Ouch…. Oh!

Growing hurts.

When I was growing up [which didn\’t take long since I\’m only 5\’2\”] my mom used to tell me when I\’d have these strange pains in my legs or arms that they were \”growing pains\”. That always frustrated me because I expected to see some serious results after all that pain. Like, immediately! But as I said, I\’m a shorty so any physical growth I did have was slow and harldy noticeable to the untrained eye.

That\’s how it can be in my spiritual life, too. I have these times where God is stretching me and growing me and it\’s painful and uncomfortable and I expect that when it\’s done I\’ll see a distinct, immediate difference in my spiritual life.

But that\’s not always the case.
It\’s a gradual process for me. But I can look back over the last year of my life and see how all of that \’pain\’ has changed me and made me just a tensy-wensy bit more like Christ. I see who I was this time last year and I say, \”Oh! That\’s what you were doing!\” And all I can do is thank God for how He\’s changed me and ask Him for more grace as He continues in this process to make me more like His Son.

That\’s what it\’s all about. Becoming more like our Savior so we can bring more glory to Him in a fallen world.

Even if it hurts. After all, Jesus hurt for us, right?

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12.2