  Christianity has been reduced to a once-or-twice a month appointment to hear feel-good stories from an old book and a motivational speaker with the title pastor in front of his name. It is interesting to note that while the Bible does reveal great and wonderful promises from God, it also reminds us from Jesus’ own words that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword, to create divisions even among loved ones. Jesus was all about life-change, not feel-good moments.
Nevertheless, the Christian culture at times does not seem to be enjoying a life much different from secular culture. The vices of the world are not absent from the regular-attenders of church. A message brought down from Heaven intended to transform our life has become a box checked off on our religious to-do list. But what if the Scripture really is what is claims to be-the God-breathed secret wisdom to a life ever-increasing with an abundance of love, joy, inner-peace and strength, and power to move the mountains in our life? The title of this blog is “Let God Change Your Life Today.” The key word to this short phrase is ‘let.’ Let is permission. Let is assent. It is subscription. As a pastor I often hear people struggling in their worst moments, feeling overwhelmed. They will say something like, “I know God will not give me more than I can handle, but…” We have all said it, but we rarely remember the rest. We use this passage to comfort ourselves in thinking that God will not allow us to experience hard times too much for us to endure. But the passage is not talking about hard times. It is talking about temptations. This Scripture is actually teaching us that God promises to never allow us to be tempted beyond the point of escape. We are talking about the temptations that come when we are in a very difficult circumstance. These are temptations to respond to the circumstance in very ungodly ways. These come in our thoughts, words, and deeds during a crisis. His promise is to give us escape, not necessarily from the issue but from ungodly responses to the issue. The escape from these temptations is obedience. He has given us the Holy Spirit that pours power into us to change our thoughts to things excellent and praiseworthy. He has given us power to not say anything derogatory or hurtful or to just keep our mouth shut. He has given us power to ignore negative feelings and act according to Scripture. This obedience in horrible moments of life reveal our faith in God. Obedience is a statement that we believe God to be so omnipotent and omniscient that we will follow His instruction even when it seems backward. That is true faith. It is when we have displayed this true faith that God begins to work on the actual issue. We must first have a godly response, then the Lord will bring a Godly result. He promises to make the ashes of our life beautiful. The power to change our response comes from the Holy Spirit, but He is gentle, not forceful. He is not a slave-driver, but a comforter. He doesn’t force us to receive and act upon the strength He is prepared to give. We must ‘let’ Him take control. We must turn over the authority of our life to Him, then He pours out strength and wisdom to flow through us in the drama of our life. It all begins with a decision to ‘let’ Him be our God in the moment. His promise for those who ‘let’ Him be their God is that through the ugly, horrible, unthinkable moments in life as well as the mundane and the wonderful, He will pour into us and pour through us the power and secret wisdom from Heaven that radically changes our life for the better. God can change your life today, but you have to ‘let’ Him have control.
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