Growth
Growth — something we are all doing each and every day. I have found myself recently saying (almost daily), “I am just in a season of growth”, or “that was a BIG period of growth in my life.” I quickly realized EVERY season has been a period of some type of growth for me— I am always changing and growing.
How do you know if you’ve truly grown? What if you fall again? What if you mess up again? Will God forgive you? Was your repentance real? Did you really learn from that experience? These are all questions I have dealt with over the past few months, and even beyond that. I went through something that I thought I had truly healed from and learned from (and even repented from), but then I fell harder than I had before and I was not sure if I was even worthy of changing, growing, or evolving into a better version of myself — someone God wants me to be.
But time and time again I am reminded:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness…
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
I am capable of change because God can change me, and capable of growth because I am a human being who is constantly growing and learning new things daily. During the period of healing I experienced previously, I learned many key things, and after a period of falling again and again, and struggling to keep up with the “expectations” I thought were necessary and set in place for my life, I have been constantly reminded of these lessons. I’m going to put a short list below for those who are curious ☻ .
There are things that are serious, I will admit. I have a hard time acknowledging this and realizing that there are aspects of life that need to be taken seriously. HOWEVER, I will always stand by (and will always say), “it’s never that serious,” because in reality, it never is. Don’t be too hard on yourself, but still push yourself. Don’t become stagnant.
As we go into this spring season, remember to look around you. Watch the plants growing and remember that you, too, are capable of tremendous growth.
10 THINGS I LEARNED IN MY HEALING ERA:
1. Be dissatisfied. The Lord’s grace is not complete.
“We will continue to need the forgiving, enabling, transforming power of His grace until every thought and desire of our hearts is pleasing in His sight.”
2. These difficult moments are not the failure of God’s plan — they are a PART of God’s plan.
“But I do not account my life as any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course & the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24
3. Because we live in a fallen world, life will never be perfect.
“We would rather be away from the body & at home with the Lord.”
1 Cor. 5:8
4. Our identity comes from Jesus and from being created in the image of our Creator.
“Without knowing it, we put our identity & inner peace in the hands of the people around us. We look to them for what no flawed human being will ever be able to deliver. We ride the roller coaster of their views of us. I think fear of man is a bigger motivation for many of us than we tend to admit.”
5. It takes grace to admit how much you still need grace.
6. You have been given big dreams for a reason! Never tone down the volume.
7. Count it ALL joy! ☻
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2-3
8. We are small! Smaller than we think, in fact.
“The worst thing in the world can happen. But the next day the sun will come up. & you will eat your toast. & you will drink your tea.”
9. Expect nothing, appreciate everything.
“We went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us to a place of abundance.”
10. A satisfied life is better than a successful life. And who defines success anyways? Be content with who you are, what you have, and where you are. Be where your feet are.
