Have you ever knew that there was something that you needed to change about yourself, career, or your lifestyle but really struggled with making the change? Or perhaps you are in the midst of change right now and are having a hard time with it. One thing that I have found to be true is that we will face times of change throughout our entire life. Some change is needed, some is wanted, some is voluntary, and some is involuntary, but no matter which it may be, it can be hard to make or adjust to the change. I have experienced all types of change. I have resisted it, prolonged it, try to avoid it, and I have submitted to it. I have found that submission is much less painful, more enjoyable, and much easier than any of the other ways. But it can be hard to submit to something that we are not thrilled about having to do or having to endure. We have a flesh that loves to have it’s way, and when it doesn’t, it can throw a fit to say the least. Our human side is very demanding and prideful. It thinks that it knows what is best and does not like to give up control. But thank God that He gave birth to the Spirit within us and he placed His Holy Spirit within our Spirit to help aid us in letting the Spirit side of us (which is who we were created to be) become bigger and more dominate than our humanity side.

Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross we have been set free from the sinful nature, made new, and equipped with all that we need to make the changes that we need to make in order to be who we were created to be and to live our best life glorifying God. We no longer have to give our flesh what it desires. We do not have to let our emotions control us. We can do what is best and is right just because it is best and right. We are free to make good choices and decisions because the enemy no longer has control over us. We can beat him at his own game because Jesus has already achieved victory over him for us. All we have to do is put him in his place and stand our ground on not letting him influence us any longer.

There are some things that God put on my heart during one of my times of change that helped me to see change differently and it helped me to submit to change instead of fighting against it or dreading and prolonging it. He told me that change is doing what is best for me at that time, what will make me happier, and it is growth. It is making choices and decisions that are not controlled by my feelings or desires. Feelings are just a feeling that does not last long and has no control that I do not give it. Desire is simply a want and it doesn’t matter what I want if the want is no good for me. I can be happy and excited while making a change. Because I am doing what is best for me, something that is going to end up making me much happier and peaceful, I can enjoy the process. The only difference between enjoying change and it being easier and more pleasant verses disliking it, being unhappy, and making it harder to make the change is the way that I look at it and think about it. The same steps have to be taken to make the change so why not enjoy the process! That truth set a fire in me that enabled me to submit to the process of change because He was absolutely right. I was going to have endure the same process of change either way so why not enjoy it instead of making myself miserable.

The enemy will use all kinds of tactics to try to derail us from becoming our best at all times because he does not want us to be happy, loving, peaceful, or fruitful. His purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. He liked to use procrastination and laziness with me a lot. I would put of doing what I knew I needed to do for as long as I could because I didn’t want to do it. Then I would fight with myself because I knew that I weren’t listen to the Holy Spirit and doing what I needed to do. I would get mad at myself for not making the changes that I knew I needed to make to be happier, healthier, peaceful, or fruitful. Then guilt and shame would come. It was, and at times still is, a vicious cycle that the enemy had a field day with. But we are stronger than he is and we can obtain victory in any area because we have the power that we need within us.

Anything that we lack within ourselves we have through the Holy Spirit within us, therefore we truly lack nothing. We have all that we need to do whatever we need to do but we may need to switch the way that we look at or think about it. If we choose to think about the good that is going to come from doing what we may not want to do it can help get us excited about the outcome. If we look at it like we are going to have to take the steps anyway, so why not enjoy it, we can be happier during the process. If we think about how we are taking back control of ourselves from the enemy and our human nature it can empower us to do what we need to do. Perception and positive thinking can go a long way when it comes to making the changes that you need to make. We can do what is unpleasant and hard with joy in our heart when we truly get the fact that we are doing what is best for ourselves in the long run and that we are momentarily facing discomfort so that we can be satisfied, happy, whole, peaceful, and better, forever.

We do not have to struggle with making a change and keeping our joy at the same time. It can become enjoyable and pleasant to make positive changes if we have the right perception and thoughts about it. We can submit to change and go with the flow to make the process much smoother and pleasant. If we remind ourselves of the positive outcome that we will eventually experience it will help us get through the times of temptation to give in to our feelings or desires. If we look at it as we are standing up against the enemy and will no longer play his game it can empower us to keep making the right choices and decisions that will lead us to victory in what we are trying to do. And if we put our feelings and desires in place, no longer allowing them to have a say in our actions, they will eventually stop trying to be so demanding. We can all have victory in whatever type of change that we need or want to make and we can achieve it with joy and peace if we have the right perception and thoughts about it.