Time would pass, old empires would fall and new ones take their place…before I discovered that it is not quality of goods and utility which matter, but movement; not where you are or what you have, but where you have come from, where you are going and the rate at which you are getting there.
C. L. R. James
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.
Maya Angelou
Human life in its entirety reflects on change, and every man on the surface of the earth is in need of one change or the other. Take an example of the poor and rich man. The poor man wants to get rich and the rich man wants to get richer. Tell the rich man that what he’s got is enough, he’ll tell you that it is not enough, if you insist, he can give you 101 reasons why its not enough; and that he’s life still demands to change better. Someone who is financially disappointed, emotionally traumatized, politically hypnotized, tormented and stressed-up too badly also demand a change. The man in the palace is crying for a change, likewise the man in the prison. The question is that, do you really need a change? Sometimes you don’t really need a change because if you truly need a change, you’ll get it. Now, how much do you really want to see the glory of God in your life? How much do you really want that progress and prosperity in your life? How much do you really want that capacious and expanded brain for your educational excellence? How much do you need good things? How often have you desired for a change of status? In Job 14:14, Job said, “all the days of my appointed time will I wait until my change comes”. What Job is saying here may read thus, I will not give up for I know that my season will come. However tough my circumstances may be, I am still optimistic that my time is coming. Job believed that change is possible and obtainable so he desired for it persistently. The Bible says that the desires of the righteous shall be granted (Prov. 10:29). The Bible says for surely, there is an end; and thine expectations shall not be cut off (Prov. 23:18). Your appointed time is now. This is your appointed season. EXPECTANCY IS THE BREEDING GROUND FOR MIRACLES. This is the set time for your change. If you don’t desire a change today, forget to see a change tomorrow. If you do not work out for a positive change today, how will it come to manifest tomorrow? If you don’t plan for a change, why and how will you expect it? EVERY CHANGE ON EARTH IS INITIATED BY SOMEONE LIKE YOU. For there to be a change in your desired direction, there is a need for warfare. MEN DON’T BUY CHANGE, THEY FIGHT OR WORK OUT A CHANGE. No king would want to be dethroned just like that. No king will allow his subject to take over his throne just like that. Kings protect their throne so you need to fight in order to unseat them and that is warfare in reality. FOR THERE TO BE A CHANGE, SOMETHING HAS TO MOVE. This season, every obstacle to your breakthrough, your salvation… must be rolled off your way. Every taskmaster shall encounter your God by fire. Every king controlling your domain shall be unseated by fire. Your crown you will take. You will stand tall and you shall be honored for life in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!
Job said, “… He will wait until his change comes” I want to ask you a question. How long have you waited for a change? Since you graduated from the higher institution, how long have you waited for employment? SOME WILL PATIENTLY WAIT FOR A CHANGE UNTIL THEY’LL DIE AND THEY WILL NOT SEE THE LONG AWAITED CHANGE. You don’t wait for a change for too long. You create the change that you desire. You may claim that you are waiting but you don’t know that you’re wasting precious time. I love what Bishop David Abioye once said. He said, “Waiting without doing something is wasting without knowing.” You can go ahead and create what you want.
Now let us look at four rudimentary conditions for change. Every one desiring for a change need meet these four basic conditions. In the book of Numbers 27:1-8, there was a story about the four daughters of Zalophehad who initiated a change for themselves and their forth-coming generations. Practically, they fulfilled these basic four conditions for change.
1. IDENTIFY YOUR PRESENT SITUATION
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself - Leo Tolstoy
Until you change within, you cannot change your environment. For you to change your world; you must change yourself first; and changing oneself starts with a discovery.
SELF DISCOVERY LEADS TO SELF-ACTUALIZATION.
UNTIL YOU DISCOVER YOUR BIRTHRIGHT, YOU CANNOT RECOVER YOUR HERITAGE.
The four daughter of Zalophehad discovered themselves that their father does not have a son. They took into cognizance their disadvantaged position. They foresee an opportunity to bridge it. Yes, as women, they have no legal right of inheritance to their father’s possessions but they can marry their father’s brothers in order to keep their fathers name. This is what they solicit for as they approached Moses saying, “Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father (Number 27:4). The truth of the matter is that, they identified their problem. They recognized their common placement. They knew that their common position is for an uncommon assignment. There is a maxim, which says that ‘a problem identified is half solved.’ They identified their present situation. IF YOU DON’T RECOGNIZE YOUR PRESENT SITUATION, YOU ARE DOOM TO FALL WITHOUT KNOWING IT. YOUR PRESENT COMMON POSITION IS THE BASE THAT DETERMINES YOUR LEVELING. IT IS YOUR AIRSTRIP FOR FLIGHT. Every man needs an origin. Recognize it for it is the reference point to your destination.
