God can change anyone

Proverbs 29:11 (NKJV)

11 A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.

A wise man will not utter all his mind at once, but will take time for a second thought, or reserve the present thought for a fitter time, when it will be more pertinent and likely to answer his intention; he will not deliver himself in a continued speech, or starched discourse, but with pauses, that he may hear what is to be objected and answer it. [Matthew Henry]

As a young woman, Frances Havergal, author of the hymns, "Take My Life and Let It Be" and "Like a River Glorious," had a very quick temper the kind that would explode. Afterward she would be mortified and confess it to the Lord. But then she would lose her temper, again and again.

One day after a particularly bad explosion, she threw herself down by her bed and wept. She prayed, "Lord, must it always be so? Will I always have this temper to keep me humble before you?"

While she was on her knees, the Lord injected a verse of Scripture in her mind: "The Egyptians whom you have seen today you will see no more forever." God spoke these words to Moses when the Egyptians pursued the Israelites to take them back into bondage. Havergal related the verse to her temper and the way in which Satan wanted to use it to pull her into bondage. She saw that God could take her temper away.

She asked, "Lord, could it be forever?"

It seemed to her that the words came back from the Lord, "Yes. No more, forever."

Her sister said that from that day Frances Havergal never again lost her temper. She believed God, and God did a miracle.  [J. Oswald Sanders, "How Do You Love?" Discipleship Journal (March/April 1981)]

My wife and I will often watch Dr. Drew on HLN in the evenings. Last night on the show a Facebook poll was shown on Jodi Arias as to whether she could be rehabilitated. 95% of the respondents said no, while only 4% said yes.

Most of the people saying she cannot be rehabilitated see the hard callousness of Jodi Arias and what appears to be a very unrepentant person. The remorse one would expect from such an act of murder just isn’t there as many would expect.

God can bring about changes in anyone. For Frances Havergal,she had an explosive temper that she begged God to take away. As she cried out to God for change, God listened. As she heard God she questioned the response, “Lord, could it be forever?” What she heard was, “Yes. No more, forever.” And from that point she never lost her temper again.

Let us all pray for Jodi Arias that she will humble herself before God and ask for the changes that need to take place in her life. Let God respond that she may hear the answers she needs. Let God bring about change in the life of Jodi Arias and in the lives of others that we may see God’s power and might. God can change anyone!