Lord, Please Change Me!

Because of his keen observations of how God works in
nature, scientist and educator George Washington Carver probably had as
much insight into life as he had knowledge of plants. He once commented
on the fact that people often assume, when they can’t see anything
growing above the ground, that nothing is happening beneath it.

I’ve often made that mistake in my own life and in the way
I’ve assessed situations regarding other people. Because of the many
challenges facing our world and the church today, we may be tempted to
think that positive change is a long way off; but that may not be true
for the body of Christ or for its individual members.

Those outside the church who are longing to see Jesus may
also be tempted to think that nothing is going on among God’s people
because they don’t see much happening on the “surface.” They, like
believers and unbelievers everywhere, are desperate for a revelation of
the true, living God.

I believe that for their sake God wants to raise the
profile of the kingdom. This will require that believers become more
conscious of the role we play in displaying His glory through our lives.

In her book Placed in His Glory (Charisma House), Fuchsia
Pickett states that one aspect of God’s glory is His moral beauty and
perfection of character that is beyond our natural comprehension. I
believe God desires for His church to not only see a revelation of His
glory but also be a revelation of His glory. He wants to reveal Himself
in our midst so that we can then reveal Him to the world.

Chosen by God

Isaiah the prophet told the Israelites that although they
were to recall the miracle of their escape from Egypt by the hand of the
Lord, they were not to see themselves as they had been before they were
delivered—forsaken and enslaved. He wrote: “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” (Is. 43:18-19,
NIV). Israel’s deliverance marked a transition for them, and they had to
acknowledge the fact that they had a new identity; they were the people
of God.

God related to Israel in an unusual manner. He called them
“My chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My
praise” (vv. 20-21).

As believers we also are a distinct people from all the
other peoples of the earth. Our uniqueness is based on the fact that we
are a part of Christ’s church, His body.

Interestingly enough, Peter’s words in the New Testament
nearly echo those of Isaiah’s. He wrote that we are “a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that [we]
may declare the praises of Him who called [us] out of darkness into His
wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9).

Peter continues: “Once you were not a people, but now you
are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy” (v. 10).

Just as Israel was told to recall what God had done but
move on from there, so we are told to come to a new place of
understanding that we are not now who we once were.

We can remember the facts of our prior existence—indeed we
should remember. But we must focus the better part of our energies on
acknowledging our new identity as God’s people, recipients of His grace
and mercy, who honor Him with our praises.

We are no longer alone, bereft of a loving Father to
provide for us. We have a new identity, a new family, a new purpose, a
new inheritance and a new expectation.

We are chosen, royal, priestly, holy and able to make
declarations of praise to God and about Him. As Abraham’s spiritual
descendants and heirs of the promises given to him, we are formed by God
for Himself just as the natural descendants of Abraham were.

Isaiah said that a people God formed for Himself would
“proclaim His praise.” According to Strong’s Concordance, that means “to
boast on Him.” Peter said that the people who belong to the Lord will
declare His praises.

To “declare” means “to publish; to make known by praising
or proclaiming, to celebrate” (Strong’s). God’s praises are “His virtue,
moral excellence, perfection and goodness of action” (Spiros Zodhiates,
The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament).

Those outside the family of faith should be able to
observe the grace and glory of God resting on us. And they will notice
if we walk as people of virtue, moral excellence and exemplary character
who boast about our God.

But how is this played out in real life—yours and mine?
Knowing our individual weaknesses, our tragedies and triumphs, how do we
become who God says we are? How do we “clothe [ourselves] with the Lord
Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:14)?

Spiritual Formation

The apostle Paul addressed the Galatians as “My dear
children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is
formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). In the original language, the word for
“formed,” morphoo, is used here to “[express] the necessity of a change
in character and conduct to correspond with inward spiritual condition,
so that there may be moral conformity to Christ” (Strong’s).

Most of us have survived a great many heartaches and
tragedies. These were all designed by the enemy to break our spirits.
But because of God’s grace, the devil’s efforts failed, and we are still
standing.

You would no doubt confess that before you experienced
some of the difficult things in your life, you were a different person.
Every test you went through exposed something in you (good and bad) that
had been hidden, maybe even from yourself.

