“The Invitation We Don’t Want: To Change”

I got tired of lugging around heavy purses, so I changed the type of bag — my shoulders were screaming for change, my back was begging for change. So, I figured it was time for a change.

The changing of the beloved handbags did nothing to solve my problems. Let’s face it, the external style, the appearance and design are mere superficial changes. Yes, I may have modified the contents of my new trendy bags, but I maintained the negative real issues.

And then one day, as if a flood light beamed on the inside of my mind, I simply emptied all the contents of my bag, as I did all the other bags in my collection. I had to visibly see what was causing my issues, from the inside. And lo and behold, the findings were shocking — and embarrassing at the same time.

To my surprise, all the while I was in search of identifying a root cause and thinking I was making the right change, when my issues were the change — at the bottom of my bags. Literally. Quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies — it was all there in bold-faced American minted metals.

Change.

It was weighing me down, holding me back and causing me unnecessary pain.

My resistance to dealing effectively with it, was keeping me stuck.

let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 NLT

How often do we assume that change is going to be painful for us to undergo, that we will do anything to avoid it? And yet, we intentionally ignore the obvious — even as it stares us in the face. We fear the possible ridicule, judgment and criticisms of onlookers — but seriously Girlfriend, no one is really looking at us that hard, because quite honestly, we’re all busy with our own issues of life.

I’ve heard it said so frequently, and it’s finally settling into my brain ‘why’ GOD permits me to hear this: “You cannot fix what you do not acknowledge.”

The way of a fool is right in his own opinion, but the one who listens to advice is wise. Proverbs 12:15 NET

No pun intended, but I had to get to the bottom of things to really see what my true problem was. And then I had a choice. I could continue to make excuses and keep changing the exterior (the bag), or I could do the hard work of changing (surrender that my will wasn’t working) in order to start to heal.

I know that in my tiny corner of the world, that this small example may make some sense (not cents) to someone (maybe you’d like to throw me a high five or gesture a fist-bump). I’ll even go so far as to say that the hard work of change can allow GOD to launch a healing — because if you allow Him access to the root, He’ll remove it and replace it with Himself. That’s the transformation and maturity I’m after. How about you?

Maybe that pain you’re experiencing is shouting because you’ve been ignoring necessary change that can only come about from total surrender. Let that sit with you for a bit.

Change, when surrendered to the Master Designer, can yield extraordinary results. The key is the surrender. If you think you can initiate the change and carry it out so that it works and sticks (in other words, needs no revisions or do-overs), I can guarantee that it won’t be long before you experience a rebound. I’ve been there. It just adds to the frustration of having to start all over again.

Anything placed in Jesus’ Hands will exceed what we could have ever dreamed of.

 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, Ephesians 3:20 ESV

I look at change differently these days. After all, we know for certain that change is constant. I carry less of it in my purse and select one that cannot hold much of it. But when GOD whispers that change is on the horizon, I consciously try to welcome it rather than avoid or hide from it. It’s a mindset that comes from preaching to myself, “Jesus, you will handle this through me by dealing with it in me.“

Is anything too hard for the Lord? Genesis 18:14a NKJV

Learn to welcome the change, Sweet Friend. It could very well be that GOD has something phenomenal waiting for you on the other side of it.

I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~

LindaRJohnson, TitusTwo Visionary