What does it take to bring change?  

Heading into the fall foliage forecast for Western Pennsylvania, it looks as though this might be our last green weekend.  Most, are ready.  I’ve seen pumpkins, cornstalks, and bales of straw donning porch steps for weeks.  People are getting hoodies and sweaters out.  My wife even changed the candles in the house to different scents.  Pumpkin sales along roadsides are reaching their peak.  Parks have enjoyed the droves coming to walk or hike in the fall. 

Yet, there’s not much color to the trees.

It’s like a great expectation that simply hasn’t happened yet.  We are waiting.  Hoping.  Eager to see the tide turn.  And yet, things are still green.  We wait.  We wonder.  How long will it take before things change?

Looking around our world today might seem to remind you of the same.  The outlook for where society is going might appear bleak at best.  Our society is bent on a progressive trend away from God instead of towards him.  I wish things were different.  I wonder if they will be.  Can things change?  

We want change yet are not quite sure how to obtain it.  We want things to be better for the next generation than for ours.  He hope, we pray, we call on the name of change to occur. 

Yet the leaves are still green.

And I’m waiting.

I’m reminded of the Old Testament account in 2 Chronicles.  Things had become bleak then too.  The kings of Judah had done such an incredible job of leading their people into sin that their society was on the verge of utter destruction.  If left alone, without seeking the Lord, isn’t that the path we are all on?  Things had gotten so bad that in chapter 28 we find out that King Ahaz even burned his own sons in the fire in sacrifice to pagan gods.  One of the saddest phrases in the whole Bible can be found in verse 24, in which he “shut the doors of the Lord’s temple.”

Now that’s bleak.  It was like the end of an era.  Wow!

But when Ahaz’s reign was over, his son Hezekiah become king.  It’s a glorious account of what can happen when one turns to the Lord.  It breathes life into you, as color and flair and vibrance blesses the heart and soul as you read about it, just like the blazing colors of fall that can bring such life into the wide eyes viewing them.  You can find it in 2 Chronicles 29.  King Hezekiah wanted change.  And change was about to happen.  The doors of the temple once more opened.  He got the priests together and challenged them.  They cleaned house.  They purified things and hearts.  Things changed.

You see, if we wait on someone else to bring change, it may or may not ever happen.  If you want to see your family saved, your coworkers saved, your school changed, your community changed, but do nothing to obtain it, then most likely you will never see it.  If Hezekiah waited on another, the nation would have simply continued in its ruined state.

Doing nothing leaves you only waiting.  

And the leaves will still be green.

Hezekiah was not a waiter.  He sought the Lord.  He brought such drastic change to his country that God was pleased with him.  He led God’s people with a right heart.  It was wonderful.

Bringing things close to home, we want change, but don’t know how to see it happen.  We might think we are just a number.  Hey, we aren’t kings of nations, right?  We are not presidents or governors or high-profile people, are we? 

Does that mean that we cannot bring change as well?

I think not.

In 2 Chronicles 29, Hezekiah reinstates the temple sacrifices.  It was something they were to do throughout the ages, something that somehow was stopped during the time of sinful practices in Judah.  In this chapter, what Hezekiah does is very reminiscent of King Solomon’s dedication of the temple.  They began the sacrifices of burnt offerings, began singing and worshipping, and began turning hearts back to the Lord.

The problem?  Hezekiah couldn’t do it himself.  If you read the chapter, you find out that this turning back to the Lord was so big, that they didn’t have enough priests to do the job. 

And this is the most exciting part of the account.  

There were more sacrifices than what the priests could handle.  What totally blew me away when reading this, was that the other Levites (not priests) “had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been” (vs 34).  Their hearts were pure.  They wanted to help.  They wanted change.  They wanted to please the Lord.  Under old testament law, only priests were supposed to do this task.  But here, in this special season of change, the pure hearts of these Levites exceeded the purity of the priests who were too few, and they jumped right into the action.

God can use ordinary people in big ways when our hearts are pure.

And so, let me ask the question once more.  Are you one of those, sitting around looking at green leaves, waiting on change to happen?  Do you feel insignificant in our society’s trajectory towards sin and the progressive tolerance of it?  Do you read the Bible and say to yourself, “how can I bring change if I’m just an ordinary person?”

God is pleased with the one who rolls up their sleeves, purifies their heart, and jumps right into the action.  Your family needs someone solid, spending the hard moments of time in prayer, prayers that keeps them together.  Your coworkers don’t know about Jesus’ love and forgiveness.  They need a candlelight shining in their darkness that brings them to the light.  There are a thousand opportunities each day in which people like you and I can raise our voice, our hands, or use our energy to make change in a dark world.

Just like the Levites.  People who weren’t even supposed to be doing such things.  

They made an enormous difference.

And change happened.

Incredible.

Now back to the leaves in Pennsylvania.  By next week, the rolling hills will most likely will be set ablaze with the full vibrance of red, yellow, and orange hues everywhere there is a leaf to be seen.

And when you look at it, won’t it be more satisfying knowing that you did you part to bring change?  

Do your part.  Make a difference.  Don’t wait on change but be an instrument of it.  Then pull a leaf.  Savor its beauty.  Know that what you are doing is making the world more beautiful.

My favorites are the reds.

By Chuck Carr