3 Signs God Is Encouraging You to Make a Major Change in Your Life

Sometimes your life will change in a dramatic way whether you want it to or not. At other times, however, God will be telling you to create this huge change intentionally.

So here are 3 signs God is calling you to intentionally make a major change in your life.

1. If You Have Been in a Prolonged Season of Unhappiness, This Is a Sign God Wants You to Make a Major Change in Your Life

Joy is not an option for Christians. Believe it or not, God actually commands us to be joyful. In Philippians 3:1 Paul states, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.” Once more in Philippians 4:4-5 Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand . . . .”

In our modern thinking, commanding someone to be joyful seems very unreasonable. Isn’t life just too unpredictable to command us to always be happy? Isn’t it cruel for God to tell us to have a certain emotional feeling? Aren’t our emotions out of our control?

Well, apparently not. The key to unlocking all this is to notice the phrase “in the Lord.” We are not called to rejoice in a way that would deny the pain, confusion, and unmet desires in our lives. Rather, our rejoicing should be a reflection of our attention being mainly on God and not on earthly concerns. It is unreasonable to pretend like your life is perfect. It is very reasonable to rejoice in how perfect God is.

God has not called us to rejoice in our circumstances always because life is too unpredictable and painful to produce lasting joy in us. But he has called us to “Rejoice in the Lord always” because God is full of perfect love and compassion and he never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8); therefore we truly are able to rejoice always when our joy is rooted in the eternal, never ending source of true joy – God himself.

Therefore, if you have been stuck in a season of joyless despair, God is calling you to make a major change in life. You might not be able to change your external circumstances. Parts of your life are truly out of your control. But as Christians, God has given us the ability to rejoice in him always by the power of the Holy Spirit (Philippians 4:11-13), and thus he commands us to make whatever changes we need to make in life to obey this command to rejoice in the Lord always.

If it wasn’t possible, God would not have commanded it. It won’t be easy. It will require major life changes, but to seek the fullness of joy that can only be found in Christ is truly worth every sacrifice we will need to make.

2. A Prolonged Season of Boredom Is a Sign God Is Telling You to Make a Major Change in Your Life

I believe prolonged seasons of boredom can actually be a sin. Why? Because God did not create us to live safe and comfortable lives. God did not call us to waste away on our coaches as the world keeps turning outside our doors. We need rest. We need to lay around on the couch and watch mindless shows from time to time. But this is not how we are supposed to live our lives every day.

Boredom happens to us all every now and then, so I’m certainly not saying all boredom is sinful. I’m referring to prolonged seasons of boredom where someone is running from their calling and pursuing safety over meaningful risks and adventures that can advance the kingdom of God.

I think that type of boredom is insulting to God. God is so glorious, his creation is so intricate, his people are so interesting – to be bored for years upon years is only possible if someone is ignoring God. When you know and follow God, it is impossible to be bored in a prolonged way.

When you read the gospels, Jesus and his disciples were never bored. So if you feel like you are wasting your life and you have begun to idolize your personal safety which has lead to a life of soul-killing boredom, it’s time for a change. God has not called us to a life of safety. To be a Christian as God intended, there must be meaningful risk and sacrifice for the glory of God.

May we not be like Jonah, who ran from his calling to pursue personal safety. As Jonah 2:8 states, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”

3. A Prolonged Season of Being Paralyzed from Doing What You Truly Sense God Calling You to Do Is a Sign God Wants a Major Life Change to Occur

As Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, there is time for everything. So there truly is a time to think, to pray, to listen for God’s words of direction to you, and to make a wise plan.

But eventually there must come a time of action. It’s so easy to get stuck in a time of overthinking, over planning, and over analyzing. The term “paralysis by analysis” is very true. Our desire to be wise can easily turn into a season of being paralyzed from doing what we already know God has called us to do.

Waiting and planning is very good unless God has already given you enough information to move forward and accomplish his will for your life. When you know what God has told you to do but you refuse to do it because you can’t leave the safety of your season of planning, it’s time for a major change. Eventually you just have to pull the Band-Aid off quickly and efficiently. You have to step into your calling, fully accepting that you will never be totally ready for the future because that’s not how life works.

We don’t need to know everything. We don’t need to be fully prepared for every possible outcome. We don’t need to be mistake free along the way because that’s impossible. What we truly need is a greater faith in God. If God has called you to do something, do it. Don’t delay. God will take care of you along the way, but eventually you just have to take that first step and start your journey.