We know that there is much in each of us that has to change. We understand that unless we constantly change, we cannot grow. When we were kids we thought and spoke like the children that we were. Now that we have grown, we understand that life is full of necessary adjustments that will force us to change.

So we have the choice to change our own mind, or be shoved into the corner and told to change . . . or else.

The truth is that change is uncomfortable. It is inconvenient and very often it is downright scary.

Even seemingly happy changes can be frightening. Look at the bride and the groom as they prepare for a life together. They are nervous. Thoughts of what they are leaving behind cause them a measure of stress. Sure they are glad to move forward, but the changes it entails will give the matured ones pause for thought.

What if the relationship does not work out? I trust him, but what if he betrays me? I don’t want to think about it but he does have a history of womanizing. He thinks: Will she get fat in a few years time? Will she start nagging when I’m out with my friends?

Change so often has to drag us by the collar and force us to adjust. We like the familiar. We have become comfortable with it. We like routine because it makes our lives easier and is not as threatening. Some of us stick to our old ways like super glue. And anyone who tries to detach us has his work cut out for him. We will not go quietly. We will kick and resist like crazy before we surrender to change. There will have to be some powerful force to move us, some major happening that shakes us and compels us to move forward. And the older most of us get, the more immovable we are and the more we resent anyone trying to disturb us.

Even in our relationship with God, we hold fast to our old ideas and habits. It is so difficult for us to stop looking at Him with the eyes of a child and to accept new ideas about Him. And should He call us to something that disturbs our usual routines, we feel inconvenienced and start thinking that He asks too much from us. We would rather He does our will rather than we having to do His.