When You Want To Grow

It seems that the easiest part of deciding to move forward with God is the initial decision. You feel a deep and sincere conviction from God that there are changes in your life that must take place if you want to move forward with Him. You decide one day that you are going to submit to that conviction and you might even be a little excited. But sometimes that excitement or fire within can be extinguished quickly by the outward turmoil in our lives.

We call it attacks from the devil when we are trying to improve our spiritual lives, but is that what is always going on? In Hebrews 12 and Proverbs 3 we read that God disciplines those whom He loves. Sometimes when we get serious with the Lord it seems like we are experiencing some constant turmoil. It could be an attack from the devil or it could be that God is testing us in different ways to see how serious we are and to strengthen us for the future. In this lifetime we will never know with certainty what is going on. We can however know that some type of testing will come. It will be constant and when we try to move forward it could be a bit more intense.

We talk a lot about trials in the Church and have become familiar with the texts that surround the word, but have we become good at embracing it as a part of the Christian life? We kick and scream at times because we do not want the trial and maybe that is because we forget what they are for. They are a spiritual tool to help us draw closer to God and conform to His will in greater ways. I want to learn to embrace my trials to some degree each year in greater ways. I am living in a way at this point where I expect them to come at unexpected times. I do so because it always seems to work out that way. Romans 5:1-5 and James 2:2-4 gives us some insight about our trials. Every Christian should learn what the New Testament says about them and how they are to conduct themselves through them. Whether you want to hear it or not you are getting ready to go through a trial, in the middle of a trial, or coming out of a trial. There is rarely any middle ground. Just remember they are in place for a reason.