6 Stages Of A Call Of A Change AgentSample

Stage 1:  Crisis is Often the Front Door of Your Larger Story  

Before we enter the first stage of our larger story we often experience an event designed to usher us into the process of discovering our larger story. For Paul, it was being struck with blindness by Jesus; for David, it was the battle with Goliath, for the disciples, it was when Jesus appeared to be a ghost on the water; for Joseph, it was being thrown into a pit. Like Joseph, there is often a dream or vision of what we believe God may be calling us to do. Joseph had a dream that indicated something was going to happen in his future. He did not totally understand his dream, but that dream had a devastating impact on his life when he publicly shared it with his brothers, who demonstrated that they could not handle it. 

Joseph was immature and lacked wisdom at this stage of his life. His brothers perceived him as the favored son at their expense—he got a beautiful coat the others did not get, and so his brothers became jealous of Joseph’s favoritism. His dream was from God, but his handling of it showed an immaturity that God was going to use to create a new Joseph and save a nation through him. God used this dream to usher him into the crisis stage. 

When Joseph was thrown into the pit, it ushered him into a crisis that must have created a level of fear Joseph had never known before. He was thrust from one place in life to a whole new place, with no rights or choices, and, no doubt, with a questioning of God’s love. “Where is my God? How could he let this happen to me? What happened to the dream I received from God?” 

Oswald Chambers said, “Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in ‘the shadow of His hand’” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light—that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light.

Friend, you may feel like you are in prison; you may feel stuck in your circumstances. Let God meet you in this place. Let this be a time of discovering the power and presence of God during adverse circumstances. Sometimes the winds of adversity force us to adjust our sails to capture a different kind of wind. What should be our response when we are faced with a crisis?