Navigating Times of Change
Series: Navigating New Seasons
Brad Bailey – May 19, 2024
Intro
As mentioned... just 3 weeks from yesterday... is a very special event.
50th Anniversary Celebration... very unique opportunity... honor the founding lives... proving to
be so timely... and to install Josh Shaw as the new Lead Pastor.
It’s a remarkable opportunity to bless the past...and for the past to bless the future.
And this will culminate a change in the leadership of this community. As most of you
know...we have been in a process of succession in the role of Lead Pastor which I have had the
incredible privilege of serving as for the past 33 years.
This succession has involved more in the past few years than some may have been aware
of.
This succession doesn’t reflect my desire to leave in any way...but rather ...
• I believe we need generational change...and I am in a position to make it possible. (I
believe that most pastors wait too long to make generational transitions.)
• I believe that the future will be served by new leadership – with strengths that best
serve the next season. (I have shared a long lost of the unique fit and gifts that Josh
and Brianne bear.)
So today we are going to begin a short 3 week focus on Navigating New Seasons...
navigating times of change.
> We want to let God speak into this coming season... but we also recognize that...
Navigating seasons of change is a significant part of every life.
The truth is that we all navigate seasons of change.
When you are young... a new season could involve changing schools... changing where you
live.
A new season can come with more macro changes around us... major culture shifts that
leave us feeling like we are not in the same world we had been... or a global pandemic.... from
which we know nothing has been quite the same.
New seasons may come slow and naturally... such as arriving at new ages and stages in
life... and some may come more dramatically....with a change in employment... health... or
relationships.
Change comes to all of us... and so we do well to gain perspective on navigating change.
I know that the idea of change can have a kind of exciting draw to it... there is so much more
potential to achieve...but then... it requires ...change... and can be a little disorienting... until
we arrive at being reoriented.
“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” - John C. Maxwell
The story of God leading people is full of change... which God was in. The central point for
us to grasp today is this:
Change is inevitable... and what pulls us through seasons of change most... is the
unchanging purpose and calling of God.
What we find in God’s Word...is not a manual on how to navigate change...but the whole
story in which lives are called into seasons of change... and how God leads and guides them.
In fact... the Bible would look back upon what are often called the fathers of faith... or heroes
of faith ... who God first revealed Himself.
Many may recall that the life which is known as the Father of Faith is Abraham. [1]
Genesis 12:1-2a, 3b
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s
household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 ...and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show
you.”
This brief summary... may sound simple. But it would have been far from simple for
Abraham...and those with him.
It begins with leaving. What will he be leaving? His people...and his family... and all that was
familiar to him.
The destination? Isn’t clear yet? It will only be shown in in time.
There will be a stage of uncertainty.
But ultimately... there is a destination.
God is never simply calling us into a random direction. He is always calling us into His
purposes. [1b]
He was believing that God had plans.
What we see is a process. We could talk about the change as being announcement in this
simple statement... but what it represented was a process...which included... leaving...
uncertainty... brought to the next stage of God’s plans. [2]
1. Embrace seasons of change as a process of transition that involves an ending, an in-
between time, and then the beginning of a new season.
Change involves a process.
In his book “Managing Transitions,” William Bridges describes,
“Change is an event, but transition is the process you go through in response to the
change.” - William Bridges
Think of transition as something we don’t simply GET through ...but something we GO
through.
Bridges describes Three Stages of Transitions: Ending What Currently Is, The Neutral Zone
and The New Beginning.
IMAGE: bridges-transition-model CROPPED
Ending, Losing, and Letting Go – Transition starts with an ending. Every new beginning begins
with an ending. While changes may bring what is ultimately needed and “better”... they inevitably
involve various losses to what was. These may include losses of familiar relationships, roles,
spaces, and traditions.
The Neutral Zone – “People go through an in-between time when the old is gone but the new
isn’t fully operational. This is the time between the old reality and sense of identity and the new
one. People are creating new processes and learning what their new roles will be.”
“It’s not so much that we’re afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it’s
that place in between that we fear. . . . It’s like being between trapezes. It’s Linus
when his blanket is in the dryer. There’s nothing to hold on to.” — Marilyn Ferguson,
American Futurist
The New Beginning – “Beginnings involve new understandings, values and attitudes.
Beginnings are marked by a release of energy in a new direction – they are an expression of a
fresh identity. Well-managed transitions allow people to establish new roles with an
understanding of their purpose, the part they play, and how to contribute and participate most
effectively. As a result, they feel reoriented and renewed.”
While these stages generally follow one another.... they are not entirely linear. The phases
don’t happen separately; they often go on at the same time. “Endings are going on in one
place, in another everything is in neutral zone chaos , and in yet another place the new
beginning is already palpable.” They do not always have a defined point at which everyone is
experiencing only one stage or the same stage. So we may find that we can say...”I miss
something....I am a bit uncertain....and I am excited by what is beginning”...all at the same time.