How is your situation like today? Are you able to identify your pending problems? You can buy a solution notebook and begin to write down your problems. As you continuously see them, you will be able to provide solutions to them. It is very important that you know your current state. UNTIL YOU IDENTIFY YOUR PRESENT STATE, YOU CANNOT MAKE A CHANGE. What is the problem in your background – family, marriage, academics, ministry, business etc? Identify them.
In the book of Luke 15:14-18, there is a story about a certain rich man’s son who after taking his part of inheritance from his fathers possession, took off to a far countryside and wasted all the money on wild spending. About the time that his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. The Bible says that the boy became so hungry that he persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. At a time, hunger so dealt with him that he intended to eat the pigs feed. Finally, he came to his senses. OPPOSITION BRINGS OUT YOUR POSITION. PROBLEM ENFORCES YOUR HEAD TO THINK. WHEN YOU THINK, YOUR BRAIN SWEATS AND BRINGS OUT SOLUTION. Verse 17 says, “And when he come to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to eat and to spare, and I perish with hunger. You may not be a good observant but situation can teach you to be a very good one. OPPORTUNITY SHOULD BE UTILIZED PROPERLY. Don’t bluff opportunities. Instead, go for opportunities. OPPORTUNITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY. The prodigal son identified his immediate problem. He knew the privileges and opportunities he has misused thus he yearned for a change. CHANGE STARTS WITH THE IDENTIFICATION OF A PROBLEM SITUATION. It is important you identify your problems now; you recognize your situation now.
2. REFUSE TO BE SATISFIED WITH YOUR PRESENT SITUATION
You cannot change what you’re contended with. Though a man may have all the money in the world, if his little car is okay with him, there is nothing that you’ll say that will make him change his mind to change the car. He will never understand that the car is no longer good for him until he finds out as it may start frequenting faults. You can always make a change to what you are not satisfied with. A lady who went to the boutique to buy cloths will change the one that is not convenient as she wears them on trial. That is how it is to a man’s situation. YOU CAN ONLY CHANGE A SITUATION THAT YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH. The daughters of Zalophehad challenged the status quo. They said that even if their father does not have a son, they would never allow his name to be wiped out; so they never agreed with their present situation. Continue to strive for a lasting quality. Even if you see yourself as having arrived, never agree to it. Even if you find yourself to be the best, still strive further with new innovation and creativity. Don’t ever stop yourself. Don’t ever say this is good enough. A leader that stops reading can never make a good leader. A success that is not worked upon deteriorates. The successes of yesterday are failures today. So strive higher and higher to make more marks that are positive.
Look at the children of Joseph. They got dissatisfied with their situation in Joshua 17:14.
“And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, why hast thou given me but one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people for as much as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto?”
Invariably, they are telling Joshua not to down size them. They showed their discontentment. The land you give to us is not enough knowing that we are not small people but great and that it is the doing of the Lord. They know themselves that they are great people, and as great people, they deserve great portion of the inheritance. They knew that they are not slaves and that they have bonafide right of inheritance to their fathers’ possessions. They knew their position so they showed forth their discontentment. Yes, they are great people and if good portion is not given to them, it may adversely affect their children and their children’s children. They therefore saw the need and gave reasons why the portion given to them should be increased.
May be you don’t know that you’re a great man, a great woman, and that your children are great. May be you don’t know that your family is a great family and that the Lord has blessed you immensely. May be you don’t also know that with what the Lord endowed you, money cannot really buy it. You may not have thought about your children and the generation following but you need to think about them now. Although, the Lord created you great; He has not relented. You are still a babe project that He’ll never abandon. The Psalmist said that daily the Lord loads him with benefits (Psalm 68:19). The God that daily load the Psalmist will load you too with benefits. He will increase your greatness and comfort you on every side (Psalm 71:21). And If the Lord will increase your greatness; that means that you are already great and need to be increased on a daily basis. Friend, you are great. You are the best. You are an eagle Christian. Stop behaving like a chicken.
