Wednesday's "What's God been teaching me?" #5
Hey guys, I know I missed last week's post but I was extremely busy, but I am back on track and have more cool stuff to share with you. This evening's post is one of the main things that I learned at Youth Alert. So here we go.
This week God revealed to me a little more about spiritual growth. Until this last weekend I've always thought that a successful walk with God overcomes or even bypasses struggles. I've always thought that it was good to be strong in my faith and steadfast. I've wanted to be able to stand solidly and thought that a healthy Christian is a Christian who isn't struggling.
Well, I have come to realize that it's quite the opposite of what I expected. I've come to believe that an absence of struggle is an indication of an absence of growth. As Christians we should constantly be going further down the path God has set out for us. Of course this path is not easy, and it's not straight. To make matters worse, it's night time and we can only see as far around as the lamp of God's Word shines in front of us. The path that we are on has many twists and turns and forks and...obstacles. These obstacles are our struggles, and as we walk down this path we will encounter these struggles. Now struggles are not a good thing in my mind but God's Word would tell us otherwise. In Hebrews 12:7 Paul says, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?". Paul is basically saying that we are to endure or persevere through our hardships or struggles because they are God's discipline. Verse 6 says, "the Lord disciplines those He loves." So basically Paul is saying that God disciplines us by giving us struggles and hardships because He loves us.
This makes alot of sense because God wants us to learn to live for Him and to become more like Him so He disciplines us to teach us how to do that. And, He does it through struggles!!! So struggles are a good thing! Of course they are painful and not very fun but the growth that they bring about is very good (10).
If we grow and learn through struggles, whether big or small, then it makes sense that we should often be struggling. Think about it. If I am not struggling with anything, than I don't have a direction to grow in. I believe that if we really listen to God and surrender to Him our struggles could often be as small as "Where do I go next?", but if we are trying to live in our own strength and we ignore God then we could have very painful hardships to grow and learn in ways that could have been far less painful.
So back to the path. I'm on this path and I come to an opening where I could go in any direction. If I just stand there and do nothing, then I am not struggling at all and not growing at all. However, I don't know which way to go. What do I do? Listen and submit.
So I listen closely and God speaks through one of His many ways. He says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. (Psalm 32:8)" Because God is a faithful God He will always keep this promise. Next, He will show us where we need to go. Even though He won't just give us all the growth at once, He will point us in the right direction and tell us to walk.
So I am walking along and begin to struggle and encounter rugged and rough obstacles on the path that He has pointed me down. My first instinct is to say to God, "What is the deal? You told me to walk this way and it sucks and hurts and it's hard!" And then I am reminded by God, "I didn't plan for you to overcome these struggles alone. Take my hand, and I'll show you the easiest way over these obstacles."
Not only do we have to depend on God for the direction to walk in, we need to walk with Him, otherwise we'll get stuck in these hardships. At the end of each segment of our path we have grown or learned to be closer to God, but the way we learned it is from the struggles or obstacles on the path that He takes us through.
If I am not struggling, then which path am I on? What direction am I headed? How can I grow? How is God trying to shape me and mold me into His character?
Here is an example in my own life. As my last couple posts have shown, I've really been seeking a more intimate relationship with God. About a week and a half ago, I realized that I don't know how or where to look for that. So I came to God in prayer and said, "Lord, show me how to have a more intimate relationship with You." At this point I knew my previous path segment had led me to discover the idea of intimacy with God, but I didn't know what the goal of my next segment was. I didn't know what my path was to get there, or even where "there" was. So I prayed and prayed again, and I listened with all my heart. I did not want to have to struggle just for God to get my attention this time so I just gave it to Him. Within a day or two, He showed me the direction I needed to walk in. As I finished up my devotions in Romans I decided I would read through Hebrews. In the first, chapter Jesus and who He is, is the main idea. As I listened while reading through it, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, "Joshua, if you want to have a more intimate relationship with Me, then You need to seek to know Me better, to understand who I am better." It was then that I realized that if I want to know God intimately that I need to look very closely at the life of Jesus Christ and things He said, the attitudes He had, the heart He modelled for us, and the ways He served others. It was like Jesus was saying, "You want to know me? Then look in My Word. My life is recorded there so you can see who I am. My life is recorded there so you can see my heart, mind, and soul."