And we see these same general elements of transition in the entirely of the Exodus... from
Moses to Joshua.
You may recall... the growing clan that began with Abraham ... a couple generations later... has
a family with a son named Joseph. His jealous brothers nearly kill him but sell him as a slave to
some traveling Egyptians. He ends up in Egypt ...rising to a powerful position... and when comes
across the whole land... he is able to welcome his clan to come live as guests in Egypt.
They grow... and after the death of Jospeh ...the Pharoah of Egypt begins to oppress and
enslave the people.
This was not the promised land...and God would bring change to fulfill his purposes.
As a Jewish infant...Moses is brought into the house of Pharoah and raised like a prince. Later
God calls him to come lead the people out of Egypt.
Moses confronts Pharoah and leads the people on a great exodus out of Egypt towards the
promised land of Canaan. [3]
Hebrews 11:24, 27
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter.... 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because
he saw him who is invisible.
Here we see different stages of transition. There was a leaving... a wilderness...and finally
entering the promised land. It began with leaving what was familiar...and comfortable.
2. The first step in moving forward involves letting go of some attachments .... and
connecting afresh to God’s unchanging calling.
Seasons of change begin with the process of leaving some things behind... and even if we may
know that we are moving to something good or even better... we can still feel the loss of what has
been a part of our lives. Imagine Abraham leaving his family... friends... his role... his culture?
Imagine Moses... already feeling like an orphan... leaving Egypt behind?
We naturally find comfort in what is familiar....what we are attached to....even when we realize
that change could be good.
For some, seasons of change involve leaving the connections to formative memories... of God
speaking and shaping....of particular events and the way we have done certain things.
This is the part of change we often resist.
When a season of change comes... it’s not uncommon to ...
Blame – We may feel that something is being taken from us...and want to blame someone we
associate with doing so...even when change was inevitable.
Idealize – We may begin to idealize the past... the “good old days.” This is what you may recall
the people did in the journey through the wilderness... when it was hard...they said... “we want to
go back to Egypt”... there we had plenty of food. [3b]
The whole community grumbles against Moses and Aaron saying they would have rather died
under oppression in Egypt, where at least they would have been fed (Ex 16:2). If we’re honest
with ourselves, I think we’ve all had a few grumbling Israelite moments when pulled from our
comfort zones amidst change.
There is a natural nostalgia for the past...because it is a part of who we are. But there is also
seasons and stages in life.
Life will always bring new seasons... in which we may face and feel the loss of the past... and
may even assume something is wrong.
Like a first love... seasons cannot be the same. I love what Leah and I shared when we first
met... but I love what we share now. Each is a part of us.
Part of embracing the process is realizing that change is an inevitable part of life... there is a
time for every season.
We need to...
Remember the past (what God did)...but don’t stay there.
- On more than one occasion, the ancients... before leaving a certain place in which God had
engaged them... would create a simple monument of stacked rocks... to remember the place
by. [4]
They weren’t going to stay...but nor did they want to forget.
They didn’t camp there... they moved on and held the meaning of the moment in their
hearts. They moved forward.
3. When we leave some of what may be familiar... embrace the opportunity to exercise
faith...and experience dependence on God.
We might wonder why God called Abraham to leave and begin a journey to a place yet
unclear... or why Moses had to lead the people through such an extended time of wandering.
> What becomes very clear... is that it was a time of developing dependence on God.
They judged God’s blessing by how easy their life was... and it wasn’t easier.
Abraham was living in tents for years.
The Israelites were in a desert... with little food and water.
They needed bread...God provided manna... daily... quail... and at one point water when Moses
struck a rock as he was told. [5]
This neutral zone... is a time of depending on God.
The Israelites had more regular sources of food in Israel... and sometimes new seasons will not
be as set... we will not be amidst as much that is familiar and comfortable.
This is an opportunity to embrace the dependence on God.
4. Embrace how different leaders serve different stages in the journey.
Every season can serve in it’s time.
And different leaders can serve different stages.
This is what becomes clear throughout the history of God working with his people. We see many
successions... including that of Saul to David... David to Solomon...and here in the great
exodus... Moses to Joshua.
It was Moses... with his background of being raised in Pharoh’s house...then in the
wilderness...that prepared him to lead the people out of Egypt... and through the wilderness.
But as they came to the edge of promised land... it called for a new leader.
They sent 12 spies to look upon the Canaanites in the land... when they returned 10 reported
that they were giants... and there was no way for Israel to take the land. But two... rebuked
them... declaring that if God was with them... they would surely take the land. Those two were
Caleb...and Joshua.
Joshua had eyes to see the potential ahead.
Moses was a reformer.... able to engage Pharoah authority.
