Change Has A Destination

He has made everything beautiful in its time he has also set eternity in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end.
(Eccl. 3:11)

Even history is divided into time periods. God calls them dispensations: In other words, change, change, change. God sees the beauty in each dispensation, each period of time. We are the ones who look at a changing time with fear and predictions of a worst case scenario. All dispensations are leading to the final one, the millennium, the rule of Jesus on the earth for one thousand years.

God sees each time period as beautiful and leading to even a more beautiful destination. Why would it be different in our own lives? How dramatic would the effect be on our own life if we looked at change as beautiful and leading toward the ultimate plan of God for our earthly life and eternity? Every change is leading us toward a brighter day, bringing us to His expected end (Jer. 29:11).

In The Meantime

I know that there is nothing better for them, but to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God.(Eccl. 3:12-13)

Change rarely is immediate. Time is involved for the removal of the old and the installation of the new. New occupations, advancements and change of leaders in a church take time. Feelings and opinions can run wild. Faith and patience are required for a change in life like trusting God for any blessing He gives.

What should our attitude be in times of change? Does God want us to sit with teeth clinched and endure until the change is complete? Or is change a time to be enjoyed and to grow? God even says in verse twelve, if we properly handle change, there is nothing better. In these two verses, God gives us three things to do during the time involved with change.

First, we are to rejoice. Praise is faith in action. It sees the best coming and thanks God now, before any evidence is seen or heard. Praise helps to erase every thought of doubt, fear or of worse case scenarios. Rejoicing replaces unbelief with joyful anticipation of a better future.

Second, we are to continue doing what we always do. There is a temptation to stay home from work or church, shut the blinds and curtains and wait for all to be well again.

What if a change in church leadership is coming? What if the pastor you love has announced his retirement in one year? What are you to do? If you are an usher at church, keep ushering. If you are a greeter, children's teacher or youth worker, stay at your post. You are needed, and you only add to the difficulties already involved if you quit. If God has the church and its future in His hands, He also has your life and future in His hands.

Third, enjoy life. Eat, drink and enjoy the good of your labor. God has made everything to be enjoyed. "My favorite pastor ever, is retiring. I like him so much and so do my children. I am not sure we will even like the new pastor. What are we to do? Let's go get pizza." In other words, don't wait for the change to be over and then party, party now. Enjoying life is the celebration that God is at work and the responsibility is His, not ours.

Another Link In A Chain

I know that, whatever God does, it endures forever: nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it: and God does it (brings changes), so men should fear (be reverent) before him. That which has been is now and that which is to be has already been and God will recall that which is past.
(Eccl. 3:14-15)

God does not focus on the present as much as He looks at His eternal strategy. Today is only a small segment in God's overall plan from eternity past to eternity future. God does nothing temporary. Everything God does is part of an eternal plan. A new pastor or church leader is only one more link attached to the chain of pastors and church leaders before, going all the way back to the Day of Pentecost and even to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

It is also not the last link God will ever install in His plan for your church. This may be new in our life, but it is never new in God's existence. We seem to focus only on today and fail to see how it fits into the plan of God uniting yesterday with tomorrow.

When my niece, my sister's daughter, was about six years old, she told her mother, "that's the funniest thing I have seen in my whole life." My sister laughed, thinking, "you are only six years old, your whole life has not been that long." Our frame of reference is our own lifespan. We seem to think everything important began on the day we were born and we have lived long enough to evaluate life and its problems. Take global warming for example. We make the statement, "This is the worst we have ever seen. Temperatures have never changed this dramatically since recorded temperatures began over one hundred years ago."

I don't know how long the earth has been here, perhaps millions of years. What is one hundred years to God? And how did scientists record earth's temperature one hundred years ago, anyway? Did they stick a thermometer in the ground? They did not have the scientific equipment we have today. And what if the earth's temperatures have risen in the past one hundred years? Is this the first time or is this truly the worst it has ever been? One hundred years is just a speck of dust in the viewpoint of God and His plan. The earth has handled itself with change for millions of years and it will handle change throughout the eternal future.

We often complain about our own situations and say, "this is the worst thing I have seen in my whole life." You might be forty years old when you say it, and think forty years is a long time, qualifying you to make an evaluation. But one thing is for sure, your lifespan is also a speck of dust compared to eternity past and future.

God must laugh when we say, "this has never happened in my whole life." It may not have happened in your life, but I guarantee it has happened millions of times in the past and will happen millions of times again in the future. God said, "that which has been is now and that which is to be has already been." In other words, nothing is happening today that has not happened before or will happen again.

So, if there is a church leadership change in your future, don't think it is new or has never been done before. It may be new in your own life, but God has seen leadership change since the book of Genesis.

Solomon told us in verse fifteen, what his father told us in Psalm 55:19, change is God's method to keep us fearing Him. As we approach change of any kind, we should cast the burden on the Lord and trust Him to take care of it as He has done so many times in the past and will faithfully do so many times into the future.

What is the last thing Solomon told us to do in verse fifteen? We are to recall how God has brought us through every problem in the past and expect He will do the same again this time. We are to look to the past to find faith and hope for the future.

We have come through changes before. We will come through this change also. Is it a new pastor taking over in the church? Should we live long enough to see another pastor in the years to come, we will come through that change also.

So, count your past blessings. Or, as it says in Psalm 103:2, "forget not all His benefits." Those past benefits, testimonies and answered prayers are your guarantee for success today and tomorrow.