In The Hard Places

As I type this I'm on my lunch hour, so I don't have much time to share my thoughts. But I wanted to pop in here and share this quote that I read by Dave Ramsey. He says this:

"Most people won't change until the pain of where they are exceeds the pain of change."

I read that and immediately thought "Wow". That is SO true.

It doesn't matter if you are referring to finances. Or weight loss. Or addictions. Or the way we "do" relationships. Or a number of any other varying issues.

I am convinced that this is partly why we go through "hard times". Because there is something in our life that God wants us to change. More often than not it's a behavior pattern, or maybe an "attitude" that we have, but it's something about the way we "do" life that needs changed. And so we come to this "hard" place.

Often times we first want to blame God for being there, but if we step back and look at things with "spiritual" eyes, we'll see that the very thing that we need to change is the thing that has been keeping us in some sort of bondage (relational, spiritual, financial, name your pain) and only in this "hard" place will we see it, and will we feel the pain enough to even consider enduring the pain that "change" takes.

I know that there are some who are going to read this that will think, "what on God's green earth is she talking about."

But there are others who will "get" it.

Listen, you are not in a painful situation without purpose. I promise you that. I promise you that God is not being unloving to you (or me). Oh my gosh no...it's just the opposite, God IN HIS MERCY has allowed it for a reason.

It may be to break free from what has been holding you back from having victories in relationships, finances, weight loss, health....

Or it may simply be that you have forgotten Him for a time, and He's trying to bring you back to Him.

Maybe He wants to prove us faithful, after all it's easy to have faith when all is going well.
Maybe it's to prove Himself faithful.

All I'm trying to say is we need to be open to Him in the hard places. Praise Him in the hard places. Trust Him in the hard places. Change for the better in the hard places. Grow spiritually in the hard places. Follow Him through the hard places.