True change is hard. There are so many forces working to keep us the same. Yesterday I was amazed at the lengths God went through to help Peter change and understand that the Gospel was for Gentiles as well as Jews. As I recalled yesterday’s reading, this morning, I find myself marveling again at God’s actions.
Stepping into today’s reading, I realized yesterday was not the end of the story. Yes, Peter encountered dramatic life-altering change. But Peter, like all of us, are part of relational systems –families, friendships, communities, organizations, companies. And if our change is real, then it will impact each of those relational systems, some more than others, depending upon our place in those systems.
Today’s reading begins with church leaders and brothers catching wind of what happened with Peter and not liking it. Remember they were living by the same ‘Jewish life-rules’ Peter had before his time with Cornelius. Luke records it this way. The apostles and the brothers throughout
For personal change to last, the relational systems we live in needs to change to accommodate our change. If this doesn’t happen we will either be drawn back into our ‘before-change’ behaviors or we need to find a new relational system that supports our change.
Wow, this is a lot to chew on and digest…
Oh Lord, when I sit here in my quiet moments with You and ask You to change me or help change me, I almost never give any thought to how my relational systems will have to change in order to accommodate my personal change. Lord, I don’t think about the strength I will need –strength like Peter displayed- to speak about the change You have wrought in me.
Wow, Lord, the revelations keep coming. No wonder some (much?) of the change I think happens, or starts to happen, in me doesn’t last… because I don’t face the important relational systems in my life that need to change as well.
Oh God, help me… help me… help me. Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.
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