Month: January 2020

Intentional Growth

Intentional Growth

Change is inevitable.  Growth is intentional.  

Change occurs within us and around us, without notice or with notice, scheduled or unscheduled.  Some of us try to prevent change and some of us run towards it. Time changes at the ticking of the clock as the day changes from dawn to dusk, and back around again, each movement propelling us forward in time.  Length of day and temperatures change resulting in seasons, which leads to change in our participation of them, our activities and our responses.  We change from infancy to adult with many stages in between.  Change often occurs due to sudden trauma or unexpected results.    This change, often without warning, can be startling and often invokes fear at the unknown.  Personal change can be hard and its lasting effects vary due to the lack of intentional purpose it came with. All around us there is change and it is inevitable.

Growth on the other hand is intentional.  Intentional growth is to develop or increase on purpose. We set our minds to be purposeful about what we are doing, when, with whom, and how we are doing it.  In doing so, growth happens; a daily, perhaps even lifelong progression. When we grow intentionally there is lasting effect. The time and effort we put in is rewarded by increase.  Increase in muscle tone as we workout, increase in skill as we practice and apply, increase in self awareness as we learn about ourselves objectively.  Growth is intentional.

We don’t always have choice in change, however we do have choice in growth.  Each day we are given opportunities to grow, to be intentional.  I have a choice to be intentional about the foods that enter by body and the way I care for myself, the friends and influences I surround myself with, the responses I give to situations that come my way, my time, my work; I have a choice to be intentional about my growth as a person and my growth in Christ.

Ephesians 5:15-17, Passion Translation says, “So be very careful how you live not being foolish as those with no understanding, but live honorably with true wisdom, for we are living in evil times.  Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for his purposes.  And then you will have discernment to fully understand God’s will.” 

In Ephesians 5 Paul writes with instruction as to how we must live out our faith.  He instructs us to be careful, to live honorably and with true wisdom, making the most of every situation.  Paul is instructing us to be intentional with our faith.  Paul has his own  intention in writing, and that is for our growth in faith.

In 2 Peter 3:18, Passion Translation, Peter writes, “But continue to grow and increase in God’s grace and intimacy with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Peter is instructing us to grow, to be intentional in God’s grace and our intimacy with him.

Growth is intentional.  Growing our faith is intentional.  Growing our intimacy with Christ is intentional.  We have but a choice to be intentional in Christ, to be purposeful in our pursuit of Him. Growth takes time and discipline, however its effects are lasting and its reward gives us increase.

As we are intentional with Christ we increase.  As we increase we grow in all that the Lord has for us and in our relationship with Him.

I Thessalonians 3:12, NIV “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else”

Change is inevitable, but growth is intentional.  

In His Time

In His Time

I remember as a child I longed to be 13.  In my world and in my friends 13 meant many new freedoms and experiences.  Those in which I now look back and think are quite silly, but nonetheless it was our focus and what consumed our heart’s longings.   The wait was hard, but our eagerness was great, and so with excitement and anticipation we planned what we would do, what we could do when we all turned 13.  Our efforts in rushing the process was to no avail as time moved slowly, yet steadily ahead as it always had, and our eagerness only prolonged the days at best.

In looking back, I remember the anticipation more than I do remember the days that followed turning 13.   Probably because the wait was more painful with our minds so consumed with playing out scenarios of what it would be like, and not really having the answers.   I’m sure the days ahead were fun, but I wonder if it was truly worth all the energy spent in waiting for that day to come.  As I reflect on more current situations I am mindful of the energy often used and at time wasted on anticipation or in fear of things awaiting us that we truly have no control over.   So often we build ourselves up to a point of anxiety and feed ourselves with information that isn’t factual, but is built from past experiences or predictions and twisted thoughts in trying to figure out what will happen, how it will happen, when it will happen, or how will I respond when it happens.

As time didn’t change with my eagerness as a child, still it will not change in other circumstances of my life.  What can change however is my approach and my reaction to the wait.  When anticipation or fear begins to arise within and unknown circumstances loom around me, I have but a choice.  I can choose to dwell upon, to fret or fear and create anxiety within of a story in my mind that’s not factual nor proven or I can choose to trust upon my creator, the one who created me and knows me best.  The one whose promises remain true.

Time.  We didn’t create time, nor can we control time or the events which happen within it.  There are many things we do have control over, however, when things are beyond our control it is the wait where preparation and growth occur that matters most.  It is the wait that grows our Trust in the Lord.  When a farmer plants seed in the soil the result of what’s to come is not immediate.  He needs to trust the process and wait.  Over time and with proper care, the once planted seed grows and blooms to what the farmer trusted it to be.  Had the farmer not properly cared for the land during the season of wait the result would not be the same.  Even so with proper care, not all seeds will flourish as the farmer hoped for, but his preparation during the wait will yield a much stronger crop than had he not prepared at all.

