Three Ways We Grow While Life Feels Stuck
Three Ways We Grow While Life Feels Stuck
In 2015 we brought a little girl home from China whose special needs were not what we had planned. It took months (years?) for us to see God’s hand in all of that. We walk away from that adoption experience with a stronger faith.
I can say that now, but at the time it was not evident that anything (let alone faith) was even growing. Isn’t that like how things grow anyway? Right now we might feel like nothing is growing, but God is always working.
Seeds do their hardest growing while under the soil, in the dark. During those dark months and even years I constantly felt like I was failing. I felt like a failure as a mother, a wife, a friend, and a Christian. I lived one day at a time. I didn’t look too far into the future. It was too painful.
But my husband and I look back on those years and see how God had sown seeds of truth into our hearts that we didn’t even know we would need. God showed up for us in the form of physical things. He provided the right therapist and counselors to help our daughter and ourselves. God helped show us that He was working out a beautiful plan for everyone, including me. Our faith grew while we struggled, cried, and what felt like constant failing.
In all of the falling down, messing up, and stepping forward into the unknown we trusted God’s goodness and His sovereignty. We held on to the truth, even if our circumstances seemed to not line up with that truth. There were things we couldn’t see and we began to accept God’s truth no matter what. What grew? Seeds of faith! Our faith was growing even when it didn’t feel like it or we could see it.
Those seeds of faith were there and we didn’t even know until March/April of 2020. I suspect you know what happened during that time, don’t’ you? Well COVID happened while we were living overseas and the Lord used that faith we had gained from the adoption experience to bolster our experience with the lockdown. The plot twists in my stories were actually for my good!?
Have you experienced times when life was thrown off course or suddenly your story experienced a plot twist?
You might be in something like that right now. We’ve all faced interruptions in our lives, but what is of value is what we take away from those times God shifts our stories. Faith, promises, and even maybe a new sense of purpose is something we can hold onto during this time.
When our path is interrupted it is easy to be discouraged, wonder what we did wrong, or even be angry with God. I’ve experienced all of those emotions. The initial response isn’t bad, but as we pick ourselves up and step back onto the path, that’s when God shows us the truth we need to learn. Maybe He has been preparing to teach us for a long time, but this is fertile ground for truth to grow. Here are three ways you and I can grow while life feels stuck:
Three Ways We Grow While Life Feels Stuck
- Stay connected to God’s Word. Do you neglect reading your Bible and don’t neglect going to church. Learn and study and interact with God’s Word as much as possible. Memorize, study, meet together with other people and stay in God’s Word.
- Stay connected to those who love you. Make sure you are not isolating yourself. Keep reaching out to others. Whether that is people in your own home or those at church, keep opening your heart to the relationships you have. It might be hard, but it is worth the effort.
- Stay connected to the present. It is easy to look back or look forward. God is right here – in the present. Although we might feel guilt or worry in the past, we don’t have to live unforgiven. We don’t have to worry about the future either. God is there as well. Sometimes we need to remember that God is with us in the present.
Want to read more? Check out my book, I Didn’t Sign Up For This to read how God worked in my story, in Moses’ story, and how He wants to work in your story too.
