I have to confess that I really wish true and lasting change happened instantaneously. I wish all I had to do was some sort of formulaic chant and God would change me, however I asked to be changed, in an instant.
I think marketers have figured out that I am not alone with these desires. I think there is something deep within each of us that wishes for paradise where we would not have to struggle so much for everything. Yet instead, we toil away at changing or we ignore our need to change.
What prompts these thoughts?
I am back on a diet and exercise program! I so wish I could just wake up tomorrow and my spare tire would be flat. Every day I have times where I am hungry and after working out the past three weeks for six days a week, my muscles are still a bit sore. I truly would like to not have these symptoms.
But, to lose weight in a healthy manner, I must go through a process. I can't just lose my last ten pounds instantly, but I have to slowly take off a pound or two a week. More than that and it would not be healthy. I keep telling myself that, but I don't care. I want to be changed right now!
Maybe I could make it easier.
Maybe I could buy an ab machine that will flatten my abs in minutes while watching TV. Maybe I could go on a crash diet of cabbage, seaweed, and Alpo for ten days and it would all be better. Maybe I could just ask God to zap me and then I will wake up tomorrow at my goal.
Yet, experience tells me that none of these "maybes" will work. Only daily faithfulness to a routine and following of my plan, which is by definition a blue-print of the process I laid out, will increase my muscle tone and shrink my fat. Today I am between where I was and where I hope to be. Yet, I take comfort and ask for God's grace to stick to the plan because I know the goal will be good!
How much of our inner transformation is like going on a diet and exercise plan?
We wait for something to change, for God to zap us, for a miracle "spirituality" machine. But God has made us a people of process and often not a people of immediate transformation.
What type of plan can you lay out for the next six weeks to help you grow?
Some of the more important and obvious means of growth are prayer, application of the gospel, reading and applying God's Word, and immersion in community. What can you do with these areas? What habits of transformation would you like to form over the next six weeks?
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