Change in our society takes on many different forms and occurs in many different ways. Many times people fear change whereas others will gladly embrace it. Webster's New World College Dictionary has many definitions for the word itself. These are some of the definitions: (1) the act or process of substitution, alteration, or variation (b) to undergo alteration or replacement (2) to pass from one phase to another as the moon. The Bible gives many examples of God administering change throughout the whole text. Some of the most notable changes God can make in a person's life are salvation, character, and circumstances.
Salvation is one of the greatest changes that can occur in a person's life. Deliverance from sin and the penalties is probably the most valuable change. The use of one's lips to implement the act of salvation is very significant. In the Old Testament, receiving salvation and its availability is more difficult than it is in the New Testament. The mere act of speaking to receiving salvation is a very great change as opposed to going before God with the many consequences of approaching Him without it: (Romans 10:9) “…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Another great change that is more than worth mentioning is that of a person's character as influenced by God. The book of Proverbs demonstrates this in numerous verses. (Proverbs 1:8) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” This verse conveys a person becomes more receptive to knowledge as a result of acknowledging and respecting God. It is necessary for one to first receive knowledge and wisdom from God before a change for a change of character to take place (Proverbs 2: 1-9) “My son if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, yea, every good path.”
Finally, the greatest change of all that God can possibly implement upon a person's lifestyle is one of a person's circumstances, and Job is perhaps one of the most notable examples of this change because of the suffering that he endured. The loss and the doubled restoration of his wealth, children, and health are well noted changes of his circumstances. His possessions and his family were very numerous before Satan and God's intervention over a disagreement: “And there was born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.” (Job 1: 2-3).
The losses Job experienced reflect the detrimental effects of having a relationship with God: “And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wind their eldest brother's house: And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: “…And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from the heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came another also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came yet another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee…” Job's life was changed instantly because of God's intervention for the worse for a period.
The change not only affected his assets and his family, but it also affected his health: “And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. (Job 2: 6-7)” Job was unintentionally tormented by his friends (Bildad the Shuhite, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Zophar the Naamathite) because of their erroneous advice given to him throughout the whole book. However, Job was blessed with twice as much capitol after a sharp yet insightful reprimand from God: “And when 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…So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. (Job 10, 12).”
The changes God implements in the books of Romans, Proverbs, and Job are not necessarily uncommon or unlikely to occur in present era. Many Christians still believe in miracles despite how irrational and unscientific they may seem to the greatest intellectual minds of the modern times. Science and society may not necessarily be able to verify God's existence and influence upon peoples' lives; however, there is no denying there are many events and artifacts that render the most brilliant scientists, philosophers, theorists, and many (not excluding Harvard and Oxford) scholars at a loss for an explanation or a reason.
Since God is regarded an infinitely powerful being, there is no virtually no limit to the events that He can cause or stop; therefore, it is impossible to completely measure the extent of His capabilities. Consequently, It is impossible to measure the entire capacity that God has on a person's life. How will God influence the lives of people today and generations in the future? Only He (God) knows for sure.
