Tim Hetzner – Daily Devotions

Why Do We Resist Change? Part Two

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)

Who among us wouldn’t like to have a success story like Abraham’s? He had fame, great riches, and ‘was even called the friend of God’ (James 2:23). It doesn’t get better than that! But Abraham’s story begins with these words: ‘By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.’ How on earth did he do it? By faith!

Why do we resist change? Doubt and fear! We fear personal loss. Anytime change is imminent, the first question that pops into our minds is, ‘How will it affect me?’ For example, suppose a co-worker approaches you and says, ‘I just heard the boss is thinking about laying off some people today.’ Is your first thought, ‘I wonder what market conditions triggered that decision?’ Or is it, ‘I bet he feels bad about having to do that!’ No, probably your first thought is, ‘Am I at risk?’ That’s simply human nature.

The second we face change we can quickly feel alone and helpless. Where do you find strength in such moments? In God! His promise is: ‘“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say, “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”’ (Hebrews 13:5-6). Relax! That which is unknown to you is fully known to God. And the One who has always taken care of you has already gone ahead to prepare the way (see Deuteronomy 31:8).

Prayer

ITTT

Why Do We Resist Change? Part One

“Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” (Psalm 80:3)

When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain, he was considered a national hero and credited with discovering new lands. But do you think people changed their minds about the earth being flat? Not at all – they went right on believing the earth was flat. It was not until that generation passed on and the next one took their place that people realized the earth was round, just as Columbus had claimed. That’s how long it took for people to change their minds – an entire generation!

We all resist change. Dr John Maxwell writes: ‘For many years, I thought leaders liked change and everyone else didn’t. As a visionary leader, I always felt that I was drawing reluctant followers into the future. But I finally realized that leaders don’t like change any more than followers do – unless, of course, it’s their idea!’

Let’s be honest; change is hard for everyone. Novelist Mark Twain said, ‘The only person who likes change is a wet baby.’ Truly, change is one of the greatest obstacles you will ever face. Why is that? After all, doesn’t progress demand change? And doesn’t growth too? We can’t move forwards and stay in the same place. So, for the next few days, we’re going to talk about why we resist change so much.

Acknowledging his own stubborn nature and his fear of change, on four different occasions David prayed, ‘Turn us again, O God.’ That’s like praying, ‘Lord, I need to change, but I’m afraid to change, so make me willing to change.’ And that’s a prayer God will answer for you, so start praying it today.

Prayer

ITTT

Compassion Is Important to God

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!’ (Matthew 25:21)

Your small deeds of kindness may go unnoticed by others, but God sees them. And they can reward you in ways you never dreamed possible. Take the case of Joseph. Betrayed by his brothers and lied about by his boss’s wife, he ends up sentenced to a thirteen-year prison term. If ever a person had reason to turn sour on life and God, it was him. But instead of giving in to self-pity, he focused on the needs of others.

Joseph had two prison mates: a butler and a baker who had worked in Pharaoh’s palace, fallen into disfavor, and landed in a cell next to Joseph. Note what the Bible says: ‘Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad’ (Genesis 40:6). Before God allowed Joseph to care for the nation of Egypt, He observed his care towards his fellow inmates. As a result, when one of them was restored to favor, he recommended Joseph to Pharaoh as a man qualified to meet his need.

Compassion is important to God. When you see a need, try to meet it. If you dream of doing big things, start by doing small things with a good attitude. Arrive on time. Complete your work early. Don’t grumble. When you’re given a task, take it on and God will reward you for it: ‘His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord”’ (Matthew 25:21).

Prayer

ITTT

The Reason You’re Being Tested

“For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” (Psalm 66:10)

Have you tried to do right, yet things have gone wrong? When Joseph honored God by saying no to Potiphar’s wife, he landed in prison. While there he told a fellow prisoner, ‘I was kidnapped from my homeland…and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it’ (Genesis 40:15). If that’s how you feel today, God has not turned His back on you. His plan for your life has not been derailed. ‘The Lord shall not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the thoughts and intents of His mind’ (Jeremiah 30:24).

