- Psalm 55:19 (NKJV) God will hear, and afflict them, even He who abides from of old. Because they do not change…
In her “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters,” Portia Nelson writes:
- Chapter 1: I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.
- Chapter 2: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again…but it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
- Chapter 3: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in…My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.
- Chapter 4: I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
- Chapter 5: I walk down another street.
Virtually every day of our lives there will be some difficulty and hardship. There will always be obstacles standing in our way to keep us from success and happiness. However, if you find yourself struggling over the same issues and personalities day after day after day: that ought to be a warning sign that you need to change.
It’s one thing to fight a thousand battles, but it is an entirely different thing to fight the same battle a thousand times.
“It is amazing but consistent – people that need to grow think they can do it without change!”
_Ed Stetzer & David Putman, Breaking the Missional Code
The ONE THING 