There Is One Thing I Can Change

In Lamentations 3:40 it says, “Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD.” (GNT)

When life feels like it’s falling apart, knowing what I can change—and what I can’t change—can make all the difference.

First, I can’t change my past. I can’t change my parents. I can’t change the gifts and talents God has or hasn’t given me. I can’t change a handicap I’ve been given. I can’t bring back a loved one who has died.

I might as well accept all of those things. I’ll start to find peace in the midst of troubles when I accept what I can’t change. Otherwise, I’ll make myself and the people I love miserable.

There’s much I can’t change, but there’s something important I can change: I can change me.

When Jeremiah’s world was falling apart, he wrote in Lamentations 3:40, “Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD” (GNT).

I need to consider what’s going on in my life that doesn’t line up with what God wants? Depending on how I react, crises can help me as I learn to focus my eyes on what matters: Jesus.

To reorder my life God’s way, will take some gut-level self-evaluation. I’ll need to do an inventory of every area of my life. I’ll need to take a look at my relationship with God, my spouse, my kids, my friends, and my co-workers. I’ll need to look at hurts and hang-ups that may be bringing me down. I have to assess what habits are leading me closer to Christ-likeness and which ones are pulling me away. I need to be honest about my flaws—not someone else’s—that got me where I am. Nothing can be off limits.

It won’t be easy. It can get messy. It’s always tough to turn from sin, even when it’s tearing me down.

But I won’t find healing without telling myself the truth about myself. Healing apart from repentance can’t last. When my world is falling apart, I’ll be tempted to bemoan every area of my life.

That’s a waste of time. I can’t change everything—but, remember, I can change me.

And when my world is falling apart, that can mean everything.

In retrospect, I need to free up my time to have real conversations with people. While I can’t control a lot of things, I can control myself and how I choose to handle life. I could and need to find a trusted confidant who can ask me the hard questions about my priorities, relationships, and even my secret sins so that I can take proper inventory of my life.