Growing Pains

This past summer I found myself in somewhat of a "spiritual slump." Hence my previous posts on my 30 day thankfulness challenge. God definitely used that, but I was still hungering for more. One thing I did was start using my women's study Bible again, starting in the New Testament.

Here's one of the many things that, though I've read it before, really stood out to me this time:
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Thought outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

There was also the following story:
A grandmother was trying to get her two granddaughters to stop playing with their toys and come to the dinner table. The grandma called their names, but still they kept playing, so she got down on the floor so she could look them in their eyes. Once she had their attention she let them know it was time for dinner, and together they went to the table. The commentary that followed is this:

"As I walked with them, I thought about having to go to all that trouble, to physically scoot down low to get the attention of my granddaughters. It was then I realized that this is exactly what Jesus did for me. God had a wonderful feast prepared for us in heaven and he called his people to come and eat and enjoy! But most often, caught up in their own little dramas, they ignored his call. So, in the form of His Son, Jesus "scooted down low" and became one of us. Why? To get our attention, to meet us eye to eye- to take us by the hand and lead us to the feast"

And then I started going to a new study on Wednesday night and this really stood out to me in the book we're reading:
"As much as we want God to explain himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us" Francis Chan in Crazy Love

I started noticing a theme....one that spoke loudly of growth- growth in my walk with God, growth within myself, and growth in learning how God works in and around us. He's willing to do so much for me. So why is it so hard to do so much for Him? Growth is REALLY hard sometimes, but completely worth it in the end. My hope is that I never stop growing in the Lord, but that He'll continue to put in me the desire NOT to settle with complacency, but one that wants to learn more daily.

One thing I've started doing is really trying to focus on God's word when I read...that's where I've been learning most these days and it's definitely been a blessing.