Grace, the church where I am one of the Pastor’s is going through a lot of change at present. Some people like change others do not. I have heard people ask the questions, why are we changing? Things were going great now we are going to spoil it? If it’s not broken don’t try to fix it? We are growing so why do we need to change? Whenever something good happens it never lasts!
Well over the next three days I want to write about why I believe change is necessary and what warning lights come on to tell us if change is needed.
Changing The Pace
The other day my wife saw an advertisement for the new EA Sports Active game for the Wii. She saw it, wanted it and proceeded to tell me we needed to change the pace. You see, since the beginning of the year we have been using the Wii Fit to get into shape (at this point some of you ‘gym’ types are laughing and making fun, but it works for us). We struggled with finding a routine to workout; our schedules made it impossible to hit the gym, so when we found the Wii Fit it actually worked. We got into shape and enjoyed the workout. However, over the past couple of weeks our motivation levels have been down concerning working out. Nobody else would have seen it because it looks like we are continuing to lose weight. However, we have noticed it! I have got more tired and put some poundage back on. The Wii Fit has been good to us, but now it is not giving us the challenge we need, so it is time to change the pace.
In life we can think that because something has worked in the past it should always be a part of our lives. However, this is not true. There are people, activities and churches that will help us get to a new level in our lives. The Wii Fit has got us to a level of seeing the need to workout and what happens when we neglect our bodies. However, the Wii Fit can only take us to a certain level of fitness.
Often times we cling to something because we like it and we have seen good results, but deep down you know when it is time to change the pace. Motivation levels go down, the things you once were excited about become mundane tasks and you begin to slowly take your foot off the gas. Even though you may not see it, you know what once worked is beginning to crack, it’s time to change the pace.
I do not like to change the pace. Changing the pace means hard work, it often means pulling yourself out of that hole you are now in. It means getting motivated, it means thinking outside the box, it means pushing yourself in areas you do not really want to be pushed in. However, unless we change the pace we will slowly die and what once worked for us will be the thing that leads to our death. In order to live like God wanted us to live we must at times change the pace!
What areas of your live have you slowed down in that you need to speed up? What areas are you going too fast that you need to slow down? Where do you need to change the pace?