You may be perplexed, but God is not. He is using every moment of this season and every element of this experience to prepare you. ‘They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. Until the time came to fulfil his dreams, the LORD tested Joseph’s character’ (Psalm 105:18-19). Do you remember how you felt about the tests you were given in school? At the time they felt like persecution but looking back you realize they were preparation. They revealed what you had learned. They qualified you to move to a higher grade. They helped you better understand your strengths and weaknesses.

The psalmist wrote: ‘For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance’ (Psalm 66:10-12). God will use people, pain, and problems to test you. Why? So that He can bring you to ‘a place of abundance’.

Prayer

ITTT

Trust In God’s Unchanging Character

“When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” (Psalm 56:3)

If you live long enough, life will bring you bad news. It may be the loss of a loved one, your health, your income, your marriage, your reputation, etc. The psalmist wrote, ‘When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.’ When bad times come, you need to hold on to everything you know about who God is. You must remind yourself that He is loving, caring, and worthy of your complete trust.

Sometimes God will give you the answer; other times He will give you the assurance of His presence. In changing times, you must lay hold of the unchanging character of God. As the hymn says, ‘When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.’ Does that mean denying your feelings and emotions? No. David said, ‘I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles’ (Psalm 142:2 NLT). God is not asking you to deny the pain, the loss, and the reality of your circumstances. Even Jesus offered up prayers with ‘fervent cries and tears’ (Hebrews 5:7). If you don’t pour out your heart before God, you risk hardening your heart towards Him.

Saint Augustine said, ‘For they are very deep in the deep, who do not even cry from the deep.’ It’s when you hit the bottom and turn to God that you discover He is there. It’s by being shaken to the core that you develop an unshakable faith in God. When that happens, you can stand on His Word which says, ‘I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go’ (Genesis 28:15).

Prayer

ITTT

Scripture Also Says

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7)

Satan will use half-truths to trap you. He took Jesus to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you.’”…Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God’”’ (vv. 5-7). Satan will tell you, ‘Your spouse doesn’t understand you or meet your needs, you’re lonely, go ahead and have that affair. God will understand and forgive you.’ God may forgive you, but the Bible also says, ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap’ (Galatians 6:7).

When Satan comes calling, you had better know what the Word of God actually says – not just selected snippets. Paul writes, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching…in righteousness’ (2 Timothy 3:16). We like to hand-pick Scriptures that suit our lifestyle and facilitate our wants. But when the Enemy manipulates God’s Word and uses it against you, you need to be able to say, ‘The Scriptures also say.’ In other words, you need to know what else God has to say.

The Bible says Satan ‘will speak against the Most High…oppress his holy people and try to change…times and…laws’ (Daniel 7:25). He knows God’s Word is a ‘double-edged sword’ (Hebrews 4:12), but he will still try to engage you in a sword fight! Don’t let him deceive you with distortions and half-truths! Get into God’s Word, get God’s Word into you, and tell Satan, ‘Get thee behind me’ (Matthew 16:23).

Prayer

ITTT

Greater Love Has No Man Than to Lay Down His Life

“What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” (Isaiah 5:4)

Author Brennan Manning tells the story of how he got the name ‘Brennan’. Growing up, his best friend was Ray. The two of them did everything together: bought a car together as teenagers, dated together, went to school together, and so forth. They even enlisted in the army together, went to boot camp together, and fought on the front lines together.

One night, sitting in a foxhole, Brennan was reminiscing about the old days in Brooklyn while his friend Ray listened and ate a chocolate bar. Suddenly a grenade landed in the foxhole. Ray smiled at Brennan, dropped his chocolate, and threw himself on the live grenade. It exploded, killing Ray, but Brennan’s life was spared.

Later Brennan was ordained as a priest, and at that time it was customary to take the name of a saint. He thought of his friend, Ray Brennan, and chose the name ‘Brennan’.

Years later, he visited Ray’s mother in Brooklyn. They were sitting up late one night drinking tea when Brennan asked her, ‘Do you think Ray loved me?’ Mrs. Brennan got up off the sofa, shook her finger in his face, and shouted, ‘What more could he have done for you?’

