This week here in Melbourne has been quite unsettling and most unusual. Apart from a few quite windy days, we have had riots in the city, an earthquake (5.8 on the Richter scale) and we are now officially the most locked down city in the world with the whole Corona virus thing. Maybe not coincidentally, I have heard 2 people speak this week about the season of change we are in, and in particular talk about looking to the future and not holding onto the past.
Genesis 12:1-4
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.
I have been quite unsettled through work in the last few weeks as well - which is a direct result of the change in our health service with the rise in the Corona virus numbers. A number of us are dropping our usual client work to take on vaccinations and also in the looking after Covid positive people in the local community via phone. A fellow work colleague has been making noises (let's just say) about a few things that are going on and there is some general uncertainty about what we are doing and how long we will need to be doing it for.
In all this literal and metaphorical shaking and uncertainty there are a few ways we can respond and I believe our response and how we steward the opportunities in this season, will prepare us for the season ahead. With my current work situation, the ways I see people responding are:
One person at work is operating defensively, trying to maintain control through the small things we can control, complaining along the way, and I guess holding onto the past and the 'rules', and the way things used to be done in many ways. I think it is this kind of response that Abraham had to let go of as he stepped out into the great unknown and into promises of God. There was no promise it was going to be smooth sailing - and indeed it wasn't for Abraham and his wife, Sarah, but God was with them and there was purpose in their painful moments, as they simply obeyed God and stepped out in faith.
Going with the flow - giving the 'yes' and following through, even if some reluctance is involved. At the end of the day we don't have much of a choice, certain things need to be done and things are as they are. This is probably the most common response.
Being future focused, grappling with the fast pace of change, seeing the opportunities and being almost a visionary in the situation. It is a response filled with Godly wisdom and strategy and it may appear similar to the second option, but there is always the ability to grasp the opportunities for meeting the immediate needs of others, in building personal skills, and in building personal capacity to do greater things along the way, rather than just dealing with the change and maintaining the status quo.
This third kind of approach also requires the 'letting go' of the past' and trusting in God with the future, knowing that things will not be the same again. I am thinking (for myself anyway) that this is the kind of season that we are in. I heard Kris Vallotton of Bethel church in California preach about a season of metamorphosis rather than just transition this last weekend, where we are transformed through the situation, rather than merely surviving. It is an opportunity for leaders to emerge and God's faithful to grow stronger in faith.
I know for me, I harbour a significant amount of resistance to the changes at work. It is not what I signed up for and I know I don't really like this kind of change.... I want my old job back and I am a little fearful of taking too much on board. Why can't things be the way they used to? I think I was the last person on the planet to get a mobile phone at around the age of 30 and I only had my first smart phone around 5 or 6 years ago. I am still waiting to get Wifi connected at home as I type this..... A friend told me once that I don't like change and maybe she was right? Having said that, I know I am also quite an adventurous person in many ways. Letting go, knowing that things will not be the same again is not always easy. For me it takes a measure of courage.
I am reminded of the parable of the talents in Matthew and also in Luke.
Matt 25: 14- 30
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
It seems pretty obvious that the man on the journey is Jesus and he has gone away for a little while. The other things that strike me in this parable is that each man was given according to his ability and that those who did well reaped a greater reward - which was greater responsibility in the end!! I am not sure I like that too much!! But during this season of change, we don't have too much choice - it is a time to absolutely step bravely out into the unknown and be stretched and challenged in the way that we are responding- with all due diligence, faith, courage, prayer and with an expectation of personal growth. I think I need to be reminded of this.
Isaiah 54: 1- 5. TPT
“Rejoice with singing, you barren one! You who have never given birth, burst into a song of joy and shout, you who have never been in labor! For the deserted wife will have more children than the married one,” says Yahweh. “Increase is coming, so enlarge your tent and add extensions to your dwelling. Hold nothing back! Make the tent ropes longer and the pegs stronger. You will increase and spread out in every direction. Your sons and daughters will conquer nations and revitalize desolate cities. Do not fear, for your shame is no more. Do not be embarrassed, for you will not be disgraced. You will forget the inadequacy you felt in your youth and will no longer remember the shame of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband; his name is Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies!
I love this verse in Isaiah but have never felt the significance of it, I guess, as much as I do now. In this season I believe there are opportunities indeed to make the tent ropes longer and the pegs stronger. To rides the winds of change and to steward the season well. To hear the father say, "Well done good and faithful servant". Increase and abundance are coming.
Comments