Our wait is much like the farmers.  Our anticipation, worry and fears will not change time nor quicken our wait, however our trust in the Lord and our posture during our times of wait is what will grow us, sustain us and prepare us for the what’s to come.  Just like the farmer tends to the soil of the seed, our Father is ready to tend to our hearts.

As it is written in the Passion Translation, Philippians 4:6-8 “Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing.  Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude.  Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ.  So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind.  And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always. “

As we sit at crossroads of what is and what will be with much anticipation upon our hearts may we embrace the wait, through preparation and growth, and know that In His Time all will be as he purposed it to be.

 

 

 

Transparency

Transparency

“Transparency is removing the mask and revealing who you really are; it is getting beyond the surface to what is really going on in your heart.”

As she sat alone in the darkness bound by the fears within, the images in her head grew to the point that escape felt impossible and hope felt unreachable.  Deep within her gut she knew there was more, in her gut she knew there was hope but her head painted a very different picture.   This tug of war continued for days on end, for months, and years.  The war within so brutal and so isolating.  She longed for release from its grip that it held, for freedom.  She longed to breath without struggle, she longed to be seen for who she really was.   Within there was torment, however the surface looked much different.  In her struggle she learned to create, to form, to paint.  She became an artist of the mask.  She then became an artist of several masks.  Each one perfectly crafted to fit the moment, the time, the place it was needed.  As time passed and the torment within remained, her hope was in creating her masks, in covering who she was, the pain she felt, to be who she thought she needed to be.  The cover of the mask temporarily easing the pain and allowing her to outwardly appear acceptable, yet inwardly the war continued its conflict and destruction.

Have you been there?  I’m sure at some time or another we have all put on the mask to cover what is really going on within.  Maybe you’re a professional mask maker or maybe it’s just a hobby you pick up now and again.   To live within a mask is to be covered, whether for protection or for fear, it prevents us from being all that we truly are and all that we are meant to be.  In Ephesians 2:10 God says ” For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  To be His workmanship means that He created us, formed us and crafted us just as we are.  He did this with a purpose and a plan, there was no mistake.  He didn’t create us so then we could create a mask to cover who he intended us to be.  In learning to accept that, and truly believe that, we then can remove the mask that we so carefully crafted and be who He has created us to be.  Our freedom is in Him, not in our works.

For years I have been a professional mask maker, covering my pain to appear acceptable to those around me or better yet, acceptable to what I felt was needed to be acceptable to me.  The masks don’t last though and the process and time to make them only adds to the pain and isolation within.  Just as pottery will crack from the stresses in the clay, so will our masks begin to crack as the stress within becomes too much.   In our weakness it is not more effort we need to put in to creating something that is not, but rather in our weakness we need to draw near to Christ and allow him to help us, to guide us, to heal us.  Isaiah 40:29 says “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”  The same God who created us, who formed us, who knows us will give us the strength we need.  Instead of  crafting and working so hard to independently create the perfect mask to cover, lets instead reach out to our maker who knows all the intricacies of us and allow him to heal and to give us hope and peace within.

In full transparency may we remove the masks that keep us hidden, the masks that bind us to who we think we should be rather than who we were created to be in Christ. And in doing so, the story of our lives, though still faced with challenges and difficulties, will be be written with hope and fulfillment knowing that we are who we were created to be.

As she sat alone in the darkness she was no longer bound by the fears within, the images in her head no longer grew to the point that escape felt impossible and hope felt unreachable.  Deep within her gut she knew who her hope was in and she felt a growing peace.  Her head no longer painted pictures of defeat and discouragement but rather of love and of the goodness of God.  The tug of war battle was but a desolate field being prepared for rebirth and new growth and new things to come for days on end, for months, and years.  No longer isolated she felt the freedom she once longed for as she took a deep breath without struggle, finally living her life unmasked.   As years passed and in her times of difficulty she no longer created, formed, or painted masks, but rather she embraced them and lifted them to her creator knowing that in His perfect time He would make all things new.  Her new artistry talent was one of words and of song – praises to the one who was, who is and forever will be.   Each praise and song humbly created in her time of need and spoken with freedom as she allowed the Lord to turn her weakness into strength.  As more time passed she grew stronger and rose in faith and in the steadfast love of the Lord.  Her inner beauty now matched the outer beauty and the land she stood on no longer a war zone but rather a field of beauty so lush and green with a bountiful supply.