Change Needed? Face It and Act Today!

When life gets out of control, the most common response is anger because of the loss of personal power. When Jacob marshaled all his courage, gathered his family and set out for his homeland, his father-in-law Laban was fit to be tied. Jacob feared his father-in-law would take possession of all he owned, including his wives and children. 

 

          Jacob could never stand up to his father-in-law, so resentment and anger had to be suppressed. We often resent a person's ability to take charge, to be in control and dominate a situation. So suppressing anger is one way to manage it, and we do so by pretending that it doesn't exist or that whatever caused it is of no importance. 

          Everyone is capable of anger, but who can express it in beneficial ways? We're often afraid of anger, even our own. We feel angry when something has gone awry, when changes need to be made but we’re fearful of making the needed changes. “Never let the sun go down on your anger” means facing needed change and acting on it.

Insight + Endurance + Action = Change - Part 3

Seldom does a day pass that didn’t require the need to change some aspect of life. Here we have two options: deny the need and neglect the chance for change, or go forward and pursue the opportunity God provides. God is at work to bring about maturity and insight. Listening and responding are choices which ensure that healthy change is acknowledged.

Insight is key to growth and maturity. 1 Timothy 4:29 identifies the source of wisdom and insight. "God gave Solomon wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured."  Proverbs 7:4 offers this advice: "Treat wisdom as your sister and insight as your close friend." Webster defines insight as the capacity to discern the true nature of a situation.

Insight should be pursued because it provides a permanent richness and fulfillment to life. It's the avenue to better relationships with friends, co-workers, family and God. Yet gaining insight requires diligent study and listening with determination to understand. God gives this gift to the willing, responsible recipient, so choose to be one. 

Examine Your Choices: Consider the Cost - Part 2

When Joshua challenged the Hebrew people to be committed to serving God, he knew it would require a thorough self-examination of their loyalty, which previously had been questionable. Successful businesses maintain precise inventories to retain profitable items while discontinuing those that do not justify their existence.

Plato, the Greek philosopher who lived four hundred years before Christ, wrote, "The unexamined life is not worth living," which means growth and maturity do not happen incidentally. Businesses give employees personal evaluations to determine their progress, but self-examination is just as important.

A lesson from Balaam’s life in Numbers 23 has to do with failure to do a self-inventory. When needed changes are avoided or side-stepped, a self-made crisis may not be preventable. God closely examines us, as David realized in Psalm 17:3. "You probe my heart and examine me." Thank God he does this so we can choose to remain close to his heart and purpose.