Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Protection Against 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:
Protection against Change
Safeguards against Disappointment and Frustration
Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change. —Thomas Hardy, novelist and poet
In order to plan for change effectively, you must anticipate it continually. This sounds simple enough, but most of us don’t do it. Because we naturally expect life to remain the same, we are caught off guard when things change. I’ve seen this oversight undermine the lives of many people. The principle of anticipating change is so crucial to understanding and dealing with change that we must constantly remind ourselves of it in order to internalize it. In this teaching, we will explore further how to counteract the negative effects of the unanticipated.
The “Timely” Lesson of the Swiss Watch Company
For more than a century, the undisputed world leader in the timepiece industry was the Swiss Watch Company. In fact, the word watch became synonymous with Switzerland. Their success as the most efficient watchmakers in the world went unchallenged. Everyone wanted a Swiss watch.
At the height of its reign as the king of the timepiece world, the Swiss Watch Company controlled more than 80 percent of the market. During this time, one of its young researchers, along with a number of his colleagues, invented a new, more accurate, and entirely electronic watch. The excited, youthful inventor was invited to introduce his latest brainchild at a specially called company board meeting. He hoped to secure the Swiss Watch Company’s place as the leader in the watch sales market in the future.
As the inventor introduced the new product, the members of the board listened with interest and carefully assessed the idea of changing from a motorized-to an electronic-based product. After close review, the members decided the invention was interesting and held promise, but they refused to make it a priority. Why? They were satisfied with their century-long success in the world market. Unfortunately, their overly comfortable position contributed to their failure to patent the electronic watch.
A year later, the Swiss Watch Company displayed the new invention, along with its other products, at the Annual Watch Congress, and representatives of two companies noticed it. These two companies soon developed a similar prototype based on the principle of electronic operations, and marketed it. It revolutionized the watch industry worldwide.
The Swiss Watch Company never fully recovered from this shift in watch design. Today, the competition is shared among a number of companies that struggle to stay in the game. Ten years after the introduction of electronic watches to the marketplace, the Swiss Watch Company had less than 10 percent of world sales. This devastating loss forced the company to terminate fifty thousand of its sixty-five thousand employees. It plummeted from the pinnacle to the pits in just ten years.
The invention of the electric watch signaled a new season, a glimpse into the future, but a century of success had blinded the Swiss Watch Company’s executives to the impending, inevitable reality of change.
The company board thought its manufacturing method was the only or best way to make a watch. It assumed that past success guaranteed future profits. Therefore, it ignored the prospect of competition from the effects of continual change. Their old methods kept them from embracing and benefiting from new ones.
The story of the Swiss Watch Company is a lesson for all of us: ignoring a season of change can cause us to forfeit our Yah-given purposes. He who fails to expect, plan for, embrace, and oversee change will regret his past in the future.
Our safeguard against the detrimental effects of unprepared-for events and circumstances is to continually expect change to occur in all areas of life. Grasping just this one truth will prepare you to handle many of the challenges that accompany change.
The Present Has a “Shelf Life”
In light of the above, we must come to accept the often sobering reality that whatever we are enjoying and using right now is only temporary. The expiration dates on food, medications, and other products tell us that after a certain time, the items will become spoiled or ineffective. After a while, their limited time frames of usefulness will be past. While they may last beyond the specified date, eventually, they will become useless.
Just as every product has a shelf life, the present has a “shelf life.” Again, the way you currently think and what you’re currently doing will change over time, at least to some degree. If it doesn’t, you’re not growing and maturing as a person! We all learn new things and come into greater understandings of other concepts we have already learned. You may find that you retain your current way of thinking, but make sure you understand that change will likely come and test what you believe. Either your beliefs will survive the test or you will change the way you think.
Guard against Taking Offense
The brilliant young rabbi Yahusha of Nazareth predicted some future events to His disciples, telling them about the problems they would encounter. He clearly understood the effects of change and the importance of anticipating them, saying, “‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also....A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to Yah” (John 15:20, 16:2). He also told them,
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to... prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them....You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.(Luke 21:10–13; 16–19)
If someone were to stand up in public today and present a list similar to that, he would probably be criticized immediately. Politicians would say, “You’re creating hopelessness.” Religious leaders might call him a “negative preacher” who “doesn’t have any faith.” Yahusha, however, knew He needed to prepare His disciples for the reality of the changes they would soon experience. He explained to them, “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray” (John 16:1). “Astray” has also been translated from the original Greek as “offended” (nkjv) and “stumbling” (nasb). Yahusha repeated to His disciples, “I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you” (John 16:4).
People all over the world today are “offended” and “stumbling” in life by their circumstances and by those whom they blame for those circumstances:
“I lost my house—I am offended by the banking system.”
“My husband walked out on me—I’m offended by males.”
“I was laid off from my job—I’m offended by corporations.”
“I’m getting older—I’m offended by youth.”
Yahusha warned His disciples in order to protect them from taking offense at their situations and turning away from what is right. He knew how damaging taking offense is to a person’s spirit. He prepared them in good times for the tough times. The principle of change assures us that good times won’t continue forever, so we must be prepared to avoid the trap of “offense.”
