As you’re reading this article you might realize your good intentions for your brand new year are possibly already down the tubes. Statistics show that 80% of resolutions are null and void by the end of January. There are good reasons for this. It’s not true you’re a failure when it comes to trying to change. Maybe you just need to tweak your change process a bit.
Change requires effort
We all have situations and people in our lives we want to change. Spouses, jobs, houses, and children are common places we deeply desire change. We spend a lot of time thinking about these changes and how much better our lives would be if and when these changes would occur. If we are only in the “thinking mode” in this stage of change, we are actually only “wishful thinking.” Desires for change are just wishes if there isn’t a plan of action behind the desire.
True change needs to start at the heart, not the head.
Moving from thinking about and desiring change in most cases can never sustain the normal testing life gives us if it is stuck in our head. Motivation for change powered simply by mental toughness will usually fizzle out down the road. There is a need for that desire for change to come from a deep place in the heart if it is to stand against adversity. Many a dream lies in mental graveyards because the heart wasn’t engaged in the process.
Permanent change involves transformation which requires supernatural intervention
God is the author of all creativity and change. Left to our own devices we can be pretty powerless to invoke true change in any area of our life. Lasting change involves more than simply “wanting it” (wishing for it). Lasting change even involves more than pushing through by trying with our own efforts. Psalm 37:4 (NIV) reminds us to “delight ourselves in the Lord and HE WILL give us the desires of our heart.” What a difference it makes to engage our hearts and invite the Lord into what we are needing fixed or changed!
In light of this concept of what’s necessary for permanent change, I created a tool I have used personally for over 20 years to help me examine my life at the beginning of each year. I go through each area where I would like to see change. I realistically state what the challenges will be to accomplish that change and then I invite the Lord into the process by finding a scripture to pray over each particular place I’m wanting to change. I hope you might try this tool to invite the Lord into the process of invoking permanent transformation into different areas of your life.