Transformative Moment

It is a commonly accepted axiom that people change with the passage of years. A person today is not the same person he or she was decades ago, but passage of time in itself does not guarantee positive change. Each of us can speak of changes in others, yet such noted changes are too often peripheral to the deep inner character of a person. It is unfortunate that today's media, music, and entertainment generally perpetuate a negative influence on people. This influence then flows forth in one's association with others.

Christians often use the term "born again" without considering full ramifications on their lives. Such an experience demands complete transformation of thoughts, actions, and associations with others. Commitment to change is elusive to those unwilling to give up inappropriate habits and thinking while also avoiding the triggering stimuli for such things. Positive transformation and rehabilitation result from the changes in one's thinking and actions. Such change is often consequence of a dramatic life event. To this day I vividly recall that dramatic moment in my own life.

The pit was dark and deep. I had been sitting alone in a jail cell for twenty-four hours knowing I would never again join my wife and children at our breakfast table. Others were seeing my crimes in the full light of day while I languished in the mire of despair. My family asked that I be given a Bible. I was familiar with the stories, doctrines, and principles found within its pages, but had never really applied them to my life in a conscientious and practical manner. That second evening I began reading. For the first time I found myself relating personally to the Psalmist David as he cried out in despair:

I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth --- praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and I will trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor turn aside to lies. [Psalm 40:1-4 NKJV]
I am not ashamed to admit that I fell to my knees and cried, feeling the shame and despairing cry of David as he petitioned for release from his pain and suffering. After exposing innermost secrets in opening my soul to God, I began to feel at peace and ready to face the future regardless of what may come. That was my transformative moment.

 

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