Kingdom ComeSample

PRAYER:

God, thank you for giving me a new identity as your son or daughter. Teach me what that means today.

READING:

Many people begin their spiritual journey because they are experiencing the frustrating and often painful consequences of their decisions and behaviors. Driven by a desire for change, they come to church or decide to join a group. There’s nothing wrong with a desire for change. In fact, that’s precisely what God desires for you. 

But his starting point for the process of change is often different from ours.

We typically want to take the fastest road to change, so we end up focusing on the behaviors we wish were different. We try to force ourselves to change by sheer willpower. This can lead us into a frustrating cycle of failure and shame. Why? Because our problem is much deeper than our behavior.

Imagine you see a giant domino about to fall, and you can see that the consequences will be bad. You rush over and put all your strength and energy into stopping that domino from falling. You succeed in propping it back up only to turn around and see it tipping over again. You repeat this cycle over and over, sometimes failing and sometimes succeeding. But even the victories don’t last long. Then someone asks you to step away from that exhausting work and look at the situation from where they stand. Once you step back, you’re able to see the domino from a different angle and you realize it was actually the last in a long line of dominos, each one falling on the next, leading all the way to the last one. This new perspective helps you see that if you really want to stop that last domino, you need to go back much farther.

God knows that our activity proceeds from our identity. So, his process of change begins by giving us a new identity as a son or daughter of God, who is loved and valued in his eyes. True change must begin at this foundational heart level and work its way to our behaviors. 

It can be discouraging to realize our problem is rooted deeper than we thought, but it’s encouraging to know God is doing the foundational work for us. He is committed to the change he has begun.

REFLECTION:

Take some time away to be still before God. No distractions. No dominos. It may take a little while to get to the point where your motor isn’t running and you can be internally still. Be patient; stick with it. As you settle into the stillness, ask God for a deeper awareness of his presence. Ask him to reveal what areas in your heart he wants to work in and make new.