Called to Grow
If you are alive, God’s not finished with you yet! God the Father invites humanity to believe that He sent His son to die for us and be the ultimate and perfect sacrifice for us so that whoever believes in Him may LIVE!
Living is ACTIVE, just as growth is. For humanity there is no such thing as stagnation, if you aren’t growing you are dying. Think of the trees and flowers; they withstand elements such as heat, rain, and snow, and they grow in the spring. When they stop growing they die.
Creation itself, cannot remain the same.
Considering spiritual growth, we have souls that need to be fed and refined by the Spirit. If we aren’t met with challenges or difficulties, there is no growth and there is no staying the same. The opposite of growth is decay and death. God who has always been, who is and will always be. He is the only constant, He is the only One who remains the same. We were not created to stay the same, we were created to grow. When we grow our sins are revealed, our weaknesses and vulnerabilities feel exposed, that is when we need to be dependent on the ONE who remains the same. When we become independent to fix and solve, we do not invite the One in that can make it better than we can imagine.
We need to make Him our first response, not our last resort. We get to give over all of our insecurities, strengths, weaknesses and confess sin to a God who already knows these things and loves us all the same.
Spiritual growth means to learn more about God and LEAN into and on Him. Learning feels more attainable because it doesn’t require a heart change. Of course, reading the bible, listening to sermons and podcasts are all at our fingertips with access to the internet. Don’t get me wrong, knowledge is power and learning is still important.
BUT, we don’t want to miss the “why” in Jesus coming. He came for relationship. He came because you could have the knowledge, just as the Pharisees did, but their hearts were so hard and couldn’t see Jesus as the King and Savior. Yet He was in front of them. The Pharisees acted like they sat on thrones dictating what was law, when Jesus, who is God, washed feet to serve out of love and humility.
The ONE who came for you and I was washing filthy feet, not sitting on a throne and making demands, even though He had every right and authority to do so. Jesus was winning people with a different posture, not in law, but in relationship. Jesus leaned into humanity because that was His calling.
But leaning into something, or someone (specifically God) requires an active posture of the heart tilting forward. Sometimes when we lean, He is gracious to give us the big picture, and sometimes while leaning we get to see only the next step, the step provided by the light of the lamp, His light. Regardless of how God reveals to you your next step, be prepared (pray now) that your flesh and feelings will not agree with your spirit. Your flesh desires comfort not growth. Your soul desires to be more like Jesus.
We do not get to be both the potter and clay. We can’t be in control of our life and live a surrendered life at the same time. As the clay we live in dependence on the potter to mold us into a beautiful masterpiece. As we surrender, He will continue to mold, but we have to let go.
It is when we let go, that He gets to be God of our lives. As humans, we are really good about giving up certain parts of our lives - but not all of the parts. Start making a list of areas of your life, start big and then get more detailed. When your back starts to stiffen…lean into that tension and ask God to reveal what you withhold. It's typically the areas we care the most about that are the hardest to surrender. As we lean, it's hard to hold onto things because gravity will pull it down and pull it away.
Growth is a requirement to living, spiritual growth is a necessity to becoming more like Jesus.
Saints, LEAN in…God created you for a purpose. You have a race specifically designed for only you to run. Sometimes it will feel like crawling uphill, other times you will have seasons of rest. Brothers and Sisters - if He calls you….you must go! We do not get to know the details, but that is growth in obedience to the Father, trusting that He loves you, He is trustworthy and He is faithful. What He allows in our lives is for our good and for His glory.
Do not pray for growth lightly, a change in the posture of the heart and taking thoughts captive to be renewed are no small feat, in fact - it is hard. If you do pray for growth genuinely, hold on dear friend. From personal experience the Father delivers; ask and you shall receive. Do not grow weary, press on and trust that God will do abundantly more than we can ever ask or hope for.
