purpose remains the same. Therefore, you must now discover how to fulfill your purpose under different expectations and avenues or find out how you should live your life until that door reopens in the future.


7. Change your spiritual focus. Times of transition and change can help us to realize that we have not pursued vital spiritual priorities in our lives. In order to center on what is most important, we must discover and practice spiritual habits that will help each of us to develop a relationship with Yah and grow in that relationship.


For you, changing your spiritual focus may include realizing that only through faith in Yahusha Hamachiach can you begin to have the relationship with Yah He desires you to have with Him.


Perhaps you have never read the Bible or read it only occasionally. Now, as you face the challenges of change and energetically pursue your life’s purpose, you realize you need to know Yah’s Word. You understand that you must learn how to live according to spiritual values and principles, which are higher than those of the physical realm. You now recognize the importance of fellowshipping with a circle of people who are spiritually minded.


If you have already developed a relationship with Yah, changing your spiritual focus may mean spending more time praying and meditating on what you read in the Scriptures so you may be open to receiving fresh ideas from Yah about how to prepare for change and how to deal with current change. We tend to allow our busy lives and the “crisis of the moment” to shorten the time we spend with Yah, yet these are the times when we need Him the most.


The Power of Decision


The decisions you make about your life will direct your unfolding future. You can introduce positive change by ordering your life according to your Yah-given purpose. Apply the keys to overseeing change and commit to specific ways of positioning yourself to address change.
Remember that your destiny is established but not guaranteed. Will you choose your chosen destiny?


I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward.
—David Livingstone, missionary, medical doctor, and explorer