Transformers

I didn't watch Transformers growing up, nor have I seen the movie yet, but I do know they're robots that can change into cars and other machines, and that they're pretty darn cool.  I couldn't help but think of this when I read Ezekiel 36 this morning, which talks of some other, pretty incredible transformations: the desolate city becoming inhabited again, waste places bursting forth with life, and, most radical of all, stone hearts being quickened to life.

We usually believe that change, if it happens at all, will happen slowly and gradually, like how the Grand Canyon was formed over many millions of years.  In many cases, we wonder if change will happen at all, as the visual evidence leads us to believe we may actually be going backwards.  And yet, when it comes to the Kingdom of God, this may not be the case.  It is the core thought of Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller, "The Tipping Point," and also a running theme in the Bible: change happens, and it can happen in an instant.

I do not negate the need for patience in waiting out deep healing: for many of us who wrestle with, and who support others who wrestle with, long-entrenched dysfunctions, the wounds did not get inflicted overnight, and they will not heal overnight.  However, I do affirm that change can happen, and it can happen quickly and dramatically.  Relationships can be mended, cities can be turned around, and hearts can be brought back to spiritual life.  If we believe, we can see radical transformation in our lifetimes.  More radical even than a robot turning into a car.