Julie and I are working on a study together that is affecting us deeply. The study is causing us to ask some important questions and challenging us to see some things in new ways. This week we were invited to think about change - especially in situations where change seems almost impossible.
Those situations were defined in the study this way: entrenched patterns of thinking and acting that we believe cannot change, even though we know that such thoughts and actions are contrary to God's will.
That's quite a description, one worthy of close examination. The more I think about it, the more accurate and insightful it seems. I think of things in my own life that seem almost impossible to change. Then I think of situations present in groups of people in my life and I'm inclined to admit that I don't see much possibility of change there either.
And that's an admission that I find terribly troubling - because I'm just about certain that the changes that I'm thinking about would be changes that God would very much want to see.