We recognize the work of the refiner’s fire or the gardener’s shears. This perspective is what brought Job peace in Job 23:10. If we trust that God is at work through changes and that His desire is to sanctify us, then we may more willingly submit. The result of pruning is a more plentiful crop. But the outcome of a refiner’s fire is purified precious metal. The process of refining or pruning tends to be unpleasant, so we resist. God’s work of renewal in us is compared to that of a refiner’s fire (Zechariah 13:9 Malachi 3:2 Isaiah 48:10 1 Peter 1:7) and to a gardener’s pruning shears (John 15:2). We can lessen our resistance to change by keeping a divine perspective on life.
So how do we overcome our resistance to change? Second Corinthians 4:16 says, “Inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” When we submit to God, good change happens.
We want to become more like Christ we want to change. He makes all things new (Revelation 21:5), and the old is dispensed with. We also know that change, in the Christian life, is desirable. We face change as we mature, as our bodies age, and as we interact with the world. Of course, we know that change is inevitable. It helps to explain why change takes so much effort, and why we naturally have a resistance to change. In fact, there is a saying in neuroscience that “neurons that fire together, wire together.” This means that the more we do something, the more it becomes not only habit, but biologically ingrained.
Resistance to change is natural to human nature. Change can be one of the most stressful things in life, even when the change is desired.
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