CHANGE-d

Have you ever experienced listening to a sermon and knowing clear cut 110% that God is pinpointing, speaking directly at you about something which you have been praying about?
I have and today is one of those days.
Crap.

You see, I recently committed myself to something of a great change and transition in my life.
To put it dramatically, it's something that I believe could and most probably would change my life.
When one takes a step of transition, naturally, fear creeps into the picture.
Fear of stepping into the unknown, fear of inadequacy, fear of inconvenience and fear of making the wrong decision.
All these went through my head and heart, clogging my air for faith to work.
FEAR.

As I laid down on my bed last night, I prayed for strength and most of all assurance that I am making the right decision.

And then came this morning.
SUNDAY morning to be exact.

I went to church as usual and lo and behold, the topic of the sermon was on...

CHANGE.

My heart dropped right down to my stomach.

"C'mon God, you must be kidding me... ! ! !"

What are the odds man??!!
I tell you, the message was so precise of what I needed to hear, the assurance which I have been praying for just the night before and there I was seating with my jaw hanging.
I for one, am really careful about this whole idea of spiritual "signs" but this, well, I didn't doubt it at all by the end of the service.
He spoke alright.

Let me just give you a gist of what the message was about and points that have struck me significantly.
The message was taken from Isaiah 6: 1-8, talked about the changes and transition in which Isaiah and the nation of Israel was about to embark after the death of King Uzziah.

Certain things hit me smack on my face.

• True change puts God first.

As I think about the fears that I said I have, I realized that it's there because I put those fears on the pedestal, above the Almighty. God has got to come first. Sure my fears will still remain where there are but I now understood that change is not about those fears, but it is about Him and how powerful He is, how bigger deal He is than those puny fears in my life.

• God is more interested in our character than our convenience.

Man, this one kicked me on butt. I mean who wouldn't like things to stay convenient right?
But it's not about how convenient, how much we can or cannot do but it's about understanding that change is about how able He is in our lives, and how much we are willing to let Him build our characters at the expense of our convenience. It's a conscious decision, a choice, that we have to make.

• "Here Am I" not "Here I Am".

This one also kicked me on my butt.
If you read Isaiah 6: 8, Isaiah said, "Here am I. Send me!".
He didn't say, "Here I am".
What's the difference?
"Here I am" merely speaks of a location.
If that was Isaiah's answer, he was then just telling God that there he was, at that place, at that time.
That's it.
But instead he answered, "Here am I" - it speaks of his commitment to the destiny in which God has called and prepared Him for.
You see, Isaiah wasn't looking at the present when he said "Here am I", if he was, he would have answered "Here I am".
He answered "Here am I" because he saw the end in mind.

What did learn from all these?
Don't asks for assurance, He'll drop a bomb on you.
Hahahaha... :P

On a serious note, I believe great changes are about to take place in my life.
Still scared lar of course but like Isaiah, we have to keep the end in mind.
And everything else in between - the good, the bad and the ugly - well, that's where faith comes in, ain't it?