Power Of The Pivot | Week 1 | Pastor Ben Pierce

This message comes from Generation Church, delivered by Pastor Ben Pierce in the “Power of the Pivot” series. Suppose you’re facing seasons of uncertainty, upheaval, or unexpected change. This article distils the message, gives practical steps rooted in Scripture, and walks you through three biblical principles for moving from storms to strength. Whether you’re dealing with a job loss, a marriage strain, parenting transitions, or the curveballs life keeps pitching, this guide will help you pivot with purpose.

Why Pivoting Matters

Life throws curveballs, we all know that. Sometimes, it’s a minor irritation; sometimes, it’s catastrophic. The ability to pivot on one foot and change direction is one of those rare skills that separates people who survive difficulty from people who thrive because of it.

Pastor Ben uses everyday images to make the point: athletes pivot in sports to create opportunity; pilots use landmarks to execute critical maneuvers; race drivers brake and shift weight to shave time on a curve. Those physical pivots mirror spiritual pivoting. We need a better strategy or skill, spiritual discernment, and a deeper relationship with Jesus to know how to turn.

The Thesis: Storms Can Be Gateways to Strength

Pastor Ben clearly names the series and the theme: “From storms to strength.” What looks like gathering clouds, marital conflict, job restructuring, rebellious teens, a health diagnosis, or a church transition can carry God’s refreshing rain. The point isn’t to romanticise suffering but to recognise that God often uses change to reposition, refine, and reassign us for what’s next.

Three Principles to Pivot Well (A Practical Roadmap)

There are three simple, repeatable, scriptural steps Pastor Ben lays out to help you navigate change consistently and confidently. He frames these as lessons from Jesus’ life, teaching, and key moments in the disciples’ lives.

Discern Change: Don’t merely detect it.
Embrace Change: Don’t merely experiment with it.
Focus Forward: Don’t fixate on the past.

1. Discern Change: Don’t Merely Detect It

Detecting change involves reacting to surface signs and external circumstances. Discernment consists of listening to what God is doing amid an event. Pastor Ben points to Matthew 16:1-5, where Jesus rebukes religious leaders for only reading the sky while missing the season. In other words, the visible weather isn’t always the whole story.

“Change must be discerned. It cannot be just detected.”

When layoffs hit, the reflexive response is to send out a résumé. That might be right, or it might not be. What if the reorganisation was a nudge toward entrepreneurship? What if a closed door is actually a corridor to a better calling?

Discernment requires intimacy with God. You can’t hear well if you’re not listening. The practical application is simple: stop, pray, and ask three intentional questions whenever a pivot arrives:

God, what are you doing in this moment?
What is the purpose of this disruption in my life or calling?
What step do you want me to take next?

Pastor Ben cautions against seeking public signs and sensational prophets as shortcuts. The Bible’s leadership qualifications are character-based and fruit-based, not fame-based. Discernment often looks mundane: quiet prayer, Scripture, counsel from mature believers, and patient listening.

Practical Example: A Personal Story of Discernment

Pastor Ben shares a candid personal example that helps illustrate discernment in action. As a young researcher, he wanted to break into pharmaceutical sales, but early attempts failed. Doors closed, the first instinct could have been to assume it wasn’t God’s will. Instead, he responded differently: he kept seeking God about the season and intentionally pursued the path anyway.

He read a book on breaking into pharma sales, reworked his résumé, and pursued the industry despite setbacks, including a hiring freeze at his desired company. Rather than quit, he took a smaller job while continuing to call the target role into existence. After consistent effort and prayer for six months, he got the call. He beat out thousands of candidates and landed that job, which helped his family save the funds to launch the church. That job wasn’t just a job; it was part of a divinely orchestrated pivot.

Lesson: discernment isn’t cosmic clairvoyance. It’s a consistent dialogue with God and persistent faith amid obstruction.

2. Embrace Change: Don’t Merely Experiment With It

After discernment comes commitment, so it’s tempting to “dip a toe in” and keep a backup plan. Pastor Ben is blunt: half-hearted commitment produces half-results. Jesus told Peter in Luke 22:31-32, “Satan has asked to sift you… But I have prayed for you.” That gospel truth enables bold embracing: Jesus is praying and advocating for you even when you make mistakes.

“Change is not something that you can dabble in. You can’t just do it half‑hearted. Half‑hearted commitment produces half results.”

Peter’s story is instructive. He was told he would be sifted; he failed (he denied Jesus three times), but Jesus prayed for him and restored him. His failure wasn’t final. Embracing change doesn’t presuppose perfection; it presumes God’s grace amid the imperfect process.

Pastor Ben uses an arresting modern image to drive the point home: rockets. Launching into a new orbit requires full-throttle commitment. If the launch team hesitates, the craft falls back to earth. The same is true spiritually: partial effort in a God-directed pivot leads to regression.

How to Move From Experimentation to Full Embrace

Confirm with God through prayer and Scripture.
Remove the “backup parachute” mentality and commit to the season where possible.
Prepare practically: learn, re-skill, get counsel, and plan.
Accept that mistakes will happen; Jesus is your Advocate.

When you commit, God strengthens you “so that when you have turned back you will strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). In other words, embracing your pivot not only blesses you, it positions you to help others later.

3. Focus Forward: Don’t Fixate on the Past

It’s easy to romanticise what’s behind you and to let nostalgia keep you from the future. Pastor Ben points to the disciples who returned to fishing after Jesus’ crucifixion, their old trade, and caught nothing. They were fixated on the past and defaulted to an identity that God had moved them beyond.

“You can’t navigate forward by looking in the rearview mirror.”

Jesus restored Peter and refocused him toward the future. God invites us to take the same posture: repent of our retracement, accept grace, and look forward to the next assignment.

