Biblical personalities and change 


By Jim Killebrew

[October 21, 2014]  The Bible is filled with examples of people who experienced significant personal changes in their lives. Change has been inevitable from the very beginning. Significant events cause people to react in some way and change their attitudes or their behavior in response. Beginning with Adam and Eve, who were living in a paradise garden, with a face-to-face relationship with the Creator. When they chose to sin against Him, their lives were changed drastically. Other notable persons in our Biblical history experienced changes in their lives that set them on a different course, mostly uprooting them from their comfort zones into the unknown. Some personalities include Noah, Joseph, Moses, David and Daniel.

Noah

Of course most people have heard of Noah and the ark. God had decided to destroy the inhabitants of the earth and chose Noah, who found grace with God, to build an ark to save himself, his family and a representative sample of the earth’s animals. A world-wide flood was promised and Noah spent 120 years preparing for that day that began the most drastic change in his life.

Joseph

Joseph had lived an almost pampered life of a favorite son from a dotting father. That produced jealous brothers who decided to get even with him. One day his life, as he had experienced it, came to an end when his brothers sold him as a slave. He was passed around as a slave in Egypt and lost the family ties for many years to come.
 

Moses

Moses had lived in the palace in the position of a son of the daughter of Pharaohs. His was a life of ease and comfort with a powerful family that ruled the nation and provided him with every desire. One day he discovered his heritage that resulted in his being banished from the wealth and luxury he had been accustomed to.

David

David had been a simple shepherd watching over his Father’s flock when he was chosen by a prophet from God to take on the mantle of royalty. But being chosen did not set well with the current Monarch who had fits of rage and tried several times to kill David.

Daniel

Daniel was minding his own business when his country was conquered by a foreign country. The result of that military conquest was Daniel being removed from his family and country and carried off to a foreign land where everything was different.

What did these men have in common?

Great Personal Faith

First and foremost, each of these men recognized that the Creator God was present and required their personal worship and obedience. They yielded to His leading and continued to pray and seek his strength. There was never a “blame-game” played that focused an anger against their Creator that accused God for the catastrophes they experienced. They remained faithful and sought Him in their daily lives.

Patience and Endurance to Face Adversity

For 120 years Noah kept building the ark to accomplish the task that God had given him to do. Joseph spent an adult lifetime serving others and making preparations to ultimately receive his own family as God was working in history. For 40 years Moses prepared for his “burning bush” experience, as he shepherded for his father-in-law. David waited from his teenage years to adulthood living through many trials barely escaping death to establish the experience and patience necessary to ultimately wear the crown. Daniel grew to maturity in captivity in a foreign country constantly honoring the God of Israel and maintaining his allegiance to Him.

Making Right Choices

Each man had choices to make in his daily life; and each man continued to make the right choices from within a perspective of love and devotion to the God he served. Many times from the taunting of evil men Noah could have put down his tools and reconsidered if he had heard his orders right from God. But instead, he chose to keep on working and doing what he knew was right, and in perfect faith in God’s word. Joseph could have more than once become bitter or subsumed to sexual sin, or worse, turned away from God as his source of strength. But he kept on with his integrity and made the choice each day to submit to his Father in heaven. When it came time for Moses to return across the desert to Egypt and face his adopted step-brother and rival, the Pharaohs of Egypt to ask for the Israelite slaves to be freed, he ultimately chose God’s strength and guidance and headed toward the task. Many times David could have killed Saul and ended the running and torment from his advisory, but he chose instead to remain faithful to his God and let vengeance remain rightfully with Him. Likewise, Daniel could have decided to blend in with the King’s court, reject the Hebrew’s Living God and find immediate gratification. But instead, Daniel chose to make the challenge to the King of the mighty foreign land and demonstrate the strength and superiority of the God of Israel.

Likewise we each have decisions and choices to make each time adversity of significant change comes our way. Our first response might be to charge ahead with revenge, blame or denial; but the greater we stand in the shadow of the Almighty and submit to His guidance and strength, the more we will experience His Wisdom and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

[By JIM KILLEBREW]