I Want Change, But…
One of the biggest “hall passes” the enemy offers us is the excuse of “I’m too late.”
Have you ever heard that fearful, hopeless voice in your head mumble these words?:
“I’m too old.”
“If only I had started years ago.”
“Time is no longer on my side.”
Hand up, I sure have, too! How about we all quit the confusion, and correct our thinking.
So often we think the answer is to be Time’s friend when we forget – Time has to answer to God, and we are friends of God (John 15:15)!
God, in all of His wisdom, gentleness, and beauty, is in control of the tides and seasons of your life. Many of us are overly concerned with sequential or chronos time – the timeclock of years and ages swooshing by, with our dreams and goals a mere blur now.
But God protects our divine moments, our appointed or kairos times for awakening to change that are indiscriminate of a date on the calendar, or time on the clock. Our job, teammates, is to recognize those opportune moments, and choose to resign from fear and surrender to God.
It’s never too late to change because…
1. God will never give up on you.
I admit it. I’ve worn a few people’s nerves down to the nubs. I’ve even been skillful with a knife and cut a few folks (off) myself. Good thing God is not like most of us, right?! You will never seek the Lord’s help and hear, “You’re too late, I’ve grown weary of you.” See, the first characteristic of Love is Patience. I’m talking supernatural Patience. So, just when you think Jesus is rightfully justified to have nothing more to do with you and your foolishness, His arms are open wide at that very second to give you the strength, courage and support you need.
2. You’re still here.
As long as there is breath in your body, there is the power of choice in your soul. The very beat of your heart sets the tempo for you to put one foot in front of the other, and PURSUE the abundant life you want to live. If you’re tired of “being this way” and you want to change, take a deep breath, then exhale it slowly – feel that? THIS is proof that you have the fundamentals to begin your journey to greater.
3. If you can learn, you can un-learn.
How did I get here? How did I pick up this behavior, thought pattern, or belief? It’s simple – you learned it! Our parents taught us what their parents taught them – is it still valid? We taught ourselves by standing on the outside watching others – did we get all the facts? We taught ourselves how to cope with emotionally stressful events – were those tactics helpful? Now the Lord wants to teach us who we truly are and how to live abundantly – away from the noise, distractions, and lies we’ve learned along the way. Tell Jesus, “Lord, I don’t know, would you please teach me?” and get ready for a lesson you’ll never forget.
4. “Now” is in your hands.
Don’t worry about the time that has passed. Embrace the gift that you do have – Now. Now is what you’ve got, and Now is all you need to start. Leave the future and all of the what-ifs to God, and commit to honoring the gift of Now that is in your hands.
5. Change is possible.
Let’s face it – no one wants to fight a battle they can’t win. But, your possibilities are far from impossible. You can feel the disconnect from depression, dishonesty, pride, fear, people-pleasing. You realize disobedience has never really served you, and you know you want to change. While what is possible may not necessarily be easy, with the Holy Spirit leading the way into all Truth, you have a 100% chance to change your life and never be the same again.
So, What’s the Play Call?
God – who created time – is on your side. You’re right on schedule to grow in the grace and purpose God has for your life.
In the meantime, here’s what we all have to do in our pursuit of growth and change (2 Peter 1:5-8 MSG):
I was brave and decided that I would go to 
See, I’d talked myself in and out of going to that class about 32 times that morning before I “showed up”. It was raining, my sinuses were acting a plum fool, and I was tired. And, not to mention, it was a workday.
If athletics can do such a thing, Christians should be able to do so as well. Unfortunately, many committed believers simply don’t know how to build bridges with people of different backgrounds, faiths, or no faith at all.
When God rested on the seventh day, creation was good. There was order, everything had its place, its purpose, and its marching orders – especially Man, the only creature crowned with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5).
Being mentally and emotionally frustrated with overt and covert racism in America, the resistance of many white Americans to acknowledge the persistence of systematic racism, the racism “get out of jail free card” passed out by those who claim to be Christian, and a 45th President skilled at 
Want to know something else? Yep, brace yourself. We do this with life stuff. We sure do. We hold on to things that have rendered themselves completely useless to us.
A local restaurant honored military veterans and their families. Throughout the restaurant there were multiple tables reserved; special signage and bright flowers designated the seating for the honorees. As my family and I ate lunch, I overheard a Korean War Veteran at the next table proudly recall his service to the country. As he began to recount the day he lost his best friend in combat, my heart sank. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he stared out the window. At that moment, I knew exactly what Memorial Day should be about.
Peer pressure as a kid feels like you have to do what others want because most kids don’t know their options. We all have to be taught how to handle peer pressure.
