Richard Rohr says, “If you are not ready to change, don’t seek out God.” Spiritual growth means that something must change. And if you’re like me, you may be more inclined to keep everything the same in order to avoid any change.
We need to be gentle with ourselves though. Life is hard. Sometimes bad, terrible things happen to good people. I’m certain that every one of us has a story of a friend or a family member who went through some ugly ordeal through no fault of their own. Maybe you have a story too, of undeserved pain, of something awful that happened to you.
However, I am also fairly certain that every one of us realizes that many of our circumstances are chosen. Our behavior can lead to all sorts of dumb stuff happening to us. In my life, the less time I spend in prayer and quiet reflection the more time I spend in worry and anxiety and that almost always leads to fear and foolishness.
A friend of mine is a personal trainer at a local gym. He is also a pentecostal pastor. One day he saw me lifting weights in an incorrect form. “You’re doing that all wrong, Pastor Glen. At the end of the workout you’ll be in pain.” I laughed and said, “Terrance, that will preach!”
He then told me that he sees people all the time who want to lose weight or get in better shape. They set up a regimen and they go for it but after a few weeks or months they don’t seem to have improved much or they have even regressed. So, good pastor that he is, he’ll ask them what they’ve been up to. And sure enough they will tell him! Too much drinking or too many desserts or too many late nights and encounters with the wrong sorts of persons, and on and on. He’s almost like the Dr. Phil of the gym when he asks, “And how’s that working out for you?”
That is a tough question to face but the revelation of the truth, no matter how bad it may feel, no matter how frightening it may be, will lead to a new way of life.
Are you ready for God? God is ready for you.
Grace and peace to you,
-Glen
