Change

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.  Philippians 2:13

There I go letting myself get upset all over again and for nothing.  When am I going to ever understand that I cannot change people.  As much as I would like to be able to change people, I just can't.  Sitting on my couch frustrated, the Holy Spirit spoke to me.  The words were as plain as if He were sitting right next to me on the couch.  "You cannot change anyone."  Yes, you may be hurt, frustrated, angry and on the verge of giving up but you are just spinning your wheels trying to do something that only God can do. 

We've all done it. Sat there and talked (argued) until we were just plain tired  of talking trying to get someone to see your point of view.  Why can't they see that they need to make a change?  Can't they see that they are hurting me?  I'm not telling them anything that is going to hurt them.  In the end they will be a better person.  But that is not for me to decide.  God is the only one that can bring about lasting change.  Let me say that again.  God is the only one that can bring about lasting change.  You may be able to get someone to change for you temporarily but in the end unless God changes them from the inside out, you may be revisiting the same issue again.  Philippians 2:13 tells us that God works in us to lead us to do His will.  We still must choose to follow His leading.  So what do you do in the meantime when you really want someone to change?  PRAY.  Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.  How often as a parent do we see our child slipping down the wrong path?  We can talk to them until we are blue in the face but until He recognizes his need for change and allows the Lord to change his heart, he/she will continue to do the same thing.  That spouse, that friend, that brother, that sister, or even that parent.  They may know what is right but until they choose to listen to God, heed the urgings of the Holy Spirit, allow the Word to 'pierce even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow' (Hebrews 4:12), there will be no real change.  If you want to change or you wish someone around you would change, give it to God.  Tell Him what is in your heart and then submit to His will.  God's timing is perfect.  He is always working.  But prepare yourself, the change may not come when you expect it.  While you are praying for Him to work on someone else, He may just be working on you.

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

I need Your help Lord.  It is very hard to see someone making a mistake and wanting to push them toward change.  It's hard for someone to continue to hurt you simply because they won't change and yet stand beside them during the process.  Help me to place them in Your hands I realize that only You can bring about true change. Please forgive me for my sins of anger and acting out on that anger because of my frustration. Help me to be more like You.  In Jesus' Wonderful Name I pray Amen. 

My Assignment

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”  Romans 9:17

I used to spend a lot of time worried about other people.  Not in the sense of who they were and what they had, but in the sense that someone seemed to always be in my way.  There they were, time and time again,  putting up roadblocks, slowing the progress I wanted for my life.  There I was with a clearly mapped out plan only to have it shattered by PEOPLE.  At least at first sight that is what I thought.  But as a Christian I have to say that I believe in predestination and I also believe in the scripture that says 'all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose'. (Romans 8:28)  And that my dear friend is what this life is all about - His Purpose.  My life is no longer my own.  And furthermore, God can use me if I am a willing participant and even if I am not. For it is God that worketh in me both to will and to do of His good pleasure.  (Philippians 2:13)

As I look back over my life I can see the handprints of God all over my life.  I see those people that have helped me to develop a better prayer life because when I tried to fight them on my own I failed every time. The same people that I spent so much time trying to figure out 'why they were always picking on me'.  Little did I know that God was using them with specific intent of shaping and molding me into the person He needed me to be.  It was those same people who helped me to see God moving in my life.  It caused me to ask a very important question of the Lord.  "What is my assignment?"  My assignment is to serve Him.  How do I serve Him?  By giving Him free reign to operate in my life.  Saying, 'Take my life and form it.  Take my mind, transform it.  Take my will, conform it ----To yours O Lord'.  It is easy to get in a certain position and think that we were the ones behind the accomplishment, but we are not.  We are here to serve God's purpose and not our own personal agendas.  It is okay to have goals.  Just remember not to act like the world is coming down when God takes you on an alternate route.  He places some roadblocks in your path.  Some difficult people  along your path, in order to see what you are really made of.  In addition to this, He then uses you as a developer in someone else's life.  All working together so that God's name be known all throughout the earth.  For it is at the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Trust God.  He has plans to proper and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. 

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.  All my help comes from You O Lord, thou who made the heaven and the earth.  Forgive me for the wrong that I have done.  Give me an ear to hear Your voice so that I may receive guidance and direction for my assignment.  Help me not to be distracted by those that seem to be set up against me.  Let me fix my eyes on You, the author and finisher of my faith.  I will continue to give You all the praise.  In Jesus' Wonderful Name I pray Amen.