Brennan says that right then he experienced an epiphany. He imagined himself standing before the cross of Jesus wondering, ‘Does God really love me?’ And Jesus’ mother pointing to her son, saying, ‘What more could He have done for you?’

When Jesus said, ‘It is finished,’ the price of your salvation was paid in full. The question is – will you accept Him today as your Savior and Lord?

Prayer

ITTT

Love Is a Verb

“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)

The word ‘love’ isn’t just a noun, it’s a verb (an action word). And it’s not demonstrated simply by what you say but by what you do.

In a small Jewish town in Russia, there is a rabbi who reputedly doesn’t show up for several hours every Friday morning. His followers claim that during this time he goes up to heaven and talks to God. A stranger moved into town and was skeptical about all this, so he decided to check things out. He hid and watched. The rabbi got up in the morning, said his prayers, then dressed in peasant clothes. He grabbed an axe and went off into the woods and cut firewood, which he hauled to a shack on the outskirts of the village where an old woman and her sick son lived. He left them enough wood for a week, then crept back home. Having observed the rabbi’s behavior for himself, the newcomer became his disciple. Now when he hears the villagers say, ‘On Friday morning our rabbi ascends all the way up to heaven,’ he quietly adds, ‘If not higher.’

You can’t earn salvation by doing good works, but if you are truly saved, your actions and attitudes will prove that you are truly a recipient of salvation. Paul wrote these two Scriptures to Titus: ‘In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works’ (Titus 2:7); ‘These things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men’ (Titus 3:8).

Prayer

ITTT

Environment Matters

“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)

When you encounter someone who tries to ‘cut you down to size’, remind yourself they are probably trying to cut you down to their size. So, what should you do? Love them, but don’t be overly influenced by what they say. As a rule, instead of staying where you’re tolerated, go where you’re appreciated!

The Japanese bonsai tree is tiny, growing only about eighteen inches tall. To create a bonsai, a young sapling is pulled from the soil. Then the taproot and some of the feeder shoots are tied off. Thus, the growth of the bonsai tree is deliberately stunted. By contrast, the California sequoia tree grows large. For example, the General Sherman in California’s Sequoia National Park stands 275 feet and measures 100 feet in circumference at its trunk. If felled, it would provide enough lumber to build over 30 five-room homes! The sequoia begins life as a small seed, no bigger than the bonsai seed. So, what makes the difference? The sequoia sapling is allowed to be nourished in the rich California soil and sunshine.

Now, neither the bonsai nor the sequoia has a choice in determining how large it will become – but you do! For instance, you can’t go through life blaming others – including your parents – for what they may or may not have done in the past. So, here are your options: Stay where you are and suffer, or move to a rich, fertile, nourishing environment where you can grow. Is that always easy? No. But if you believe what Jesus said – ‘My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life’ (John 10:10) – you will be willing to do it.

Prayer

ITTT

Never Give Up

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Failure doesn’t mean you will never succeed; it just means it may take a bit longer. John Wayne coined a great line in the movie The Train Robbers. He said, ‘You’re going to spend the rest of your life getting up one more time than you’re knocked down, so you’d better start getting used to it.’ That’s what success is – getting up one time more than you were knocked down. You have no idea how close you may be to what you want to achieve. But if you give up, you will never know – plus you guarantee that you will never get there. Author Ben Stein said, ‘The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated. It is finished when it surrenders.’

Time magazine conducted a survey among people who had lost their jobs. Everyone expected them to be downcast and disheartened, but they found them to be extremely resilient. Why? The survey showed that people who had lost jobs and found new ones were better prepared to deal with adversity than those who had been with the same company for years without ever having had to deal with unemployment.

When you have experienced failure, you’re actually in a better position to achieve success than people who have not. When you fail and fail again – and keep bouncing back and learning from your failures – you’re building character, strength, tenacity, experience, and wisdom. And people who develop these qualities are capable of sustaining their successes, unlike those for whom good things come too early and too easily. As long as you don’t give up, you’re in a good position. So, the word for today is – ‘Stand firm. Let nothing move you.’

Prayer

ITTT