I grew up in a small town. When describing it to others, I’ve always called it Small Town, USA. The official name of the town is Petersburg. When my sisters and I all got married to out-of-town city boys, they all called it Piddlesburg. Just a tiny little two-stoplight town with not much to offer in the way of entertainment or culture. We were lucky if we came for a visit during the annual 4H Fair. Sometimes change is good.
In the twenty years since I married, our little home town started adding and subtracting from the small town landscape. They added a Dairy Queen. Then a McDonalds. Then a Pamida, which was kinda like a Walmart for a small town. Eventually, the locally-owned grocery stores were replaced with a chain store. The town finally got it’s second doctor and a new jail.
Today, we have a Subway and a very nice little Splash Park for the kids. The empty dime store was replaced with a happening craft consignment store, and we even got a Chinese Wok! A year ago, the town went through and replaced many of the water pipes and added a fire hydrant for every so many houses. When I came home this summer for the first time in two years, a new interstate with an exit in Petersburg cut my drive between two Grandmas by thirty minutes!!!! Sometimes change is good.
In my high school psychology class, we were taught that personal change was impossible. “Basically, whoever you are when you turn four-years-old is who you are going to be.” said Ms. Wiseman and the textbook.
I refuse to believe that personal change is impossible. I argued it then, and I will say it now — the textbook authors and my teacher had never met my Jesus. Jesus is a catalyst for change and change is always good when God is at the helm.
When you invite Jesus into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior, change is the result. You have given your life to Him, and He is in charge where self used to reign. This change is hard. We don’t want to give up the reins to a new driver, but we must.
It is easy to resist change, and form a habit of resisting change in our lives, in our homes and in our churches. It is human nature to dig your heals in and proclaim the status quo as “good enough.” It was “good enough” for my parents, its “good enough” for me we say. But, our God is not in the business of “good enough” and we must remember that. We must be open to the changes inspired by the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our job is to become more like Christ, and becoming more like Christ requires change.
Ah, praise the Lord! Change is not only possible, it is EVIDENT! I hope your high school psychology teacher found your Jesus. He is mine, too. 🙂