Avoid Holding On Too Tightly
Because of this truth, I always remind myself, “Don’t hold on to anything too tightly.” This concept is found throughout the sacred literature of the Scriptures. Yahusha taught, “Man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Life is not measured by what you possess. Why? Because possession can become “recession.” In other words, whatever you possess, you obtained from someone or something else. It is not inherent in you, so your possessions can “recede,” or be taken away. Therefore, you can’t base your personal value on anything you have received because, if you do, then you will lose your value when you no longer have it. In essence, the effects of change will be able to reduce you to nothing. So, again, we are protected against change when we don’t automatically expect to keep everything we currently have. In this way, we won’t be shocked and thrown off course if they go away, either temporarily or permanently.
With the investment fraud and disastrous fiscal policies of various financial institutions in 2008, there were some executives who were enjoying millions one day, only to be arrested and put in jail the next day. Then there was an Illinois governor who was in office one day and impeached and removed from office the next. In addition to any legal difficulties involved in his circumstances, this man was faced with having to find a new job, at the very least. These situations illustrate the fact that it doesn’t take long for things to change. Many people who don’t realize or accept this fact are so overtaken by change that they start taking drugs and drinking excessively. Some of the perpetrators of financial fraud—or their victims— committed suicide because they felt they’d lost everything when they lost all their money.
Not even a billionaire can count on things to stay the same.
The public image of Donald Trump is one of wealth and success. However, a company that still bears his name filed for bankruptcy protection for its three casinos. Trump, who owns more than 25 percent of the company, played it down, saying his investment in the company was only a small percentage of his net worth. Most people wouldn’t have imagined Donald Trump’s name occurring in the same sentence as the word bankruptcy. Yet no one is immune to change. Likewise, Ed McMahon spent years acquiring wealth and being known as the one who presented millions of dollars to sweepstakes winners. Then he went broke and had to put his possessions up for sale.
Many people are consumed with trying to get to a point where they are wealthy enough to feel secure. Yet if financial troubles and bankruptcy can happen to millionaires and billionaires, as we have seen, then they can happen to anyone.
Most of life’s disappointments and stresses come from our trying to keep things the way they are or expecting them to stay the way they are. We can be set free from that pressure by truly understanding that nothing on earth lasts forever. Everything has a “shelf life.” If you have plenty of money now, that may be only temporary. It may not be a permanent state. So, prepare adequately for a time when money will be scarce. Likewise, if you have no money now, things can change tomorrow. Start preparing to build up your finances again.
Two Key Principles for Protection against Change
Let’s summarize what we’ve been discussing with two key principles for protection against change:
1. The greatest source of disappointment in life is the expectation that things will remain the same. If you are disappointed, it’s because you expected something to occur, and it didn’t happen, or because you expected some present situation to always remain the same, and it didn’t. People’s lives can fall apart when they think that what they’re experiencing will never change, only to abruptly learn that the opposite is true.
My doctor told me recently that my blood pressure is perfect. He said, “In your mid-fifties, you have the body of an athlete. You look so healthy; what are you doing?” I replied, “It’s not what I’m doing; it’s what I’m not doing.” He said, “What are you not doing?” I said, “Worrying.”
How do you reduce your worry level? By lowering your expectation level. Maybe you’ve been expecting too much from other people—or even yourself. While we want to conduct our lives with excellence, we can’t control everything, and we shouldn’t try. Trying to control everything that happens to you will overload your body with stress.
The above principle doesn’t apply only to situations we would consider negative. It also applies to our general expectations for our lives. Even changes that hold great promise for us often involve various assumptions we’ve made. For example, suppose your spouse got a job in another country that offered fifteen times more money than he or she is making now. You and your spouse have been struggling to make ends meet, but now that you have this opportunity to move, you suddenly realize how much you love your hometown. The choice is between staying in a comfortable and familiar place but remaining broke, or moving into the unknown but making a good living.
Although such a choice involves more considerations than just money, this scenario highlights one of the challenges of change. You may have expected to live your whole life in the same place where you were born and raised. Yet this might not be Yah’s plan for your life to help you fulfill your purpose. Or, perhaps, through various circumstances, you emigrated from the country of your birth to a different country, and now you find yourself living in an unfamiliar culture. You may ask, “Yah, why did You bring me here?” He may indicate, “Because your future isn’t where you were born—it is where you are now.” Expect things to remain the same, and you’ll get disappointment.
2. Our safeguard against disappointment and other negative reactions to change is the anticipation of change. We must expect change. Continually.
To protect yourself from change, acknowledge that anything could happen in the coming months and years. The good news is that Yah won’t allow anything to come into your life that you cannot rise above with His help. I am not afraid of change because I understand that change is a part of life and that I am more durable than it is.
You must become so stable through anticipating and preparing for change that you can outlast every change. You will keep passing through changes on the way to your purpose, and in the end, you will come out the victor.
If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. —Mary Engelbreit, artist and entrepreneur
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