I don’t know about you, but I haven’t grown since the 7th grade (physically speaking). And I think the last time I experienced growing pains was probably sometime in elementary school.
But in the past month I have experienced an onslaught of spiritual growing pains. (Well, onslaught might be a slight exaggeration, but it can certainly feel that way). Some call it pruning. Others refer to it as refining. But whatever you call it, this experience of being challenged and tested and upheaved from Easy-Peasy-Comfortable Street is something that we all need if we are to grow in our spiritual maturity and embrace the calling God has put on our lives. I am quite familiar with this stretching/growing/pruning/refining process, yet I often find myself in a love-hate relationship with it. My spirit loves it and my flesh hates it. Ain’t gonna lie, IT IS HARD! But over the years I have learned to embrace and appreciate these experiences because they make me more like Christ, and more than anything, I want to be like Him.
So what exactly has the past month brought? The start of raising support. And a whole host of associated step-out-of-my-comfort-zone situations that God is using to teach me things. That’s what. Most people I talk to are completely supportive of me in this decision and I am eternally thankful in so many ways. But I have had a few challenging conversations, as well, and as difficult as they are, they have made me grow and become more secure in this calling because they have forced me to examine and fortify my convictions and beliefs with the unwavering truth of His Word. So there’s one thing.
This process of raising support is also humbling me. Every part strips me of my pride. And every time I check my fundraising account I am blown away by the generosity of God’s people. I mean, I mailed out support letters a little more than a month ago and YOU GUYS HAVE ALREADY GIVEN $5,000!!! A thousand thank you’s and amen’s!! And I can tell that God is doing a work in me because of what he’s done in others. He is changing my heart and molding it to be more generous.
Not only that, but He is absolutely, without a doubt, making me more dependent on Him, as well. My trust in him continues to deepen with every step, my faith continues to be stretched, and my level of dependency probably needs to be measured with a new scale because it is so off my old charts. There are TONS of verses God has filled me with surrounding this aspect of my growth, but the two stories that I am most gratified by are found in Mark 6 (Jesus sending out the Twelve) and Judges 6-7 (Gideon preparing for battle). I won’t explain them here – because I don’t want to lose you – but maybe in another post. What I will finish with though is Zechariah 4:6, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” God is preparing my heart now for what I will need later.
So that’s where I am. All over the place, but in a nutshell. As Christine Caine once said, “Healthy things grow, and growing things change.” So when was the last time you experienced growing pains?
