Only God Can Change You From Within

There are many individuals out there that would like to argue that people will never change; that once someone is stuck in their habits, it’s an impossibility to reconstruct their ways.

If you’ve ever tried to ask a loved one to stop smoking, you may find that you agree with that statement. That when someone has been blinded by malignancy and engrossed firmly in that way of life, they know nothing different, so they will continue down the path of unacceptable behaviors. They will do so even if that means losing a person they love. Addiction does that to people, but even those who are not held to the chains of bottles or pills will refuse to change their ways. Those who are enraged will stay angry, those who lie will lie until the end of life, and those who betray will never be trusted because it’s human nature to want to stay the same, to choose immortality.

We choose what we want, not what we need. We choose the things that hurt us, not what makes us whole. Our flesh desires earthly things, nothing what will bring true joy. That concept may seem difficult to understand, but it’s true. We want what we want, and we want it now. This part of us will never change. But that does not mean we’re not capable of change.

It took me a long time to realize that I can no longer do things on my own, that I cannot change the inevitable. Although I may be strong, I am also filled with weakness and lack of self-control; I am this way because I am human. People don’t realize their weakness until they are shot down from the sky, until they feel they have nothing. It is at this time that we feel ashamed; it is when we feel lost when we realize who we really are, who we’re truly meant to be.

This may sound crazy, but I often pray for trials and tribulations; I pray for destruction, for God to set my world on fire. I do this because I’ve never learned anything from jubilation, the feeling of contentment. I’ve learned that when everything is going right in your life, it leaves no room for you to grow; you stay the same because change may mean a sudden change of trajectory in your life, a change in your happiness. When we are going down the wrong path, everything will seem right, I promise you this. Just know your happiness is short term.

Those of you who say people are not capable of changing themselves are right, but what we can do is allow God to ignite change within us. This is why, in our times of brokenness, it is pertinent to seek God’s will, because without him we are nothing. We learn the most when we’re down on our knees praying for time to freeze, asking for God to release us of grief, so we can finally reach peace.

The only problem is we do not come to God when our life contains a story written of rainbows and butterflies, we only come to God asking for favors, dragging our problems behind us. We ask for what we want, we never ask what God wants for us. We layout our blueprint of how we want our life to go and choose to neglect the story God has already written for us. Those of us that do this will not encounter happiness because we’re asking for the wrong things.

I know that no one wants a life filled with trials, that we seek comfort and not situations that make us feel that we’ve lost control. Although the problem is we want to control, no one wants to ride in a car without a steering wheel or fly in a plane when you can’t see that there’s a pilot.

Faith is the keyword here. We must have faith that everything will turn out okay. Although it may seem things are not working out in your favor, I promise you they are. Every trial you go through altered you and changed your perspective, but it is through God and his word that we see the value behind it.

So if you wish to change, I ask you to stop what you’re doing and go to God. He is our refuge and our strength. If your life seems perfect, I ask you to stop what you’re doing and go to God; your happiness is synthetic and without him we are nothing. In times of trouble, I ask you to go to God, read his word, and reflect; put on your armor of faith and the belt of truth and pray.

If you ever feel like you’re incapable of change, as some will say, it’s true, but not in the way you think. I think if we all let go of the ropes and pray for growth, even if that might mean the deliverance of hardship and despair, we would all find happiness. In these times we must remember it is only in God’s plan where we find true joy.

So today learn to let go and let God ignite change within you.