Pastoral Perspective - I have changed, and you can too!

We all welcome change, that is until things start to change. The results of a recent challenge in my office environment reminded me of what happens when we encounter something worth changing. Or in this case, what can happen when our focus is on something other than the change itself. It happened almost unnoticed.

I recently got a big study chair. It is wonderful, except for the fact that it keeps me from getting very close to the left side of my L-shaped desk. It seemed to be in the way, until I realized that I was using the mouse pad on the right side of my keyboard drawer. By moving the mouse pad to the left side of the drawer which lines up with the rest of my desk, I had plenty of room. Problem solved!

It took a little getting used to the change, but it was worth the initial awkwardness. Then I remembered. I am left-handed, and should have had my mouse pad on the left all along. For five years I had used my mouse pad on the right because of the desk I was using. In that desk setup, there was no room on the left and there was a pull out drawer on my right that I had to use. I had gotten so accustomed to that arrangement that when I changed desks I automatically set up with my mouse to the right.

Office layouts may be irrelevant, but consider what happened. I changed, without even realizing it! My focus was on my study, so the inconvenience and clumsiness of the change was greatly lessened. Before long, the change was so complete that the former way of setting up was forgotten.

There is a direct parallel spiritually! 2 Corinthians 5:17 promises us "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

We rejoice in that promise and welcome the change, until things start to change. We are challenged in Romans 12:2 to be "transformed", and it sounds great. But often we find ourselves in the middle of a slow transformation, or a frustration that the "new creature" isn't quite what we thought it should be. Keep your focus on your relationship with God, and the renewing will take place in time!


I can change, and you can too!

Pastoral Perspective - God knows where you are and where you are going!

In Isaiah 43:2, God says, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you pass through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned up. It will not consume you.”

The giant standing before you as a mockery to everything you believe in is a result of the last battle you fought. You brought this on yourself by trying to do the right thing, by attempting to honor God, to worship Him, and to be faithful to His call.

You’re trying to do right; you're the one that loves God and tries to please Him
Engage the lion who threatens your flock, destroy the bear who tries to make off with your lambs, and you get more than just a warm rug and coat; more than the admiration of everyone who gives you the title – lion slayer. You get to face the giant!

In reality, you are more prepared than ever to face the obstacles in your path. But you’re still recovering from the last battle, and would gladly trade the battlefield for the hillside. The loneliness and lack of pressure in the pasture sounds good, and you began to wonder if it is worth it all . . .

Joseph – you believed the dreams God told you, and you did all you could to share them, to explain them, and to act on them. Look where it got you! Betrayed by your brothers, lied about by your boss’s wife, isolated in a jail cell far from home, forgotten by your friends . . . but God knows where you are!

Moses – growing up in the palace, you always remembered that you were not an Egyptian; that God had a plan for you and his people. When you tried to act on God’s promises, you ended up running for your life. Now here you sit in isolation in a barren and desolate land . . . but God knows where you are!

In Psalm 73 we read the confession of the psalmist who says, “…even though God is good, my feet were almost gone out from under me because I saw the wellbeing of the foolish and wicked.”

It wasn’t until he went into the sanctuary of God that it all came into focus.
It wasn’t until he went into the sanctuary of God that he understood their end.
It wasn’t until he got in God’s presence that He was reminded that the pressures of this life are temporary, and that in the end God would never forsake him!

It is disheartening when it seems that all is in vain, but you are in good company -and you will see another day!

Abraham, you were the one who obeyed God and left everything behind when you were 75 years old, but now there is a famine.

Gideon, if you wouldn’t have torn down the altar of false gods everybody wouldn’t be out to get you.

Moses, you wouldn’t be a wanted man in Egypt if you would have just turned your head and let things go on as they had.

Joseph, if you would have just kept your dreams to yourself, your brothers wouldn’t have gotten jealous and sold you into slavery.

Simon Peter, if you wouldn’t have responded to the beckoning call of Jesus, you wouldn’t be wet and cold right now.


You wouldn’t be where you are today if you didn’t have enough confidence in God to cast your cares on Him. He came through, even though it may seem that you got more cares thrown back at you, He’s still the wave walker, and He still speaks peace in the middle of the storms of life!

Your setback is just a setup! God knows where you are, and He will be with you where you are going!