The consequences of fixation are real. The Israelites could have reached the Promised Land in eleven months; instead, they wandered forty years because they praised the supposed comforts of slavery over the journey toward freedom. Fixation costs an entire generation.

What forward focus looks like

Use the rearview mirror for perspective, learn lessons, but don’t live there.
Refuse nostalgia that romanticises bondage or compromises the direction God is asking you to go.
Ask: “What has God redeemed from my past, and how does that inform the next step?”
Set your eyes on the windshield: clear, intentional next steps that align with what you discern God doing.

Practical Takeaways: A Short Field Guide to Pivoting

Below are concrete actions you can use next time life turns a corner on you.

Pause and pray. When a storm approaches, create space to ask God what He is doing. Journal the impressions and confirm them over days, not hours.
Ask three discerning questions: What is God doing? What does He want from me? What step should I take next?
Gather wise counsel. Discernment often requires community-trusted friends, mentors, or leaders who are fruit-bearing and grounded in Scripture.
Make a plan and commit. Move from experiment to embrace by setting realistic milestones and removing easy retreat options that undercut commitment.
Allow room for mistakes. Missteps aren’t final. Keep walking; your failures can be formative and redemptive when placed under Christ’s advocacy.
Lead well for others. Remember how your pivot affects the people around you: your family, team, and church. Your faithful navigation can be the model others need.
Anchor in the unchanging Christ. The only stability in a changing world is Jesus. Anchor in Him and let that security fuel brave moves.

Scriptures That Anchor the Pivot

Pastor Ben weaves Scripture into every step of the roadmap. Here are the key references he uses and how they apply:

Matthew 16:1-5: Don’t mistake outward signs for spiritual seasons. Discernment is necessary.
Luke 22:31-32: Jesus warns of spiritual sifting but prays for us; we can embrace the change knowing He intercedes.
John 21: The disciples revert to old ways after the cross; Jesus restores and redirects.
Romans 8:34: Jesus is at the Father’s right hand interceding for us, our Advocate in every pivot.
James 1:17: God is the unchanging giver of good gifts; hold on to Him amid shifting shadows.
Hebrews 11:15: Fixation on the past opens the door to regression; choose forward motion.

Common Obstacles and How to Overcome Them

When we tell ourselves to pivot, we often encounter several common barriers. Pastor Ben names these and gives a pastoral response for each.

1. Fear of the Unknown

Fear is natural. Anchor in the truth that Jesus is praying for you and intercedes on your behalf. Fear doesn’t mean God isn’t present; you must lean into His presence.

2. Desire for more Signs

We live in a high-content world where prophetic voices and viral personalities abound. Pastor Ben warns: the loudest voice isn’t always the wisest. Put time into a relationship with God and seek counsel from those who evidence fruit and character rather than follower counts.

3. Half-Hearted Commitment

Commitment requires risk. Remove easy ways out where possible, and make practical plans (skills, finances, study) to support the pivot so your faith is backed by wisdom and diligence.

4. Nostalgia and Regret

It’s tempting to romanticise the past or to be paralysed by regret. Use the rearview mirror; don’t live there. Reframe past losses as God’s pruning that prepared you for future fruit.

Questions for Reflection and Group Discussion

To make these principles actionable, here are questions for personal reflection, prayer time, or small group discussion.

What recent “storm” in my life feels most threatening right now? Have I asked God what He is doing in it?
Am I approaching this season with a “toe-in-the-water” mentality or a committed heart? What would full embrace look like?
What mistakes have I made in previous pivots that I fear repeating? How can Jesus’ advocacy change my perspective on those mistakes?
Who around me needs to see a faithful pivot? How is my response modelling faith for others?
What practical step can I take this week? Is it a forward-looking move aligned with what God seems to be doing?

Final Encouragement: An Anchor That Doesn’t Change

Life will change, circumstances will shift, and people will disappoint. But there is an anchor who does not change. In James 1:17, we read that every perfect gift comes from the Father of lights, “who does not change like shifting shadows.” That immutability, God’s consistency, is the safe ground for every pivot we are called to make.

Pastor Ben’s closing challenge is pastoral and prophetic: don’t be afraid of the clouds on the horizon; they may be God’s way of bringing refreshing, repositioning, and new abundance into your life. Jump in with both feet, embrace what God is doing, and focus forward with His presence as your stabilising force.

Closing Prayer and Invitation

If you’re reading this and a storm is forming, take a moment to pray, discern, and ask for God’s clarity. If you’re tempted to return to what’s comfortable, consider whether comfort keeps you from a greater calling. Ask God for courage to commit, grace when you stumble, and a forward focus that refuses regression.

And if you’re part of a faith community like Generation Church, remember that pivots aren’t only personal. Corporately, we’ll face seasons of change, and we can choose to face them together, strengthened by the same presence that guided the disciples through their darkest nights.

Takeaway: A Short Action Plan

Tonight: spend 10 minutes asking God three questions (see above) and journal what you hear.
This week: find one person of spiritual maturity to discuss what you discerned.
Next step: Identify one practical commitment you will make toward the pivot (e.g., training, resume, relocation discussion, therapy, financial plan).
Keep going: when you stumble, remember Jesus is your Advocate, failure isn’t final.

Every pivot is an in to motivation: from storms to strength. With discernment, commitment, and a forward focus anchored in Jesus, you won’t merely survive change; you’ll be positioned for God’s best next season.

If you found this helpful, consider watching the full message from Generation Church (Pastor Ben Pierce) for the complete delivery and worship response that followed this preaching. Let this be the beginning of a healthier, more courageous way to pivot through life.

Posted in Power Of The Pivot Series