Change Is Inevitable... Like it or Not

Change is inevitable – Change is constant.

Change is going to happen regardless, the question we must ask is "how can I cause change to work in my favor?" I can try to resist change and try to stay the way I am or release my resistance to change and be like a hot air balloon that goes up when you remove the weight of the sandbags from it. So many of us hesitate to throw the sandbags out and still anticipate we will continue to move upward.

But the Bible says in Hebrews 12:1 “lay aside every weight”...in other words there is some stuff that has to change... that we must let go of.

There is a saying that goes:- “NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES, AND IF I KEEP DOING WHAT I'VE ALWAYS DONE, I'LL KEEP GETTING WHAT I'VE ALWAYS GOT, AND WILL KEEP FEELING WHAT I ALWAYS FELT."

That is a true statement because to do the same thing over and over without ever having something change, yet you keep looking for a different outcome to happen is just crazy. Albert Einstein said”- “The definition of insanity (crazy) is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

"Nothing changes if nothing changes and if I keep doing what I've always done, I'll keep getting what I've always got." Although this is a true statement the reality is that it is just another way of saying that you are stuck in a rut. One of the definitions of rut is “A fixed, usually boring routine.”  So another way of putting this statement is to say that if you continue to do the same thing in that rut you will stay in that rut. 

EXAMPLE:- if your car is stuck in the snow or mud and you continually spin your tires all you are going to do is go deeper and deeper in the same place, but if you get out of the car and place some salt or something under your tires that will give it something to grab onto – that is called traction – then when you step on the gas pedal and your tires begin to spin because it has something to grab onto it begins to cause your car to move and soon you are no longer stuck. Unless there is a change you will be stuck in that rut.

Many people are stuck in a rut in their lives and they continually do the same things over and over again only going deeper and deeper into the rut they are currently in. If you watch shows like hoarders and intervention you see people that are stuck in a rut in their lives and unless there is a change they will literally die as a result of the rut they are stuck in. They refuse to change because their mindset is that "I am comfortable." The reality is that they do not really want change because they are afraid of change because it is unpredictable and that scares many people. 

Change can be very threatening.

WHY – because change will bring with it a level of uncertainty and because of that uncertainty people develop an attitude or spirit of fear. President Woodrow Wilson gave a very wise warning: “If you want to make enemies try to change something.”

2nd Timothy 1:7 says “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.

Therefore we should not be fearful of change.

However, because of this attitude or spirit of fear people sometimes unconsciously and sometimes consciously become ineffective and irrelevant and ultimately die all because they refused to change.
It happens with individuals, marriages, businesses, organizations, and unfortunately with some churches.

Even the people of Christ's day who were looking for and expecting the promised Messiah didn't accept him when he came because he didn't come the way they expected him to come, nor did he do what they wanted him to do (that is, overthrow the oppressing Roman rule). As a result, they rejected Christ, the Messiah, and clung to their irrelevant religious traditions and missed out on the opportunity to change. Traditions and rituals are effective as long as they are relevant. Refusal to change is called stubbornness and the Bible talks about stubbornness some 28 times and 19 more times it uses the word "stiff-necked."

These words are talking about people that refuse to change.

Understand God cannot allow people to lead comfortable lives when stubbornness separates them from Him. God wants everyone to let go of stubbornness and return to Him – in other words, change.

While truth never changes, times change, people change, situations change and methods change so when our traditions are no longer relevant, we need to be open to change.

WHY - for to live is to grow; to grow is to change.

It is crazy to continue to do the same thing and think something different is going to happen. We wonder why our church is not growing when in reality we are doing the same things in the same way that we have always done them and we wonder what the problem is. And if a pastor or leader tries to evoke change... woe be unto him! He can bring new ideas and try to spur people to get on board and use some new methods and rather than try, the end result is usually that the church turn on that person and they are soon headed out the door as their change is not welcome because it upsets the apple cart.  

There’s a saying that goes prayer changes things.

It is crazy to pray and not expect change to take place.

But when you pray, you must also be prepared to act on what the Holy Spirit leads and directs. And what does He ask us to do? Something new.

Acts 12 :12-15 Peter was in jail, the people began to pray for his deliverance, while they were praying God delivered him and he came to the house where they were praying at and knocked on the door, a girl by the name of Rhoda answered the door and realized it was Peter ran and told the ones that were praying for his release that Peter was at the gate, they said girl you are mad – WHY – because they were not expecting change to happen.

 
When you pray expect change to take place, and understand that YOU are a major part of that change!

Some people are afraid to step out in faith, because they are afraid of CHANGE. But change can be a good thing.

2nd Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

That's CHANGE!

Things change, people change, circumstances change, conditions change, but truth remains the same.

Jesus never changes. His message never changes. Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh and God’s word never changes, therefore, if it is in the Word of God it can’t change regardless of whose feelings are hurt or what laws are passed. But the method of reaching the lost... that must change. We want our churches to grow, but we don't want to change... because it is uncomfortable.

I said at the beginning of this... Nothing changes if nothing changes.