Adjust!
We’ve been looking at principles involved in shifting into new seasons created by Holy Spirit. We have talked about the need to recognize the shift, then move forward in faith. Today I want to challenge us to make the necessary adjustments to shift into the new season.
I’ve grown comfortable with the word “adjustment.” For many years people have adjusted me. In fact, I’ve been adjusted so many times - I’ve had adjustments to my adjustments - that I sometimes think I may finally be fully adjusted.
My dad adjusted my attitude when I was growing up. He used a belt, menacing looks, strong words, the loss of privileges, and monetary deprivation. Ceci and our two daughters have adjusted my thinking more than once. They use looks and words, also. Because of them, I have adjusted my thinking towards the art of communication, the importance of remembering certain dates, the number of shoes a woman needs in order to function, and the broad-ranging effects of hormones.
My dentist has adjusted my bite so my teeth will last longer and my jaws feel better. He also took a bite out of my wallet.
My chiropractor has adjusted my back and neck so I will feel better. He once told me I had a subluxation. “Is that good or bad?” I asked.
“Bad.”
“Can you take it out?” I said, trying not to show my alarm.
“No, You don’t extract subluxations - where have you been, the dentist? But if you’ll come in 50 times, I can adjust it,” he assured me. I don’t know if I still have the subluxation, but I’m adjusted. So is my bank balance.
On one occasion in Colorado (where we lived at the time), my insurance adjuster did his thing. I always wondered why they called them adjusters; but when the pipes froze and burst in the ceiling of my garage, he adjusted my thinking, explaining to me what the insurance company was and wasn’t going to give me to fix the pipes, the sheetrock, and my car, which had been scratched from falling debris. By explaining to me what all the clauses, exceptions, and deductions meant, it seems that most of what I had been paying for was the peace of mind that comes from knowing he would be there to personally explain to me what he couldn’t do. I certainly felt adjusted.
The policeman adjusted my thinking toward speed, my jeweler toward the value of rocks, and Starbucks toward the price of a cup of coffee…as you can see, I’m pretty well-adjusted.
God adjusts us also. He has adjusted me many times - my heart, my thinking, my direction, even my hopes and dreams. He also adjusts nations.
There is a fascinating word in the New Testament, katartizo, that relates to this. We’ve discussed the word before. It means “to adjust; to put a thing in its appropriate position.”(1) The word is used in the context of mending nets (Matthew 4:21), repairing schisms or relational breaks (1 Corinthians 1:10), and even restoring broken lives (Galatians 6:1). The word has also been used to describe the restoration of a dislocated joint or broken bone. So, as you can see, the concept of this word involves proper alignment. This includes realignment, resulting in healing or restoration.
Would it surprise you, however, that God uses this word to describe the proper alignment of the seasons of time? He declared in advance His plans for the future of nations and people. Hebrews 11:3 says, in its more literal and accurate rendering, that the “ages” (Greek - aions) were “properly aligned or connected” (Greek - katartizo) by the word or decree of the Lord. In other words, God decreed the end from the beginning - and the ages in between. This doesn’t mean that He planned and determined every event that occurs in individuals and nations - personal free-will and human decision making must be factored into this. It means that He decreed the flow of history, from age to age, and has determined the final outcome.
At times, breaches occur that cause the need for corrections in this flow of history. This occurs in nations, just as it does in individuals. Simply stated, history needs to be healed. Whether it be on a corporate level, such as the Fall of humanity, wars, racial division, etc., or on a more individual level in the sense of broken relationships, loss, etc., the fact is that history often needs healing.
This corporate level of healing is what is referred to in verses like Isaiah 58:12 (NAS): “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations, and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell” (See also Isaiah 61:4). Likewise, this would be the concept spoken of in 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NAS): “[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
God, the holy Chiropractor of history, heals our dislocations - our subluxations. He Katartizo-s the aions, made possible through repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness, prayer, fasting, prophetic decrees, and other biblical actions, all of which are effective because of the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise to me when the Lord speaks of shifting or adjusting a nation. Due to the positive effects of much prayer, fasting, repentance, etc., on the part of many, it is now time for the fruit of these actions to occur: realignment…repairing…rebuilding…restoring…healing. I and many other intercessors around the nation find ourselves in a glorious time of history wherein our country can be healed, rather than destroyed (see Ezekiel 22:30-31). Broken places can be katartizo-ed - realigned spiritually - with the plans and purposes of God.
Just as God adjusts nations, however, He adjusts us, He matures us. Holy Spirit causes us to think differently, adjusting our methods, systems, and ways. It is foolish to think we can shift into new seasons created by God without changing personally and corporately. It is often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing while expecting different results. I am not accusing the church of being insane; but I am saying there are few entities on earth that repeat the same methods and routines as often as the church, while expecting different results. When God changes the times and seasons, we must change also.
Ask Holy Spirit to show you what He wants to change in you. Ask Him what needs to change in your thinking, praying, and dreaming. Pastors, ask Him what you need to change in your congregations, and your services. God has said it is time to shift, and we must do so!
Pray with me:
Father, You are conforming us to the image of Your Son. As a nation, You are adjusting and conforming us back into a people You can use for Your purpose and glory. Your apostle Paul, even at the end of his glorious ministry, was still acknowledging that he had not yet been perfected, had not yet attained. He knew there was still need for growth.
We, too, acknowledge this and invite You to adjust us. Heal our dislocations, both individually and corporately. Heal the breaches in our national history, and heal the broken places in our personal lives. We want to shift with You into the next season.
Adjust the church. Make us willing to think differently, function differently, and plan differently. We desire to go from glory to glory, from faith to faith, and from outpouring to outpouring. May the coming season find us able to manifest Christ in ways we have not yet been able to. We want to make Him known. May He be seen clearly in our midst and in our lives. Through this, send revival to the earth - the greatest ever. And we ask for this in His name alone. Amen.
Our decree:
We declare that we ARE being transformed into the image of Christ and will shift with Holy Spirit into the next season.
Portions of today’s post were taken from my book Redeeming the Prophetic Destiny of a Nation.
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
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Spiros Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, New American Standard Bible (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1977), 1846