Thursday 13 September 2012

The Pain of Change

I read a very interesting devotional by Joyce Meyer this morning.  She was talking about how God works in our lives, allowing difficult situations for spiritual growth and to bring about change.  But in that, she readily admits that spiritual growth can be difficult - not just for the time and effort you have to put in, but also for the tough situations you have to encounter and persevere through.

In making that point Joyce had this quote about her own personal resistance to change.  "Finally I realized that I was trying to avoid pain, but I had pain anyway.  The pain of staying the way we are is much worse than the pain of changing."

What a profound thought.  We so often resist change because it can be hard, because it hurts, and because, yeah, quite often, change sucks!  Or at least it feels that way.  But it comes down to a simple premise.  We know that God is good, right?  And we know that if He's trying to effect change in our lives, it's for a good purpose.  So are we really helping ourselves when we resist change?  When we won't give up a sinful habit, forgive the person who hurt us, be generous with our money, etc?  The answer is pretty obvious, Joyce Meyer nailed it.

So the simple question with the not-so-simple answer - what change is God trying to instil in your life?

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