So I purposed to read a gospel when I finished Hebrews. Little did I know, Hebrews is loaded with who Jesus is! His character, His love, and His power are all written right there. Right now I am on the path to discover my Saviour in a more intimate way. Right now I am looking at who He is and letting His life influence mine. I'm on that path right now, and I know the goal, and now I will walk hand-in-hand with Jesus through those struggles and hardships and discipline, because it's through those things that He will show me who He really is. And an intimate relationship is a relationship in which both partners know each other really well. I want an intimate relationship with Jesus. I want to know Him really well.
Even though my struggle in this instance was as simple as not knowing how to grow, I probably saved myself alot of pain by asking God and listening. I'd hate to have to learn the hard way that I need to be seeking God and who He is through His Word. Jesus should be more to us then just an acquaintance, more than just a business partner, more than just a rescuer, more than just a fireman saving us from the Inferno. Jesus should be our closest and most intimate friend with whom we walk each day. Jesus should be our loving Father with whom we share everything with everywhere everyday. It's this kind of a relationship that Jesus Christ laid down His life for.
Let's press on to take hold of this relationship and all it's depths!
This week God revealed to me a little more about spiritual growth. Until this last weekend I've always thought that a successful walk with God overcomes or even bypasses struggles. I've always thought that it was good to be strong in my faith and steadfast. I've wanted to be able to stand solidly and thought that a healthy Christian is a Christian who isn't struggling.
Well, I have come to realize that it's quite the opposite of what I expected. I've come to believe that an absence of struggle is an indication of an absence of growth. As Christians we should constantly be going further down the path God has set out for us. Of course this path is not easy, and it's not straight. To make matters worse, it's night time and we can only see as far around as the lamp of God's Word shines in front of us. The path that we are on has many twists and turns and forks and...obstacles. These obstacles are our struggles, and as we walk down this path we will encounter these struggles. Now struggles are not a good thing in my mind but God's Word would tell us otherwise. In Hebrews 12:7 Paul says, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?". Paul is basically saying that we are to endure or persevere through our hardships or struggles because they are God's discipline. Verse 6 says, "the Lord disciplines those He loves." So basically Paul is saying that God disciplines us by giving us struggles and hardships because He loves us.
This makes alot of sense because God wants us to learn to live for Him and to become more like Him so He disciplines us to teach us how to do that. And, He does it through struggles!!! So struggles are a good thing! Of course they are painful and not very fun but the growth that they bring about is very good (10).
If we grow and learn through struggles, whether big or small, then it makes sense that we should often be struggling. Think about it. If I am not struggling with anything, than I don't have a direction to grow in. I believe that if we really listen to God and surrender to Him our struggles could often be as small as "Where do I go next?", but if we are trying to live in our own strength and we ignore God then we could have very painful hardships to grow and learn in ways that could have been far less painful.
So back to the path. I'm on this path and I come to an opening where I could go in any direction. If I just stand there and do nothing, then I am not struggling at all and not growing at all. However, I don't know which way to go. What do I do? Listen and submit.
So I listen closely and God speaks through one of His many ways. He says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. (Psalm 32:8)" Because God is a faithful God He will always keep this promise. Next, He will show us where we need to go. Even though He won't just give us all the growth at once, He will point us in the right direction and tell us to walk.
So I am walking along and begin to struggle and encounter rugged and rough obstacles on the path that He has pointed me down. My first instinct is to say to God, "What is the deal? You told me to walk this way and it sucks and hurts and it's hard!" And then I am reminded by God, "I didn't plan for you to overcome these struggles alone. Take my hand, and I'll show you the easiest way over these obstacles."
