Years ago a Christian Church in Albuquerque hired a church growth expert from California. I remember his presentation to the church board while I was a Youth Minister there. He gave many suggestions, but his biggest recommendation was that the church was located in a part of town that had no growth potential left. He urged them to sell their property and move to a part of town where growth was happening.
Well, they owned their property free and clear. They’d been there a good while. The bottom line is, they weren’t interested in any solution that involved major change of any kind. Since they didn’t like the advice they were given, they began to question the church growth expert’s qualifications. (Never mind the fact that he had helped other churches.)
In the end, they chose to do nothing the consultant had suggested. Sure enough, today that church is in decline --- barely able to keep the doors open. That was precisely what the Consultant warned would happen if they were unwilling to change.
Like a knowledgeable Consultant, God always knows the changes we need to make. He knows exactly what will make things better … and He knows exactly what will make things worse.