Dancing With ChangeSample

Day 6: Embracing Change as an Opportunity for Growth:

The story of Moses leading Israel to the promised land is so familiar and repeated so often that we can treat it casually, with the same indifference we offer the latest urban legend or social media rumor. But we must remember that Moses had to exercise great boldness when standing before Pharaoh. The Pharaoh exercised great might and power, the kind that could squash an upstart Hebrew like a bug.

So when Moses stood before Pharaoh, he had to summon the courage to embrace life-altering, changing-the-course-of-history, major-shift-in-the-earth’s-atmosphere kind of upheaval. Not the kind of task for a timid or faint-hearted person. Especially considering that Moses had already directed the turning of water to blood, covered the land with frogs, and then with gnats (sometimes translated as lice), and each time Pharaoh refused to listen. I can sense the pressure on Moses building with each entrance before the ruler of the world’s most powerful nation. Keep that in mind as you think about Moses’ warning of the fourth of ten plagues, which would culminate in the death of all the firstborn sons in Egypt (Exodus 8:20-21).

Moses had to exercise great boldness when giving Pharaoh this message. He could not bow down even though the ruler had the jurisdictional power to eliminate him. Although Moses was in Pharaoh’s territory, he boldly and fearlessly declared the Word of the Lord. To embrace change as an opportunity for growth, you will have to declare some things that you never thought you would say. And if you think it was easy for Moses, remember that when God called him to lead Israel to freedom, he protested in effect, “I’m not good enough. I’m not wise enough. I can’t speak too well, either” (which is why God provided brother Aaron as his spokesperson).

You may say, “I have never been a bold person. It’s just not my character. I cringe at the thought of confronting anyone about anything.” That may be true, but there is hope for you. In His Word, God promises to give good gifts to those who ask for them: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7–8, NIV).

So many of us can treat change like it’s toxic while failing to recognize it is also a prime opportunity to grow. The transformative power of change enhances our character and develops us into much more than we ever dreamed of becoming.