OK, so I put a new picture up on Facebook yesterday... I got it taken a couple of months back, after utilizing the same picture since 2004. Yep, the picture on the header of this site was taken 5 years ago...actually, going on 6 years now. But, I still use that picture for everything.
I've told you plenty of times before that, I don't like change at all.
When I get comfortable with something, I tend to hold onto it for a while. So, when I got my new pictures taken for some projects I was working on a couple of months ago, I didn't want to post them. I wasn't even sure I liked them.
I guess it's because the photographs are new and well, different... a lot different from what I'm used to. But recently, I had a moment where I realized, I have to be more willing to allow change to take place in my life. It's healthy, normal and necessary.
So, finally, I changed my picture... after all these years and that's a real breakthrough for me. A great BIG one. It's the same breakthrough that someone reading this blog post needs to have in a different area of your life. God is trying to advance you and move you forward, but change is uncomfortable and you, like me with my picture, don't want to abandon your comfort zone. So, you stay perpetually stuck in the same place, but God is saying, it's time to move on.
That's why you and I have to remain open to the will of the Father, even when we'd much rather remain tied and connected to what we're used to. You see, just because something is familiar and comfortable, doesn't mean it's the best and most beneficial thing for us. Often, what feels good to us, isn't good for us.
I'm reminded of a 1950's experiment I learned about back in college, where two brain researchers, James Olds and Peter Milner, stumbled across a discovery of the brain's "pleasure center" while working with lab rats. Initially, they were trying to see if the rats would experience some kind of discomfort if electrical stimulation was sent to specific areas of their brain, causing them to run away from a certain area in the cage as a result of the discomfort. Well, the researchers got quite the opposite reaction.
Turns out that, the lab rats came right back after the initial stimulation, because it caused pleasure instead of discomfort. In later experiments, when they allowed the rats to press the stimulation lever themselves, the rodents would press it as many as seven-hundred times per hour. In fact, the rats would choose pleasure over food and water, and eventually died from exhaustion.
We can be like that sometimes. We'll choose what we "like" over what we "need," to our own detriment. But, God doesn't want us to be that way. He knows that change, growth and development is necessary, even if it's not comfortable.
That's why we've got to stop being overly concerned with our "pleasure center" and get in the "center" of God's will. We've got to draw close to Him and accept the changes He desires to make in our lives.
Whether we're comfortable with it or not, as we say yes to God's way, we automatically evolve. Our desires change, our mentality changes and our "picture" of ourselves changes.
It's no longer the same picture we had back in...2004.
You know why? Because we've developed, matured and advanced since that time. So then, that old picture or image, no longer reflects the person we are today. It's because our walk with the Lord has and continues to renew us and ultimately, redefine who we are.
So today, I admonish you not to be afraid to change your picture. See yourself differently. Adopt God's perspective and view yourself through His eyes. Now, let me warn you. When the redefinition of who you are takes place, you'll no longer be satisfied with the same things.
Your company will change. Your conversation will be transformed and your thought process will too. But as I said before, change is a good thing and as you open your heart to accept and embrace it, God will change your picture of yourself inwardly first, so His glory will be made manifest outwardly.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may you be empowered to prosper!
Dianna Hobbs
