Unshackled Moments ~ December 29 ~ Mail Order

As I came in from work yesterday evening, I stopped at the box to check the mail. The only thing inside was a little note from our mail carrier that read I'll bring your change tomorrow. My first thought was, "wouldn't that be nice?" I knew what the note meant. Leah mailed something yesterday and left money for postage with the package in the mail box. She left more than enough, and the carrier didn't have change, I knew it was about the nickels and dimes or pennies Leah overpaid, but I couldn't help but think of what the note said.

I'll bring your change tomorrow. This is the time of year when it's easy to start thinking about what we would like to change, to improve, to add or remove to our habits and lives. Even people who don't make resolutions often can't help but think about the change they would like to see in their lives. Wouldn't it be nice if we could order our change out of the catalog? The mail carrier could bring it to our door just in time for the new year.

The reason many people don't make resolutions is because so often they don't work. Resolving to do things differently often doesn't last long regardless of the time of year that we decide to try. Change is hard work. It takes a lot of effort and constant attention to prevent slipping up and doing something or not doing something without thinking about it. And there are things we've gotten so used to doing that they have become a part of who we are. Overcoming those traits, even acquired traits, in order to stop doing them or to make room for developing new habits sometimes takes more than determination and hard work. Sometimes it takes a miracle.

And you can't order a miracle from a catalog. No, the mail carriers will not be bringing the change we want to see in our lives. But there is One who can. God said to make our request to Him. He is our ever present source of help in times of need. He is the One who sets the captives free, breaks the chains of bondage and makes old natures transform into new ones. I'm not saying that it doesn't take any effort on our part. It takes a lot of effort to bow the knee and surrender. In fact even that takes a miracle, because it's only by His grace that we are able to want to surrender, much less do it. But if we surrender to Him, He will guide us to the change that we need. He will take us from our old self centered lives to a life worth living.

We can ask Him to remove those things from our lives which block our relationship and our service to Him and give us everything we need, including new hearts and attitudes, to be of maximum service to Him and others. If we do this every day, the old things in our life can come to be without the need to figure it our for ourselves. He will take us to and through the transformation.

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