Growth; The Most Difficult Natural Process

For those of you who didn’t read my last post, I did not fall off the face of the earth; I just took the month of August off blogging because my schedule was too full. Now that things have settled down for me, I am planning on getting back to putting out a post every other week.

I know that the majority of my blog posts have centered around growth in one way or another, but I am going to talk specifically about it this time. Growth is a naturally occurring phenomenon that is intended for the benefit of whatever it touches; but the funny thing I’ve observed about the combination of growth and my human nature is that my human nature has a way of stifling growth, usually with the lie that I am just fine the way I am. I’ve had the opportunity to watch a lot of growth take place in nature, and I’ve always been amazed at how resilient God’s creation is; I’ve seen things grow and thrive shortly after appearing to be cold and dead. One frigid day in February about twelve years ago, one of our sheep had a lamb in the pasture, and the lamb was stiff by the time my dad found them and got them into the barn. My dad managed to warm and revive the lamb, then twenty-four hours later the lamb was running around like nothing had ever happened. I’m pretty sure that God intended for growth to work this way in me, but I am the one holding it back. He took my cold, dead heart and gave me a new one that is warm and bursting with life; so why am I so hesitant to follow Him and allow Him to care for me in the way only He knows best? Growth is a natural process, but my sin sick human nature is what gets in the way and prevents God from working.

If I want to live the abundant life God promises to His followers, I have to get past my insecurities and be secure in who He says I am as a new creation in Him, and I have to be willing to leave my comfort zone to follow Him; I have to trust that He knows what is best for me, and I have to act on that trust.