Joshua was a military leader... able to lead the people into the land.
Joshua entered leadership in a season when Israel needed military leadership, not diplomatic
leadership.
And I believe that God has a call on the Westside Vineyard... which I have been able to serve
during a stage in....and that God has been preparing Josh Shaw to serve the next stage of our
community and calling... to reach new places.
CLOSING:
Change is inevitable... and what pulls us through seasons of change most... is the
unchanging purpose and calling of God.
Change always involves a process of letting go and moving... not from bad to good... but
from what has served to what will serve.
At some point... it involves getting up and moving.
I invite us to hear the words which God spoke to those who were on that journey between
Egypt and the promised land... at one point near the border of the Promised Land they camp...
and begin to get a bit too settled.
At which point, the Scriptures record...
Deuteronomy 1:6-8 (NLT)
“The LORD our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time
to break camp and move on. ... Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy
it...”
Many of us may sense a similar word to us...
You have stayed at this mountain long enough.
It is time to break camp and move on.
They had been camped for a long time... now it’s time to move forward into all they knew were
called to. Those tent pegs were getting pretty settled in the ground. They were relaxing. Now
it was time to put on a mindset of mobility... they weren’t home yet... had to shake off the
settledness.
I believe these words can speak to something that each of us may face.... When we have
stayed in the same place long enough.
At some point most of us are going to face a time in which we need to face the truth that ...
We’ve stopped moving forward.
We stopped focusing on where you are going... and have become more fixated on where
you are and perhaps where you’ve been.
Notice God how calls them to focus on what is ahead...on what is still to come... on what has not
yet been reached. He says... “Look”...look where I have called you...where you are meant to
go.
I believe that God leads us through every season for His purposes ...and WITH His
purposes.
And I believe that to us as a community... He would say... there is a transition at hand... for
some who recently began connecting... it may not involve much....for others....it may involve far
more.
God want us to look at what lies ahead... to new land to occupy...and to be ready to break camp.
When it’s time to move... God wants us to be ready.
Pray
Notes:
1. In the original Hebrew language of the Torah, which is the first five books of our Old
Testament, the name Abram literally means “exalted father.” The name Abraham, however,
contains another unused root word, which roughly means “multitude.” Abraham translated
literally, then, means “father of a multitude.” Take note of this: the changing of Abraham’s name is
a sign from God. By changing his name, the Lord not only confirmed that he would fully carry out
the promise that he made to Abraham. He, as well, made Abraham the typological father of faith
for all the saints (Jude 3). From the flesh of Abraham, a multitude did come, the Jewish people.
But Abraham is not only the father of a single ethnic nation, he is the spiritual “father of a
multitude.” And this faithful multitude, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, is too large to
number (Rev 7:9). Through him, all the nations of the world are blessed (Gen 22:18).
1b. We also find that in the Biblical Book of Hebrews the author introduces a list of biblical heroes
who demonstrated remarkable faith by trusting God and acting on His promises, even when they
faced difficulties and dangers. And here Abraham is described this way...
Hebrews 11:8-10
8 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. 9 By faith he made his home in the
promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who
were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with
foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
2. Paul refers back to Abraham again in his writings to the Galatians.
Galatians 3:6-9 -
6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that
God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All
nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with
Abraham, the man of faith.
3. All of this was led to the fullness of God’s plan through Christ.
These lives established a knowledge of the true and living God...and His desires to call people to
a life with Him... fulfilled by a new place... where they would live rightly with Him.
And it formed a people of faith... looking for God’s fulfillment...towards a place of peace and
flourishing with God. It all pointed towards the hope of a Messiah God had promised to come... it
pointed to Jesus who would provide the way for all lives to have the chains of enslavement
broken... to be freed from the powers of this world...and to to find life in God’s Kingdom.
3b. “The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat
around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted.” - Exodus 16:3
4. On one accession, when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land,
the priests led the procession, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. As their feet touched the water’s
edge, the flood stage river stopped flowing.
After the Israelites passed through on dry ground, one man from each of the twelve tribes
removed a stone from the middle of the river where the priests were standing (knowing masculine
competitiveness, these were probably absurdly large stones). Then the priests left the river, and
the floodwaters returned.
The Israelites set up these twelve stones at Gilgal as a testimony to how God stopped the Jordan
River, as he had parted the Red Sea. The Israelite leader Joshua says,
“[God] did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is
powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God” (Joshua 4:24).
5. During their journey through the desert, Moses and the Israelites found themselves in
desperate need of water. After receiving instruction from Jesus Christ, Moses led the people to a
rock, which he struck with his rod. Water gushed out, “that the people may drink” (Exodus 17:6).
In the end, the Israelites stayed in the wilderness for years. But the Lord was there with them, and
He travels with us through our seasons in the wilderness as well.
