Jesus said that many are called but few are chosen. I believe that God changes hearts. It is God that puts the desire in a person’s heart that causes them to want to follow Him. He’s the Author & Finisher of our faith. This can be very encouraging to us who are praying desperately for ourselves or for loved ones.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. – Ezekiel 36:26-27

James 1:2-4 tells me to “consider it pure joy” when I face many trials. God is sending me opportunities to come to know Him more through trials that provoke greater trust & dependence. It’s as though I am to lean so hard on Him that I would fall over without Him next to me. If life did not hold extreme challenges – or as I like to refer to as “opportunities” – I would not grow in my trust & dependence on God. By leaning hard into Jesus, I am making room for the glory of God to fill me by viewing extreme circumstances & sufferings as “opportunities” to know God more deeply & to carry more of His ever-increasing presence.

Why doesn’t God just change my heart in an instant? Why the long & dragged-out process?

Plain & simple: FREE WILL. I must choose on daily basis to receive God’s gift of love & enter into His opportunities to be transformed. He doesn’t force them on me. I must regularly subject my free will to Jesus Christ who invites me into an intimate relationship with Him. I may feel the urge to enter but He never forces me. As the gentle & loving Father that He is, He waits for me to respond to His invitations. This process will take the amount of time that I, in my free-will-to-choose cause it to take. The process seems to take way longer & feel far more extreme than we ever thought it would but it’s necessary & worth it. God works continuously within the circumstances of my personal progress & He always seems to effectively work ALL things together for my good & for His glory. He’s an intentional God. #WontHeDoIt

By choosing to know Him more through daily, one-at-a-time, believing-trusting-depending-on-God decisions, I am transformed. The time it takes to be completely transformed is in God’s hands & I can trust Him to lead the charge & finish the work He began in me.

” … He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:6

God is in the NOW. I must be with Him NOW with no worries about tomorrow or the next day. He’ll be there with me tomorrow just like He is with me now. I often tell myself, “Just calm down! NOW is all you need to be concerned with.”

Until next time, many blessings & much love. – XO

* Just incase you missed it as you were reading – I attached the link to this awesome song that always encourages me to trust God to make it all work together for my good. Here it is again – Intentional by Travis Greene.