WE CAN GROW PAINFULLY OR PURPOSEFULLY, WHICH DO YOU WANT?

We can grow painfully or purposefully, which do you want? Over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten quite accustomed to the uncomfortable place of ‘pruning’, of being pruned by God.  And, I thought it might be good for me to blog about it. To just get it out there with the hope of inspiring you to take the pain of pruning like a champ. If I am just starting to embrace the act of ‘welcoming pain and God’s growth’ for the better … then surely some of you are finding yourselves in this same place.

This place is a fence of opportunity.

First of all, some of you might wonder why I even say pruning versus growing. Well, because pruning is totally different. Pruning is the prep work prior to growth, but there is more. I want us to also consider how we can initiate this next-level-growth with God.  I want us to recognize how we might be resisting, turning a blind eye, and actually setting ourselves up for being aggressively PRUNED, by the Almighty, on his own doing!

Let me tell you, that can be a bit more painful!

Sure, the growth, at any rate, will arrive regardless but think about it, would you like to have a limb ripped off when you least expect it or would you prefer to prepare?

Because either way God loves us and he is constantly growing us.

So which is it? A clean break, during a nice season of life where you’re more likely to sprout up quicker, experiencing less stress, leaving yourself in an even more healthy place, and ready to bloom? Or, leave all the heavy work to God, which sometimes brings us to our knees, requiring more out of us, to simply get back up and at it again.

God loves to see us desire growth, to welcome it, and to actually… ask for it.

I want us to recognize the unsettled feeling of the Holy Spirit telling us, “It is time.”  So we can get prepared, and take the growth and pruning like a champ.

We’ve got this, friends. We can do this!

We need to get ourselves to a truly proactive place in life where we feed ourselves with goodness and light. So we are strong and healthy servants, who know how to Tap into the Trinity and all it’s wisdom and insight (that link can take you to some training on tapping into the trinity). This helps us recognize when God is making His move, taking us deeper, further, and more fully into the path he has laid out for us.

Here He will shed us of our broken places, that are holding us back from His fullness and from so many blessings, opportunity, and beauty to come.  Where we then become stronger and a bit more like Him. This is His hope for us. That we shed more of us, pull in closer to Him, becoming more of Him each day.

I wish I could flip a switch for us all. To shift our minds into the strange place of welcoming the unsettled-difficult times, knowing that goodness and growth are sure to come. For now let’s just get prepared, learn to surrender, to step into Him…AND DESIRE GROWTH for the glory of God.

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in as much as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4:12-13

This verse helps me embrace the pain of growth, and to resist the temptation to hide remembering what Jesus did for me, and you. I think of all the suffering he went through so we could live…

Why do you suppose he did that?

Listen, we could all be in heaven right now if God wanted it that way. We are here for a reason. I am convinced it is to love and serve, to witness, and for us to do this by the grace of God…leading others to Him… AND, ultimately, as we grow we can do this great work even better.

We can love our families more deeply. We can inspire a stranger with more grace and boldness. We can teach with a purer heart and give more wholeheartedly. ALL for the glory of God.

Oh yes, friends…He wants to see us grow.

So today, I want us all to think about what we might be resisting. What keeps popping up in our minds? Is there someone we need to forgive, some truth we need to come clean on? Maybe it is a self-limiting belief that holds one of us back from the greatness God is waiting to bestow on us. Maybe it’s fear of Satan – that holds us back from boldly moving forward. Satan with his annoying guilt, doubt, and insecurity… which he loves to put upon us.

Or, maybe it’s fear of God himself that holds us back. But this fear, is strangely, quite awesome….scary still, but so powerful and good for you. What could God be trying to teach you? How might He be pushing you?

What exactly does He want to do with you and what does he hope to see you do next?

Many of us wouldn’t dare ask God this bold of a question. He might actually answer! Today, I want to inspire you to first recognize the uncomfortable feelings that set in as God is trying to awaken you, nudge you, encourage, and stir you.

Then, do not resist…INSTEAD, STEP IN.

Fearfully and faithfully step-in. It might feel odd, scary even, but just talk to him.

Say something like…

God, why do I feel this way? What are you trying to tell me? I don’t even know if I am scared, confused, clueless, or feeling nuts. But, I know something is off. I know you are trying to tell me or teach me something. I feel you stirring in me and nudging me.

I can take it, God.

Tell me what I am supposed to know. What I am supposed to do?

If I need to be humbled… okay.

If I need to step out boldly… I will.

If I am to surrender more… help me muster up the strength to do so with all my heart.

Teach me oh Lord.

I – am – yours.

I am ready.

I love you.

Amen.

LIVE | LOVE | LEARN | LEAD
Niccie Kliegl CLC, RN

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