You are a powerful person. If change is needed, you have the exciting privilege of making choices that result in change.
This does not mean you are the center of your own individual universe. God is far smarter than you and so good and loving that he deserves to be involved in every detail of your life. He’s given you an owner’s manual for life called the Bible. That book has transformed nations and improved the welfare of millions over the millennia.
Wanting to change something you don’t like about your life is not a license for a divorce unless your spouse won’t stop cheating, beating or turning up drunk. It’s also not meant to set off a spate of mid-year resolutions you think you can keep because “it’s summertime and the livin’ is easy.”
Don’t make plans and then ask God to bless them. Ask God for his plans and then bless him. Find out what part you are to play and then ask him to give you the desire and strength to do it. Every area of your life is sacred. Maybe God has prompted you to do something about your weight because you’re pre-diabetic. Only you can make the right choices to make wise food choices and get regular exercise.
Maybe you’re unhappy and unfulfilled in your job. If an opportunity arises for more suitable employment or God calls you to further your education, go ahead and take the risk.
If you are lonely, only you can reach out to others. Note: This is not an excuse to join an internet dating website and marry the first person who wants you and looks like he or she might be a passable mate.
If you are concerned about a social justice issue, you can take steps to address the problem. Maybe you can get some like-minded people on board. With God’s help, great things can happen.
Don’t let fear, past failure, or self-doubt hold you back. God is on your side.
Little choices done for the right reasons add up to big things. Danny Lehmann, a missionary with Youth With A Mission, one of the largest interdenominational, international missionary sending agencies in the world, wrote a book several years ago called, *The Next Big Thing. He used the example of the “The Butterfly Theory.” This scientific principle explains that the flap of a butterfly’s wing in Mexico could spawn a hurricane in Texas. One tiny event sets off a chain reaction of cause and effect that eventually leads to something big and life-changing!
In the same way, each right choice done in obedience to God can lead us closer to our personal, God-given goals. On a larger scale, five dollars given to an organization that fights human trafficking might, as it links with thousands of other right choices, lead to the downfall of the sex trade in an entire nation!
If God is asking you to do something to bring about change or fulfill a legitimate dream he’s given you, you’re the only one who can take steps to see that it happen. You have the power to do amazing things when you are within God’s will. He is on your side and he will guide and strengthen you.
*Danny Lehmann, The Next Big Thing, (YWAM Publishing: 2012)
**image in post courtesy of stock images at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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