The Crisis of Change

Change accompanies crisis. The process of entering and leaving changes our lives, upsets our routines, and creates new perceptions that can cause us to feel stress.

As we progress through the stages of life, we leave home, enter school; leave school, enter the work force; leave bachelorhood, enter marriage; leave earth, enter heaven or hell. We can leave one city for another, one job for another, one church for another and, unfortunately, one marriage for another.

Each change comes by way of crisis, small or large. The greater the degree of change, the greater the crisis.

The corresponding principle to the pattern of entering and leaving can be stated, " How you leave determines how you enter." How we leave one situation in life will determine how we enter the next.

We bring to the new place, city, relationship, job, ministry, or school only what we brought from the old. What is left in our mind and spirit from the old will determine how we enter the new. If we leave with a wounded spirit, unless it is healed, we will enter with the same spirit. If we leave with bitterness, animosity, hostility, unforgiveness, defeat, or fatalism, we will carry those seeds into the place where we enter. Eventually they will sprout and produce the same things we thought we wee leaving behind.

Take in the positive, the seeds we carry for good will produce good wherever we go. The seeds of righteousness produce the same effect regardless of where they are sown.

This is why God deals with principles and root causes. The root will produce the same fruit or result again and again. Circumstances and environment are not root causes. People with seeds from their experiences and beliefs in their spirits are.

How we leave childhood determines how we enter adolescence.

How we leave single life determines how we enter marriage.

How we leave school determines how we enter the work force.

How we leave a broken relationship determines how we enter the next relationship.

God's word contains the principles upon which we can base decisions and actions for every situation and issue in life. The Bible is the absolute rule of conduct. If we only want to learn how to respond to certain circumstances, we will never learn enough to cover every situation that can arise. But if we determine to learn God's pattern and principles for life, we will equip ourselves to handle every issue, whether large or small.

Everything God does is according to a pattern and based on a principle. When we learn His patterns and base our faith on His principles, our lives become productive, maximized, and successful. But if we live by personality, theory, and circumstance, our lives will be haphazard, confusing, and driven by every wind of change. So let us keep as our main goal to discover God's patterns and principles through diligent study and application of His word. Be encouraged.