Never be satisfied with your present situation. However glowing your life may be, God is not through with you yet. Determine to go forward. Yearn for a change. Dream to go higher and higher. Think big and grow richer. God is interested in your increase and that is why you grow from a baby to an adult. If He doesn’t want your increase, He would not have given you opportunity to grow. Once your mother gave birth to you, you would have remained a child. God is interested in your growth. Don’t be contented with your situation. If you were not born with silver spoon does not mean that you will not give birth to children with golden spoon. Refuse to be satisfied with your family status. If your father was a millionaire, you should be a billionaire. If your father was a poor man, you should be a rich man. This can only happen if you refuse the status quo. Go for a change, insist for a change, and create the change. When the prodigal son realized himself, he became badly discontented with his situation. Apostle Johnson Suleman said, “Being born into a poor family is destiny, but dieing without changing it is an error”. YOU CANNOT CHANGE WHAT YOU’RE SATISFIED WITH. The prodigal son wasn’t satisfied with his situation so he said, ‘I will arise and go to my father’. My friend you need to arise and refuse to be bond to your situation. Many Christian believers are too contended in many areas of their life. Some will even say things like; I don’t know what to do about this situation. I’m tired of disturbing myself because of this situation. IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, THEN DO WHAT YOU KNOW. How will you not get tired? How will you know what to do when you refuse to take it to the Lord? The Bible says ‘casting all your cares on Him, for he careth for you (1 Peter 5:7). You keep complaining instead of seeking God’s face. MEN WHO SEEK GOD’S FACE SUCK HIS BREAST. Some believers tends to contend like Terah the father of Abraham who on his way to Canaan with his family hang on at Haran and finally dwelt there. Haran became his promised land instead of Canaan so he died there. God had to tell Abraham to take off to the Promised Land Canaan, which is their land of destiny. You don’t see greener pastures and dwell there as if it is your promise land. Don’t be contented with it. That is not your Canaan. Keep moving ahead and don’t stop yourself. What lies ahead is more than what is presently in front of you. Take hold of what you can and keep going on. Look ahead; see beyond and keep moving forward. You must refuse to be satisfied with where you are before you can qualify for a change. Thank God for where you are today but don’t pitch your tent yet, move ahead. Where you are today may be good but you need to go forward for the better. Tomorrow may be better but you need to go for the best. You are the best and God wants you to manifest it.
You are great and God wants you to manifest it. Jabez was a man popularly known for his refusal to accept his ugly situation. In 1 chronicles 4:10, the Bible says that Jabez prayed to God about his situation and God granted him that which he requested. You can refuse that poor family background, that sickness, that family problem, that marital problem etc. You may be born into it but you can reject and refuse it inasmuch as you don’t like it. Don’t be afraid. If you reject and refuse what don’t like, then what you like will roll in. NO SPACE, NO VACANCY. Every vacancy is declared as a result of available space somewhere. Don’t be contended. God is not through with you yet. God will do something new. He wants to take you to your next level. May be you do not know. “… Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that loved him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
3. DESIRE A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
The desire for a change is what catalyses the action for the change. Success cannot be achieved without a strong desire for it. People don’t succeed by mistake. It is born out of strong desire for it. You must know what you want and earnestly desire to get it. It is what you have that will make you talk the way you talk, move the way you move and even do things the way you do. Your capacity has enough things to do with your decision. What pushes you to act faster is your desire for the change. For instance, it is the money in your hand that gives you the strong desire to own a car. To desire a change is not just wishing for a change or falling in love with it. It is more than mere wishes. It carrier with it the potent force to get what you want.
There is a price nature has attached to every meaningful thing in life. Meet the price and it’s all yours. Desire is therefore something you want so much which you are also ready to pay the price. Your strong wish for a sports car can’t take it out of the dealers sampling garage until you’ve paid the required cost for the sale. Desire therefore is the readiness and the enabling power to pay for what you want. It is simply put as your wish plus the ability to pay the cost. UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO PAY THE PRICE OF ANYTHING, YOU HAVE NO DESIRE FOR IT.
The four daughters of Zalophehad knew what they wanted. They were also ready to pay the price, so they asked for what they wanted. “Give us a possession amongst our father’s brothers”. If you must make a change, you need to know where you are, what you want and be ready to pay the price to getting it. Amidst all the calamities that befell Job, he never say bye to his challenge rather he stood his ground boldly and desired a change for turn around. Hear Job, “All the days of my appointed time will wait until my change comes” (Job 14:14) Job earnestly desired for a change. He went forward and paid the price and got the turn around “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).
Are you now ready to pay for the price for a change? You must be ready. You may have been born into a poverty-stricken family but with your strong desire for a change, you can change the poor family status to unusual prosperity. You need strong desire to turn around the battles of life to a walkover. Put on the light of your inner desire to make a positive difference. Do you know that you can limit God by the limits you place on your desire? Without a strong desire for the required change, God will helplessly watch you play down your destiny. No man has ever become successful without a strong desire. Thomas Edison was a man whose strong desire enabled him to drive through barriers. In his experiment on the Electric bulb, he tried 9,999 times and it didn’t work. He succeeded on his 10,000th attempt and it worked. This man did not see failure, impossibility and limitation. His desire for there to be light drove him beyond the limits. Abraham A. Lincoln was another man of strong desire. He contested American elections for so many times and lost. He refused to give up but finally won as the President of America. His comment about success read thus. Success is going from failure to failure without loosing your enthusiasm.” Enthusiasm here denotes strong desire.