Not only do we have to depend on God for the direction to walk in, we need to walk with Him, otherwise we'll get stuck in these hardships. At the end of each segment of our path we have grown or learned to be closer to God, but the way we learned it is from the struggles or obstacles on the path that He takes us through.
If I am not struggling, then which path am I on? What direction am I headed? How can I grow? How is God trying to shape me and mold me into His character?
Here is an example in my own life. As my last couple posts have shown, I've really been seeking a more intimate relationship with God. About a week and a half ago, I realized that I don't know how or where to look for that. So I came to God in prayer and said, "Lord, show me how to have a more intimate relationship with You." At this point I knew my previous path segment had led me to discover the idea of intimacy with God, but I didn't know what the goal of my next segment was. I didn't know what my path was to get there, or even where "there" was. So I prayed and prayed again, and I listened with all my heart. I did not want to have to struggle just for God to get my attention this time so I just gave it to Him. Within a day or two, He showed me the direction I needed to walk in. As I finished up my devotions in Romans I decided I would read through Hebrews. In the first, chapter Jesus and who He is, is the main idea. As I listened while reading through it, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, "Joshua, if you want to have a more intimate relationship with Me, then You need to seek to know Me better, to understand who I am better." It was then that I realized that if I want to know God intimately that I need to look very closely at the life of Jesus Christ and things He said, the attitudes He had, the heart He modelled for us, and the ways He served others. It was like Jesus was saying, "You want to know me? Then look in My Word. My life is recorded there so you can see who I am. My life is recorded there so you can see my heart, mind, and soul."
So I purposed to read a gospel when I finished Hebrews. Little did I know, Hebrews is loaded with who Jesus is! His character, His love, and His power are all written right there. Right now I am on the path to discover my Saviour in a more intimate way. Right now I am looking at who He is and letting His life influence mine. I'm on that path right now, and I know the goal, and now I will walk hand-in-hand with Jesus through those struggles and hardships and discipline, because it's through those things that He will show me who He really is. And an intimate relationship is a relationship in which both partners know each other really well. I want an intimate relationship with Jesus. I want to know Him really well.
Even though my struggle in this instance was as simple as not knowing how to grow, I probably saved myself alot of pain by asking God and listening. I'd hate to have to learn the hard way that I need to be seeking God and who He is through His Word. Jesus should be more to us then just an acquaintance, more than just a business partner, more than just a rescuer, more than just a fireman saving us from the Inferno. Jesus should be our closest and most intimate friend with whom we walk each day. Jesus should be our loving Father with whom we share everything with everywhere everyday. It's this kind of a relationship that Jesus Christ laid down His life for.
Let's press on to take hold of this relationship and all it's depths!
posted by Joshua at 10:06 PM
3 Comments:
Wow, what an incredible post! I'm still kinda comprehending parts of it; I was up quite late last night, and today I'm kinda having trouble with focusing. Anyway, yeah, I've also recently been learning a ton about God and my personal relationship with Him. I've been learning so much about how Jesus' relationship was with his Father, and I'm being taught to live every day for and with God. I want Him to take the steering wheel of my heart and lead me in all that I do. And granted, I will struggle, stumble, and fall. But I remember someone telling me that it's in your weaknesses that you can really see God's strength. I'm pretty sure that's in a verse somewhere in the Bible, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. If someone knows where it's found (if it is in the Bible), then that would be awesome if you could let me know. So yeah, I've been learning all that and more, and I'm kinda hoping that this comment makes some sense to you guys.
thanx so much for that Josh, I really needed to hear that!
Sharilyn, there is the verse:
"...In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness."
Romans 8:26
I'm not sure that's the one you're looking for, but it's still a good verse...as are all verses...
Thanks Josh!
Post a Comment
<< Home