Have you ever stopped to think about what it takes for you to change? Are you the kind of person who needs to experience severe pain to change? Does a disaster drive you to God or away from Him?
A friend recently told me that sometimes it takes a tragedy for him to change. He said the biggest obstacle in his life to change and more reliance on God is his success and affluence. He said that his walk with God would likely improve if he drove home and found his house on fire and hurt his leg getting out of his vehicle. I joked that I would be willing to break his knee cap and set his house on fire if that would help.
My friend has a good point. One of the biggest challenges that American Christians face is our wealth. Even in the current economic downturn, we are still better off economically than most people on the planet. When things are going well, we can relegate God to the edge of our lives. We put necessary changes on the to-do list and never get to them.
Honestly, I find that I am a lot like my friend. Pain can be a great motivator to do things and refocus my attention on God. May 2010 be a year of personal discipline and proper priorities for me without requiring a tragedy to spur it on.
Organic Faith - Searching for intimacy with God in a postmodern world 