Your elderly ones failed does not mean that you too will fail. David appeared before the Philistine Goliath with a strong desire to cut off his head and he succeeded. Though his elderly ones could not make any attempt, he entered the scene and created the required change. ALLOW YOUR STRONG DESIRE DRIVE YOU TO TAKE POSITIVE STEPS. You may have tried the 49th time and it never worked, try the 50th time. Let your desire drive you to study, make research, review your performance and hook up to God. Your family may be poor and idol worshippers but with a strong desire for a change, you can give your live to Christ and receive your part of riches in Christ Jesus. The daughters of Zalophehad desired for a change and they got it. Jabez desired for a change and he got it. The prodigal son also desired for a change and had it. What about Hannah whose case was recorded in 1 Samuel Chapter 1. All you need is to desire the change you want. Are you rich, poor, sick, healthy, sorrowful, rejoicing; you can still desire a change for the better and you’ll have it. If you need peace in your family, desire it. What ever you want, begin to desire it because you have the ability and God had placed his word concerning you that “….the desire of the righteous shall be granted”. (Prov. 10:24).
4. TAKE THE RIGHT ACTION
Having desired a change, it is paramount that you’ll take the right action. There are right actions. There are also wrong actions. Some wrong actions are no actions at all. A young graduate who instead of going out to look for job or create job, decide to stay at home praying for job is employing the wrong action and it is no action at all; because it will not produce the required result. A student who uses the time that is supposed to be used for studies for other ventures is doomed to fail exams. If what you desire can manifest through prayer, then pray. If it is through fasting, then fast. If it is through learning a trade, then go pay and learn. If it is studying your books, why waste time doing other things. Take action in the direction of your desired decision. It is your decision that will determine your future. There is always something to be done to bring the required change. The daughters of Zalophehad did not sat at home lamenting, murmuring and blaming their father for his inability to give birth to a son but rather, they swung into action. They presented their case to Moses. Moses enquired of the Lord and the law was rectified in their favour. In the school of divine direction, action follows obedience. TO OBEY IS TO ACT. They took action in obedience to their desired decision by approaching Moses the Prophet. Jabez approached the Most High God through prayer; the prodigal son took off to his father with an apology. TAKE THE RIGHT ACTION AND YOU’LL BE RIGHT BEFORE GOD AND MEN.
Your family, business, academic, ministry demands a change and you are the agent for the change. Your country needs a change. Let it start from you. Change yourself first. Take the right action and you’ll certainly change the world – for you are a world changer. Hear this.
You have waited long enough. It is time to create the needed change. If God were waiting for a change, heaven and earth would not be in existence today. If the four daughters of Zalophehad sat down, folded their hands and waited for a change, before their eyes, their fathers’ name would have been wiped out. Had it been the prodigal son did not go for a change, hunger would have killed him in a strange land. AN HUNGRY MAN IS AN ANGRY MAN. If the woman with the issue of blood did not rush to go touch the hem of our Lord Jesus Christ, she would have died with that ailment and her name would have been wiped out. If Jacob did not sort out his situation with God, Israel would not have been a nation. ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN VOICE. The Bible says, “ A little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth (Prov. 24:33-34). If you refuse to work, poverty will walk in and you can’t even tell him go out. What is required is action. Action is work. NOTHING WORKS WHEN YOU DON’T WORK IT OUT. NO WORK IS TOO SMALL TO START WITH. IT IS SMALL WORK THAT CULMINATES TO A BIG WORK.
While some men are waiting for a change, others are creating the required change. Without a changer, there can’t be a change. Every change is initiated by someone like you. Take a look at great innovations and inventions. It was birthed by men like you. Think about the industrial revolution of the 19th Century that birth technological advancement. Men like you created such change. You are not what you think you are. There is more in you yet to be discovered and as such, you can still be changed for the better. You have sat down and folded your hand for too long, you have fasted and prayed long enough; It is now time to create the desired change. This is the set time for the change. Don’t wait for tomorrow any more. The change can be created therefore, stop the complaining, stop the murmuring, stop the fear and also stop the doubt. Receive now the release of the power of God to cause and create the desired change in the name of Jesus!
If the change you need is a good job, now go ahead and create the job, stop wishing it. If wishes were to be horses, beggars on the street would ride. Stop wishing a good family. Create the good family. Stop wishing good grades in school. You can create excellent grades by devoting your time to seriously studying your books. READERS ARE LEADERS. May be they’ve been calling you church rat because of your poor status but right now, you can create an unusual wealth that will surprise them. This is the set time. UNTIL YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE A CREATOR, YOU CANNOT CREATE THE REQUIRED CHANGE. Therefore, let it sink into your consciousness that you are a creator. You can still be the millionaire you want to be. You can still be medical doctor, engineer, pastor etc. that you’re desired to be.
ACT NOW, FOR THIS IS ACTION TIME!
