Growth is like eating a sour candy, it starts off painful and you’re hoping it stops soon, yet there is a sweetness present that keeps you going back for another.
Transformation in our lives can be a lot more difficult than eating sour candies. In every given trial and challenge we have two choices: We can whine and complain and stress over the situations, staying stuck and unchanged – doomed to only have the sour parts of life over and over and over again OR We can choose to co-operate with God and let HIM teach us, renew us, transform us and bring us into a closer safer and more intimate relationship with HIm.
You have two choices when difficulty strikes: You can whine and complain and remain unchanged OR you can lean into God and learn what He’s teaching, growing and training in you!
God has been doing a lot of transforming in my life. It’s been years of highs and lows as He works to teach me to truly trust and depend on Him for all things. I’m like a child learning to walk all over again. It’s clumsy, exciting, frustrating and absolutely beautiful! The fruit that I see in my life when I allow Him to lead increases my relationship with Him and my reliance on Him for all things. I keep going back over and over again, no matter how much the growth hurts at times, He’s faithful to walk with me through the tests no matter how many times it takes me to pass it.
We measure success by results, God’s measure of success is the faithfulness we display.
I’ve stopped caring, but yet I’m caring even more, if that makes any sense ;). I use to care about defending myself, standing up for myself or what I believed was true and always felt the need to promoting myself or prove what I knew.. But, I’ve stopped desiring to tell people what I know and stopped trying to prove my worth. Not because I’m not worth fighting for or promoting, but because God is fighting for me and His opinion of my worth is greater than anything I could gain from anyone else. I’m living for an audience of one.
I made a choice to cast all my cares on Him. I made the choice to trust Him with all matters concerning me because as I paused long enough to stop thinking about myself – I saw God’s hand in every moment of my life. I saw Him faithfully protecting, loving, forgiving and teaching me. If He is faithful never to leave me, even at my worst I should 100% be willing to give up my whole life for and to Him!
It feels foreign to walk in step with the Holy Spirit. Probably because I’ve spent the last 36 years keeping in step with my selfish desires, but even though it’s foreign it’s awe inspiring to watch God at work and not myself. Sometimes I wonder if I just lost my ability to care because I don’t feel the swings of emotions like I use to and at times my flesh says I should stand up for myself or I’ll be walked all over and take advantage of – but that’s not the Truth! God is moving in my life and in yours. He loves us fiercely – He’s our defender and our protector and is working all things out for good.
So, even though it feels foreign to live in Step with the Spirit, I’ll continue to do so and continue to focus on taking my thoughts captive and casting all my cares on Him. When I give all my needs and worries to God, I am free to care deeply and passionately about helping others – I don’t need to use my limited capacity on myself – God has me – I need to use my capacity to serve others and teach them this same truth! Paying it forward, all He has done for me.
Be careless in the care of God!
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