Possible? My response would be – ‘of course’. However, before attempting to change what is, you have to acknowledge that (fill in the blank) is. And this is not always comfortable. We may not like ‘what is’ and so we attempt to distance ourselves from ‘it’. It won’t go away though and seems to grow in size until that’s typically all we can see. Making a change at that point is extremely difficult… but not impossible.
What, in your world, do you want to change? Is it a major change or a minor inconvenience? Do you know what you want in place of what is, because you can never simply dismiss the ‘it’ and ignore the hole it leaves. Too many people attempt to do precisely that – get rid of what is (displeasing) but don’t replace with something that can become a positive. Why, I wonder, don’t we realize the importance of replacement? It really isn’t just a substitution because in my world of definitions, a substitution is related to whatever is in place and most of the time we don’t want what is.
I have a friend who attempts to ignore and deny (in my thinking) what is and bases this on the scripture in Romans (4:17) “…who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” (which is really talking about faith). Somehow the thinking is that if I don’t acknowledge (fill in the blank) and call into existence what I (want? need?) then I am acting in faith. In my world of understanding scripture, this is totally incorrect.
Faith is a potent force and a strong defense, otherwise why would faith be designated as the shield in our personal ‘fortification’ in the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18). Actually, we are told to
“…above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (16)
However, I do not see where we are to deny what is. I believe we are to go beyond what is and through the grace of the Lord, to act by seeing what can be possible. We are not to let what is deter us and instead, go forth in confidence. This will require changing our thoughts and actions that reinforce what is and replace them with faith based thoughts and actions. If we weren’t able to do this, then we’d never be asked nor even be aware of the possibility of change.
