Recalibrate What Matters

Intro:

We’ve been talking alot about change these last few weeks

but we haven’t talked about wisdom during transition

You need to focus on the changes that will move you forward

not just the merely important things on your radar

but the critical things

prioritize

Drastic changes, while sometimes necessary, have a tendency to fail

can lead to relapse, discouragement, apathy and grief.

New years resolutions?

Don’t let the scope of change necessary paralyze you

it won’t happen overnight

and rarely happens all at once

Not all changes serve as a catalyst to a recalibrated life or a healthy life

hair color

When remodeling an old home, you have to distinguish between load-bearing walls and non-load-bearing walls

Load bearing walls are capable of supporting a structural load in addition to their own weight

and are essential to maintaining the structural integrity of a house

a non load-bearing wall , by contrast, is subject only to its own weight and configuration

often refered to as partition walls or floating walls

While all walls can be taken down during a remodel,

but a wise contractor knows the difference in difficulty between removing a partition wall and a load bearing wall.

Simply put, some changes are easier than others

the real difficulty comes from figuring out what areas of your life are load bearing

-Jenga-

Judges and Kings

For 300 yrs, Israel had no king

Instead, God appointed judges to lead His people

These judges were holy men (and one women)

all of them called by God

They led the Israelites in battle

and delivered them from foreign oppressors

They helped the people to serve God

After their leadership successes,

they modeled true servant leadership by returning to their homes and fields,

often openly rejecting praise or the opportunity to rule

As Israel transitioned to a monarchy, God gave the nation Saul

who ultimately failed as a leader and reminded Israel of her need for righteousness

Through Samuel, God appointed David to be king, creating the ideal ruler for Israel

and a prototype of the rule of Christ.

Supports put in place

Samuel choosing David

1 Samuel 16:10–13 NASB95

10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 16:14–23 NASB95

14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him. 15 Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. 16 “Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 Then one of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.” 20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul by David his son. 21 Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. 22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

friendship with jonathan saved david multiple times

1 Samuel 24:1–22 NASB95

1 Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. 4 The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. 5 It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his men, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way. 8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. 9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you’? 10 “Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 “Now, my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. 12 “May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. 13 “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. 14 “After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? 15 “The Lord therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” 16 When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you. 18 “You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the Lord delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me. 19 “For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. 20 “Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 “So now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.” 22 David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

David waited until Saul’s deat

then inquired of God before allowing himself to be made king

Solomon’s Son

1 Kings 12:1–11 NASB95

1 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). 3 Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Then he said to them, “Depart for three days, then return to me.” So the people departed. 6 King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?” 7 Then they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him. 9 So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ But you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! 11 ‘Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”

Here is a tool to help you with figuring out what to prioritize when recalibrating your life

Four Quadrants of Change

Mission Critical - Merely Important

Load Bearing vs Non-Load-Bearing

Mission Critical is anything that is designed to draw you closer to God

going to church

reading your bible

praying

tithing

sharing Christ with others

Important are things that don’t affect eternity, but are still important in this life

Your job

your appearance

your health

your home

your car

your pets

load bearing are the things in your life that are going to affect you and those around you the most

your time

your spending

your relationships

non load bearing are the more superficial changes that would be viewed as positive or superficial

your appearance

your habits

your diet

Mission Critical & Non Load Bearing Changes

Mission Critical is anything that is designed to draw you closer to God

going to church

reading your bible

praying

tithing

sharing Christ with others

non load bearing are the more superficial changes that would be viewed as positive or superficial

your appearance

your habits

your diet

Start here when it comes to change

get quick winds

celebrate those wins

Make changes that will draw you closer to God and his Mission

but will not cause a drastic change or a cultural clash

Commit to read your Bible every day

start small

a chapter, a verse, something is better than nothing

commit to praying every day

even if it’s just the ACTS model or the Lord’s prayer

talk to God

our faith is not a religion of empty rituals

it is a relationship

you can’t maintain a relationship without communication

Address any habits that put a barrier between you and God

addictions

Some Christians must evaluate their appearance when they first come to Christ

are there shirts that don’t represent God well in your wardrobe

are the clothes you are wearing purposely provocative

Joshua before conquering promise land

Joshua 5:1–12 NASB95

1 Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel. 2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.” 3 So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, to whom the Lord had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 Their children whom He raised up in their place, Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way. 8 Now when they had finished circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. 11 On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.

Mission-critical, load-bearing changes

Mission Critical is anything that is designed to draw you closer to God

going to church

reading your bible

praying

tithing

sharing Christ with others

load bearing are the things in your life that are going to affect you and those around you the most

your time

your spending

your relationships

These are the big changes that will make the most difference in your life

When you take down a load-bearing wall,

you have to create a supporting system to hold up the house while the old walls come down

it’s expensive

it takes time

but it must be done

Josiah

He started with non load bearing changes

2 Kings 23:1–3 NASB95

1 Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

then things got real

2 Kings 23:4–8 NASB95

4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. 6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. 7 He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba;

Important, Non Load-Bearing

Important are things that don’t affect eternity, but are still important in this life

Your job

your appearance

your health

your home

your car

your pets

Appearance, Diet

Habits

Daily choices

This is a great area to establish some behaviorial momentum

usually the easiest to change

with the exception on addictions

these changes have the least impact on your life and eternity

beard

toothpaste

having the least impact also means that they are the least important

pets don’t matter in eternity

eating healthy is important to being a good steward of the body God has given us

and depending on the person, it may be more mission critical or load bearing

however, switching from drinking diet pepsi to unsweatened tea isn’t going to matter in the end

Don’t get obsessed with the things in this category

the devil wants you to focus the most on these things

your job over family or church

status

appearance to the detriment of your fincances

house repairs

health (this life is temporary)

Samson

Important, Load-Bearing

Important are things that don’t affect eternity, but are still important in this life

Your job

your appearance

your health

your home

your car

your pets

load bearing are the things in your life that are going to affect you and those around you the most

your time

your spending

your relationships

You can and should put these changes on the back burner.

You will eventually have the emotional bandwidth to get to them

but if the aren’t hurting your relationship with God

then don’t get lost on them

Don’t waste your emotional energy by trying to deal with these immediately

-Saul and the sacrifices-

1 Samuel 13:7–14 NASB95

7 Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. 11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” 13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

Wise people recognize that the wisest thing to do, at times, is simply to wait until the culture shifts

Talking about changing doesn’t mean a thing unless you make a plan

if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail

set deadlines

be specific about what you are changing

start small

are you phasing something in or out

if you need supports, such as accountability or help, identify them

tell someone