Oh how I wanted to grow. How I desired to move closer to God. How I longed to become more like Him. Yet I naively thought that problems and people would hold me back. A trouble free environment would be what this soul needed to thrive. Oh how wrong I was! Thank God in His grace He had a better plan…
Growth hurts.
As a kid I used to get horrible growing pains, especially in my legs. I would lie in bed at night, barely able to move, groaning under the changes occurring in my little legs. The muscles had to stretch. But without the pain I would never have gotten taller (though I seemed to stop before many people at five foot one). I wouldn’t be the woman I am today. The same is true in our spiritual lives. Growth hurts. Discipline isn’t enjoyable at the time, but God disciplines those He loves, and it produces a harvest of righteous living (paraphrase of Hebrews 12). So Lord I thank you for putting me in situations outside of my comfort zone. I thank you for bringing people into my life who sharpened me by rubbing against me. The classic saying “iron sharpens iron; expect sparks to fly” is so incredibly true. It’s your flesh rubbing against their flesh until the dull edge is refined. Thank you God for bringing me Nameless One (you know who you are. And because you are a man of humility, I choose to keep you anonymous) to refine me and challenge me. Thank you for calling out my blind spots in love so that I can become more like Jesus. It’s been quite an ordeal, hasn’t it? But God works all things together for our good. The problem is we don’t always understand what is good for us. Our idea of good and God’s sometimes clash. We are slaves to our comfort but God knows life sing found there. In order to find our life, we have to die.
How else can I become an oak of righteousness without dying to self and then growing?
How else can I become pure gold without refining fire?
How else can I be a legitimate daughter without being disciplined?
Lord I submit to you and your ways.
Scripture bombs:
“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.”
1 Peter 4:12-13 NLT
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
James 1:2-4
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
Romans 5:3-5 NLT
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”
Matthew 16:24-26 NLT
“What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first.”
1 Corinthians 15:36 NLT
“And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the LORD’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”
Hebrews 12:5-11 NLT
