Change for the Better

Watching events unfold in North Africa and the Arab world can be intoxicating. The hopes for change that have driven crowds of protesters onto the streets may end up being dashed as the new regimes struggle to make any significant differences. Change for the better is not certain.
The past may have been terrible, but we can never be sure that the future will be better.
Those selling financial products have to remind us relentlessly that 'the value of investments may go down, and past performance is no guarantee of the future'.
And yet we all long for a change for the better.
Today's dull weather and sunless skies enhance our dreams for sunshine, spring days and summer. But change for the better is not certain.
The great apostle, under house arrest in Rome, and facing the possibility of approaching execution, has a startling hope for change. Instead of spending his time in self-destructive reflection on his own past, he determines to look forward to what God has promised.
 'No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.' (Philippians 3.13-14)
Like St. Paul, all of us have things in our past which have needed to be changed. Part of the process of our growing up, mentally and emotionally, as well as spiritually and psychologically, is that we do change. But change for the better is not certain.
The greatest determining factor for any change in our lives will be the direction and destination of our journey. So for us as for St. Paul, looking ahead to God's finishing line, and the relentless grace and mercy we enjoy on the way, will ensure that we are not disappointed in our hopes of change. The Lord Jesus will keep us as we seek to press on. This change for the better is certain
Best wishes,
Richard