I remember standing in church one Sunday morning with a dear friend. They responded to the alter call because they needed help. They were desperate for a touch from God, a breakthrough, a miracle, anything to help them in their life. All of us have areas of weakness. For some, those weaknesses can get the best of us and it leads to very poor decisions and a lot of pain. I looked at my friend and asked her what she thought it would take to finally change. I could see the look of defeat in her eyes when she looked back at me. She said, “I don’t know what to do anymore, I’ve asked God for help but nothing is happening.” I thought about that for a long time. I would ask God why. Why, when someone is crying out to you for help over and over again, do you just seem to ignore them and do nothing? Finally, God began to show me through my own life and others, that there comes a point when we must choose.
Yes, God does help us. He can strengthen us through His Spirit, He can send us books or blogs like this one, he sends people to encourage us, etc. However, when it comes right down to it. When we’re faced with the decision to choose that thing again or walk away, nobody can do it for us, not even God. We must make the decision to change for ourselves. Recently, a friend sent me a popular quote that says, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” I know you don’t want to keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. God knows you don’t. But you have to get to the point where you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired. Then, you will finally do whatever it takes to change. I also want to encourage you not to overwhelm yourself with trying to change everything overnight. It’s a process. Pick one thing that you want to change and start working toward it little by little. If you mess up and fall, do not beat yourself up. Provers 24:16 says, “The godly may trip 7 times but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” Don’t give up just because you messed up. Do you want to be great? Do you want to be free from this thing? It’s going to be hard but it’s worth it. Keep going.