Have you ever wished you could wipe your slate clean and start all over?  Many times in my past I went through traumatic experiences and heartaches, and many of them were of my own doing.  And of course, each day brought the remembrance of those experiences, and whether or not I realized it, they would shape how I would live my day.   The hope that things would get better someday was about all that kept me going sometimes.  Maybe you could call it “denial”, but something deep inside me really wanted things to be different.  I’d think, today will be better, but somehow that day would end up being just like every other day.  Why is that?
    Well, for one thing, if you face every situation armed with the same information that led you to make yesterday’s decisions, you will keep making the same kind of decisions today.  And guess what? You will get the same results, because that’s how things work.  It’s just like having a garden; if you keep planting carrots, you’ll keep getting carrots.  You can get so sick and tired of carrots, but it doesn’t matter, because nothing will ever change until you stop planting them and start planting something else.
    Yet, even nature tells us change is part of life.  Babies are born, grow up into adults, grow old and die. Things are constantly changing every moment of every day.  You’ll never look up in the sky and see the same cloud exactly the same today as it was yesterday.  Every tree, plant and animal changes day by day, landscape changes, so why is it people seem to get caught in an endless loop of “same old same old”?
    Familiarity keeps us doing things the same way.  We take the same road to work, eat the same things, do the same things, and socialize with the same people.  We’re creatures of habit, and there is no denying that.  Ever notice how something new in your life can either cause joy or fear?  Moving into a new city can either be an adventure, or a nightmare depending how you see things as you adjust your life to your new surroundings.  You have to learn the neighborhood, find your way around town, learn where to shop, and make new friends.  But sooner or later, your past catches up with you, and you find yourself in pretty much the same situation as the one you left behind.
     For example, there might be a single mother raising her kids alone who was badly abused by her ex-husband who wants a new life, so she quits her job, packs up the station wagon, and moves to another city.  She finds a new home, a new job and ends up meeting the same kind of guy she just left, and guess what? She gets married to another abusive husband and it starts all over again.  And she really wants a different life, but she just keeps doing the same things over and over again.  Most people do, after all, we’re creatures of habit.
    Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution, only to find you broke it by about the third or fourth day?  I have.  And doubtless you have, too.  After all, New Year’s resolutions are made to break, right?  We start off with all good intentions, but somehow things just don’t turn out right because we have deceived ourselves into thinking we don’t have the power to change things.  Nothing could be further from the truth.
    All you have to do is look at the road you drive on each day and you will see it is indeed possible to change.  Once upon a time, that road didn’t exist, but someone saw a need for it to be there, and they went to work to make a change in the landscape, and you are enjoying the fruit of that change.  Surely there were challenges as they labored to build that road, rocks, hills or gullies, maybe trees in the way, but one by one, those obstacles were overcome until the vision was a reality.  And that should show you that you can also make changes in the landscape of your life.
    You won’t wave a magic wand and POOF!, it will be all better.  But if you can have a vision of it in your mind, you can do it.  A home builder can look at a piece of ground and see a two story home with a picket fence with kids playing in the yard.  It starts with a blueprint of a finished product.  First you have to get land to build on.  Buy it from a neighbor, or borrow it and take it home with you, but get land.  Prepare that land so it will look like you want it to, and build your foundation.  Then you frame the house.  But imagine what it would be like to build a house first before you had a piece of land, you’d have nowhere to put it.  Yet many people who want to change their lives do just that.  There is an order to everything under the sun, so the first task is to find out what that order is and adhere to it.
   You may feel like you are a ball in a pinball machine, bouncing around uncontrollably with the bells dinging and the lights flashing all around you, being knocked around from one place to another with no control at all where you’re headed next.  But I have good news for you!  God is the author of all order, and He never changes.  You can look at the planets and galaxies each in their proper order and see that God really does have the ability to keep things working right.  A long time ago He figured out what works best and did it, and continues to do it today.  And He is willing to let you in on His secrets of success.  You don’t have to be stuck in the rut, hoping against hope that things will improve.   You can make that change, RIGHT NOW!
 God is all about order and He wants to help you get YOUR life in order TODAY!
   The next move is up to you.  Will you wish things were better and keep planting the same seeds today that you planted yesterday, and getting the same harvest that you always have?  Or will you call on God right now and end that endless streak of @#$%^& you have lived in for so long?  It’s really up to you.  Don’t let the devil deceive you into thinking that nothing can change for you.  Life can be better than you have ever dared to imagine once God is the Master Planner of your life.
   You’ve been a long time in this place.  Isn’t it time to admit your way isn’t working, and let God fix things?  Will there be changes?  You bet!  Will all of them be easy and comfortable?  Not likely.  Imagine looking at your garden full of the carrots you’re so sick and tired of.  Will it be easy to go out there and root them all up and get the ground seeded with a new crop?  It is said, “Old habits die hard”, and they do, so don’t expect to do it all on your own. If you could, it would have been done already, right?  But don’t expect God to do everything for you, either.  It’s a partnership, you and God, He helps you, and you help Him.   And together, you get the job done marvelously.
    And little by little, the Lord brings His good order into your life and one day you realize, you’re waking up with this silly grin on your face, ready to face another day with anticipation of all the good things the Lord is bringing into your life!   Let’s pray:

    Father God in heaven, thank You for the good plan You have for my life.  Lord, so far I’ve been working my own plan, and things aren’t working out the way I’d like, and I see how very much I need You.  Lord, I call upon Your name, and ask You to save me and be the Lord and Master of my life.  Forgive my sins in Jesus’ name and wipe the slate of my life clean and give me a brand new life in Christ Jesus. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit now and teach me how to REALLY live, now and forever, I ask in Jesus’ name.  Amen.