As I write this article it is over half way through the month of July and August is approaching. For Janice and me, the month of August comes with excitement and some sadness for the passing of time. You see in August, we will move Brooks into his dorm and he will start college. One chapter of life is complete, and another begins and in so many ways life with Brooks will never be the same again. Sure, he will come home, and he will have breaks from school, but the everyday will be very different going forward. Also in August, Hailey will begin her first stateside job as a teacher in Murray County and things will change for her. She has already taken on a lot as an adult (understatement) but the reality of adult life in the states will sink in as she does move out, pay bills, and take care of all that joys that comes with moving forward in life.
I admit these changes can be a little overwhelming at times, but I have learned in my walk with God that change is necessary. If we are not willing to make and accept changes we can never grow, we can never mature in our faith. I am grateful that I don’t have the same level of faith today that I had 20 years ago. I know God in ways now that I didn’t because I have seen God work in ways in my life that I had not seen 20 years ago. I have changed because He is transforming me into His image. I don’t want to imply that there are no struggles in my life, but I can say that even the struggles have helped me grow and change.
We will have revival services August 26th-29th and it is important for us to be prepared for revival. We must first acknowledge that we are needy! We are completely incapable of serving God apart from His saving work in our lives. I pray that we don’t resist God changing us. I pray that we will ask God to grow us and change in us anything that needs to change so that we might better reflect His glory. If we conclude these services and you are no different in your walk with God than you were when they began, you missed something. God wants to transform you and make you more in His image, but that requires change!
Life brings changes, some good, some bad. When God brings changes into our life they are always for our good. They will always work to make us more like Him, to make us more in His image. If we are going to reach the world around us with the changing power of the Gospel they need to see the changes that God has made in us!
In His Amazing Grace,
Dan