But God enabled you by His Spirit to overcome your
struggles, and in the process you were changed. The situations the enemy
had designed for your destruction became places of promotion as you
learned to yield your struggles to the Lord. 

Part of the process of change has to do with our
acknowledging that though we live in this world, we are not of it. Jesus
lives inside us. However, we have lived in the world for a period of
time, and we continue to bear many of its characteristics.

God has put in us all we need in order to develop godly
character, but the process through which His attributes increase and our
flesh decreases requires time and patience. It can’t be hurried—or
faked.

What we do is important, but why we do what we do is far
more important. To God, the motivations of our hearts matter more than
outward appearance.

However, the culture in which we live does not embrace
this truth. Today, you and I are given value based on how we appear,
what we do, and our ability to sell other people on the notion of our
importance.

Perseverance—that is, the patient endurance of trying
circumstances while one is submitted to God’s transformation process—is a
radical idea. Nevertheless, God’s character is manifested and His glory
revealed when we humble ourselves so that He can be exalted in us (see
James 4:10).

The apostle Paul assures us that the process is already
underway to make us more like Christ. He wrote: “And we, who with
unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into
His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who
is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

Why We Need to Change

In his book Experiencing God, noted Bible teacher Henry
Blackaby points out that God’s overarching purpose, according to His
Word, is to fill the entire earth with the knowledge of His glory (see
Hab. 2:14). Blackaby says that to that end, God initiates encounters
with us at various times in our lives and through various circumstances
that will propel us toward our particular destiny as we join with Him in
what He is doing in the world.

We’ve heard the saying before: “It’s not about us.” God
first chose us and then filled us with His Spirit for a reason.

In a subsequent book by Blackaby and Avery Willis Jr., On
Mission With God, the authors comment: “[God] doesn’t enter your life to
pamper you or indulge you. He comes to involve you in the greatest
adventure of life—experiencing His glory as you accompany Him on His
mission. By joining Him on His mission, you will experience God and be
forever changed in the process.

“You are not just a channel through which God does
something, but you are a transformed part of His eternal purpose to make
you and all peoples of the world like His Son for His glory.”

God moves dramatically in us, not just to make us happier
people or to fix all our problems (although His will for us encompasses
these things, too). But He works in us to transform us into men and
women who will exhibit His nature on the earth and give the world a
glimpse of Jesus.

Our faithfulness to God is going to demand constant,
radical transformation throughout our lives. And it will require that we
fully embody the truth of our having been made new creations in Christ.
But because the change we need happens in intimate fellowship with Him,
a byproduct of our transformation is that we’ll also get to know Him in
a deeper way.

It’s Safe to Surrender

As a seminary student a few years ago, I often thought of
my father when I was in class. He was a godly man who studied the Bible
voraciously, especially during the latter years of his life. I would
think, Daddy would have loved being here.

Unfortunately, he never had the opportunities I’ve had.
But he loved me dearly, always made me feel safe and modeled a hunger
for God’s truth.

The more I observed him, the more my dreams became similar
to his. I wanted what he wanted because I loved him, wanted to please
him and was totally secure in his love for me.

In Ephesians 5:1, Paul wrote: “Therefore be imitators of
God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate
their father]” (The Amplified Bible).

As dearly loved children of our heavenly Father, we have
the privilege of intimately relating to Him. The God of the whole earth
wants to reveal Himself to us and transform us so that we begin to look,
act, speak and think as He does.

A contemporary rendering of 2 Corinthians 3:18 beautifully
expresses the assurance we have that He will finish the work He’s begun
in us: “Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the
brightness of His face. And so we are transfigured much like the
Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God
enters our lives and we become like Him” (The Message).

As we steadily focus our hearts on Christ, He continually
reveals Himself through His Word, through prayer and in worship. We have
the ability, as Blackaby and Willis put it, to “adjust our lives to Him
and join Him on His mission.” And what an awesome adventure it is!

Our transformation is orchestrated by One who is perfectly
loving, faithful and compassionate in everything He does. We can
embrace the processes He chooses.

Deep within us the Holy Spirit’s work may be hidden from
view, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening! In fact, before you
can even say, “Lord, please change me,” the work has already begun.

Brenda J. Davis is the former editor of SpiritLed Woman.
She lives in Sanford, Florida, with her Schipperkes, Grayson and Mercy.