Paradoxically, God does not change; and that’s a good thing because we can always count on Him to do what He says He will do. On the other hand, change is good for us because many of us tend to get lost in familiarity.
We get lost because we are afraid of change, blind to how we’ve been living life on automatic, and refusing to take ownership of the consequences. Change is the only thing that is guaranteed in this life; so, it makes sense to make peace with it. It is a gift from God because it always presents us with new possibilities to help put the past behind us and step into a future of hope.
But we must get out of our own way to have that happen – to let go of who we were being with our habits, plans and opinions, and put God in charge, letting Him reconcile us with our true selves. And like anything else we do with God, it’s going to take faith:
…without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him. Heb. 11:6 AMP
To position ourselves for God’s reconciliation, we must recognize that we suffer, and then ask Him to reveal the nature and root of it so that we can pray more effectively for its cessation. If we hide from our suffering (via addictions and distractions), it will persist; and it suffocates our love and joy.
Suffering is usually rooted in lack of knowledge, wrath and prejudice – all of which shows up in the way that one thinks, speaks and acts.
So, we ask God to show us the nature of our anguish so that we can drop all our fears and rest in His grace and mercy. We can dispense with our actions that have been working against us, e.g. surrounding ourselves with toxic consumption of news, worldly indoctrination, hurtful people and substances.
When we understand that we are not the only person that suffers, it will fill us with compassion and understanding for others, and we can help stop this cycle that hurts us all. We will be less angry, more loving, peaceful, living in present-time consciousness and come to a place where we are able to mend our relationships – becoming both healed and a healing facilitator for others.
We ask God to remove the hostility and bitterness that we have harbored, without judging ourselves for having done so. After all, that’s part of the healing that God confers upon us so that we can be free to be our original self:
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion… Ps. 103:2 – 4. NASB
There is no happiness until we can rest in God. Thus, we need to spend a lot of time in His word, making ourselves available to His love. We can approach Him through Christ, who, while He was on this earth, took on a soul like ours, so that He could completely identify with both our sufferings and the behavior born out of them, without Himself ever taking part in those destructive human doings.
Jesus brings tranquility to our soul by bringing change, one that puts us back on the path of life that God intended for each of us – walking in His kingdom…
Goodnight and God bless.