Do you, your spouse, a coworker, or even a good friend enjoy changing things on a regular basis? Perhaps it involves rearranging the furniture or decorations in a room at your home. Or redefining the business of your company – what, how, and why it is done. Or maybe you find yourself getting restless after a period of time and desiring to change jobs, companies, or even careers.
Change is inevitable. It occurs whether we like it or not. Take the weather, for example. I have lived in cities where we often remarked, “If you don’t like the weather…just wait a minute.” Then we have the economy, politics, customer preferences, or the simple process of ongoing growth: Change happens.
Some of us innately have a high tolerance for change. In fact, we approach it with eagerness. Others resist change, especially if does not come about on their terms. Whether it applies to business practices and systems, the introduction of new technology, or changes in personnel and leaders, some people embrace change while others fight it with every ounce of energy they possess.
Personally, I enjoy change – as long as I have a chance to offer input and participate in decisions affecting any significant changes. But sudden, unexpected change, or changes that I feel have been imposed without taking my interests into consideration, can seem very unsettling.
Change is a common theme in the Bible as well. In the Old Testament we see many examples of people required to make dramatic changes as God called them into service. And in the New Testament, it often speaks about the change that results through a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Putting this into a 21st century context, it means spiritual commitment will have recognizable impact on how we live, how we work, and how we carry out our relationships. Consider the following:
Becoming a new person. The Scriptures tell us that having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ means gaining a new life. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20).
Breaking with old ways. Striving to be obedient to God, whether in our workplace responsibilities, our homes or anywhere else, often demands change – not modification of old, familiar ways. “…’No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins…. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins’” (Luke 5:37).
Building on God’s new work. The Bible teaches God likes change and seems to enjoy letting us be a part of it. That could involve the work you do or the way you do it. “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19).
© 2016. Robert J. Tamasy is vice president of communications for Leaders Legacy, Inc., a non-profit based in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. Bob has written Business At Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies; and coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring. His biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.
