A Season of Shifting

At my church last Sunday, I heard the word 'Shift' by two different people. The first 'Shift' that I heard was from the pastor, and the next by a parishioner. Later on during the week, it caused me pause as I further considered its significance. As I recall, the basic emphasis was that there is a present 'Shifting', and there would be more 'Shifting' taking place in our church. The dictionary indicates that 'Shift' means to change place, position, or direction; a change of emphasis or attitude; to move or change gears. My father died when I was 13, and I must have been 11 or 12 when he taught me to drive. In those days, most vehicles had a stick shift or 4-speed transmissions. So that was the first kind on which I learned to drive. My father's 4-speed required 'Shifting' from one speed to the next, but the engine would stall if you 'Shifted' from 1 to 4 and nearly stall from 1 to 3. One could possibly 'Shift' from 2 to 4, but it was not advisable. So, as you can see, there was a lot of 'Shifting' going on in my childhood. 'Shifting' is also required when one slows down and speeds up again. So there is constant upshifting and downshifting. Without both, there is no way that one can navigate to his/her destination. 'Shifting' is not new to The Lord, and we are better served by Him if we yield to His 'Shifting', A major 'Shifting' took place each time God decided for the Israelites to take the next stage of their journey. God led them by the movement of the cloud by day and fire by night. Just prior to the Israelites' crossing into the Promise Land, Moses protested, but God's mind was made up to change the leadership from Moses to Joshua. Another major 'Shifting' took place when the apostle Paul was determined to take the gospel to Asia. However, The Holy Spirit forbade him to go into Asia at that time. We would do well to remember that sometimes the 'Shifting' may cause us pain, but let us realize that ultimately, everything God does is for our gain. 050821cjPS