Do You Want It?

I am not God. I do not know everything nor do I pretend to.

Not being God, I do not know other people's thoughts. I do not understand all the ways that the sin nature, outside influences and life experiences have molded their thought process. But I have observed that most people are as adults very similar to what they were as children.

The very outgoing child produces an outgoing adult. The very shy child produces a shy adult. Now I know that there are variants, but for the most part, this is the pattern. Those who were outgoing children, the ones who are not afraid to perform in front of an audience, are adults who have no or little trouble standing before others. Those who were very timid as children, still find it very difficult to have all eyes focused on them and their performance.

The insecure child that found his self-worth in bossing around others grows into the adult who is happy with nothing less than complete control of the situation. The weak spirited child who was controlled by others grows to be the adult who is everyone's doormat, constantly being stepped on.

Now I do know this, the Lord can change anyone. But the choice of change belongs to the individual. Many people foolishly believe that if a person just prays for change that God will miraculously alter your mind so that you become that which you desire. But this is not true.

There exist no deficiency in your character that is stronger than God's ability to alter it. Yes, God could take over and make you become that for which you long. But then you would cease to exist as you are. You would no longer be the creature that has absolute free choice, but you will have become a pawn in the hand of God. Every time you would make an unprofitable move, God would just slide you over where you belong.

If you want to alter your thoughts and your character you are going to have to work at it. The commitment you made 10 years ago is no good unless you have been working for the last 10 years to make it happen. The natural course is already set. You have been this way since you were a child. It comes easy. The vision you may have for yourself is going to take work to attain.

This is the difficult part because the nature of man is lazy. It is always easier to choose the path of least resistance. Staying the way you have always been is not going to take any effort. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. But if you really want to change, it is possible. There is nothing to keep you from being who you want to be, except for you.

One day during wrestling practice our coach was driving us hard. I had quit exercising because I was exhausted. The coach in his challenge towards perfection hollered "Do you want it Wilkes?".
"Yes Sir!" I responded as I restarted the workout. But it wasn't long before I had quit again.
"Do you want it Wilkes?" the coach barked at me as though my weakness was frustrating him.
"Yes Sir", I barked back at him with anger in my tone as my body starting resuming its duties. But soon thereafter I collapsed. I was convinced I could go no farther.
"Do you want it Wilkes?" the coach bellowed as though my exhaustion was the most offensive thing he had ever witnessed.
"No Sir", I replied with a smugness typical of a 16 year old.
"Finally the truth", he responded.

Do want to change? Quit quitting!!!!!