And that's just the beginning of the challenge. The more they grow, the more they require from you, as a parent. The questions they ask get deeper and deeper. No, you won't be graded on your answers. However, your answers to their questions will guide the rest of their lives. No pressure, right? They have more physical and emotional needs. They require more time and attention. The sleepless nights and lack of nutrition are just the first phase of the process.
Often we find ourselves in a spiritual battle or a rough trial, and pray for God to just get us through it. We can only see what is right in front of us. The big picture is that this trial prepares us for the next trial. The next trial changes us into something more like Him. It's a growing process. We don't get through the newborn phase and life is over. After the newborn phase, we go through the infant stage, the toddler stage, the preschool stage, and so on. We must go through each trial to get to the next phase spiritually.
Moses was called out of his isolation in the wilderness to go set the people of Israel free from Egypt (Exodus 3). God did not give him all the details of how the process would work. Moses initially argued about speaking to Pharaoh. Really? We know the whole story. He should have been like, "how do I handle this crowd once I get them out of there and they go crazy on me?" Instead, he asks and argues about the little part he can see at that moment: How do I talk to Pharaoh?
Psalm 119:105 says, "your word is a lamp to guide my feet." You wouldn't need a lamp if it wasn't dark, right? In complete darkness, a lamp will only light the area right around your feet. It will not shatter all darkness, allowing you to see for miles ahead. So when you are in complete darkness, frustrated by the process of your trial, you MUST allow His Word to guide your feet, to guide the very step that you are in. Seek Him out, search His Word. Only then will He light your feet, so that you may continue on. Rarely does He show us where He is taking us. That is what builds our faith in Him. Allowing His Word to light each step (the part you can see) will lead you to where He wants you to be.
The problem is that we want to know and understand the whole process. If He told us the whole process, everything that we would go through, we would not be able to handle it with our human minds. Ephesians 3:20 says that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. His ways are so great that it's beyond what we can ask or even think!
If you had a book about parenting that told all that you would go through with raising a child, before you had children (and I'm sure there are some out there), you wouldn't believe it or you wouldn't believe that your child would do those things, or you'd think that you could handle it. You really cannot understand the gravity of parenthood until you are completely submerged in it. You go into parenting one step at a time. You can't birth a 5 year old well-behaved, potty trained, sleeping-through-the-night child! You get a newborn that must be nourished and loved. God knows right where we are. He is "parenting" us at the appropriate spiritual stage. He knows what we need to be disciplined so that we will grow in Him. He does this to us, because He loves us and wants us to draw closer to him. He won't put on us more than we can handle or more than we need to move on to the step in Him.
Not only have faith in Him, but have faith in His process. Trust His ways. Children trust their parents without question. Maybe because they are ignorant to the devices of this world, or maybe because they see their parents as superheros who can protect them from anything and everything. Either way, revert to that faith. Have faith that God, your heavenly Father, loves you and can protect you from anything and everything.
Just like growing up is a process, so is growing spiritually. Each step of the process you find yourself deeper and deeper in love with Him. Your prayers are no longer shallow; your heart is no longer empty. It doesn't happen over night, and He knows this. Through your trials He is growing you. Just like you would tell a child not to rush growing up, don't rush your trial! Thank God for it and seek His Word to understand what you are supposed to be learning from it. You will be more "grown" after this trial, and the next one will be even greater.
BUT, in the next trial, you will be more mature, and you will learn a different lesson. All I know is, this trial that I'm in now is not the first trial. It is much more difficult than the last trial I went through. However, I know God better than I did during that last trial. That makes it easier to trust Him for this one. Also, now that I'm able to see that the trials are never going to stop, and I'm supposed to learn something from each one, I'm trying to stop throwing prayer tantrums begging, "God please get me out of this trial," because I know that as soon as I get out of this one, another one is coming. He will pull you through each time, but only after you learn what you need to learn.
Just like you don't want your children to grow up too fast or you would tell a teenager to slow down and don't rush into adulthood, so I am telling you: Slow down and enjoy your trial. Look for the good, seek out the lesson, and let His Word light only your feet, right where you are. He knows what He is doing. Take one step at a time knowing that He is teaching you something, growing you spiritually, and you will come out a stronger, more mature Christian.
Psalm 119:105 says, "your word is a lamp to guide my feet." You wouldn't need a lamp if it wasn't dark, right? In complete darkness, a lamp will only light the area right around your feet. It will not shatter all darkness, allowing you to see for miles ahead. So when you are in complete darkness, frustrated by the process of your trial, you MUST allow His Word to guide your feet, to guide the very step that you are in. Seek Him out, search His Word. Only then will He light your feet, so that you may continue on. Rarely does He show us where He is taking us. That is what builds our faith in Him. Allowing His Word to light each step (the part you can see) will lead you to where He wants you to be.
The problem is that we want to know and understand the whole process. If He told us the whole process, everything that we would go through, we would not be able to handle it with our human minds. Ephesians 3:20 says that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. His ways are so great that it's beyond what we can ask or even think!
If you had a book about parenting that told all that you would go through with raising a child, before you had children (and I'm sure there are some out there), you wouldn't believe it or you wouldn't believe that your child would do those things, or you'd think that you could handle it. You really cannot understand the gravity of parenthood until you are completely submerged in it. You go into parenting one step at a time. You can't birth a 5 year old well-behaved, potty trained, sleeping-through-the-night child! You get a newborn that must be nourished and loved. God knows right where we are. He is "parenting" us at the appropriate spiritual stage. He knows what we need to be disciplined so that we will grow in Him. He does this to us, because He loves us and wants us to draw closer to him. He won't put on us more than we can handle or more than we need to move on to the step in Him.
Not only have faith in Him, but have faith in His process. Trust His ways. Children trust their parents without question. Maybe because they are ignorant to the devices of this world, or maybe because they see their parents as superheros who can protect them from anything and everything. Either way, revert to that faith. Have faith that God, your heavenly Father, loves you and can protect you from anything and everything.
Just like growing up is a process, so is growing spiritually. Each step of the process you find yourself deeper and deeper in love with Him. Your prayers are no longer shallow; your heart is no longer empty. It doesn't happen over night, and He knows this. Through your trials He is growing you. Just like you would tell a child not to rush growing up, don't rush your trial! Thank God for it and seek His Word to understand what you are supposed to be learning from it. You will be more "grown" after this trial, and the next one will be even greater.
BUT, in the next trial, you will be more mature, and you will learn a different lesson. All I know is, this trial that I'm in now is not the first trial. It is much more difficult than the last trial I went through. However, I know God better than I did during that last trial. That makes it easier to trust Him for this one. Also, now that I'm able to see that the trials are never going to stop, and I'm supposed to learn something from each one, I'm trying to stop throwing prayer tantrums begging, "God please get me out of this trial," because I know that as soon as I get out of this one, another one is coming. He will pull you through each time, but only after you learn what you need to learn.
Just like you don't want your children to grow up too fast or you would tell a teenager to slow down and don't rush into adulthood, so I am telling you: Slow down and enjoy your trial. Look for the good, seek out the lesson, and let His Word light only your feet, right where you are. He knows what He is doing. Take one step at a time knowing that He is teaching you something, growing you spiritually, and you will come out a stronger, more mature Christian.
