Even subtle discomforts are like walls in a canyon. We may find ourselves confined to their direction unless we realize that we can learn to climb over them and get a better vantage point.
This article details one technique to take charge of our spiritual walk and helps to prepare ourselves for the blessings God wants us to receive.
Months after first rededicating my life, I find myself continuing to learn what God truly wants for my life. I started by giving it all up. All my weakness as well as all of my strengths- I gave it all to God. And I found new strengths to overcome things that used to have complete control over my life. In fact, there is no doubt that God has made me stronger than I’ve ever been over my past weaknesses. And yet, I didn’t and couldn’t possibly earn my righteousness, but right standing was given to me by His grace, and His grace alone. Jesus said, “…go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, not sacrifice (Mat 9:13).The first step is to get up, and GO! Seek after him! “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).
Initially, God’s spirit was obvious to me. I was able to discern what He wanted by overwhelming discomfort, and doing just what my discomfort was trying to hinder me from doing. For instance, I wanted to say something spiritual in a crowd and the devil tried hindering my growth through fear. After realizing that and breaking free, God’s spirit in me was able to grow past that point in my life and into new territory- a territory that is free and not so obviously bound by fear. And now, as I’ve settled into this new territory, the next step was not so immediately clear.
The next step forward is counter-intuitive- deceptive in other words, as the devil takes any opportunity to hinder our spiritual growth. As followers of Christ, we believe that God wants to bless us, and He does. The question is what sort of blessings are we after? Do we want more spiritual responsibility or is our idea of blessings the ability to lounge around and play Smash Brothers all day? In other words, are we consoling ourselves through comfort or are we breaking free areas of our discomfort? In fact, the bible is very clear on this issue in regards to taking up our cross as well as throughout the book of 1 Peter. A good question to ask is always, “How am I not bringing glory to God?” If by being lazy, we are chastised at work or at home, we allow the devil to provoke us as well as forego the blessings that would follow from otherwise being self-disciplined. The next question is “I know what I want to do, but what do I need to do?”
God blesses us based on our ability to handle those blessings. “Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” (Matthew 13:12). This is because of our ability or inability to handle what is before us.
So what is generally on our plates? We have both things that bring us comfort as well as things that are just not fun at all and are in fact uncomfortable. Do we think that by sitting around and watching movies all day that God will bless us? How would we be able to handle further blessings if we can’t even handle what we have? Become a person who takes care of the many things that you would rather not do, and God will give you much more.
This is not just about blessings but about spiritual growth. Grow!!! Seek after your discomforts and annihilate them. Discomforts can be walls in a canyon. They can dictate where you go if you’re not willing to stand up and climb over them; however, when you do, you’ll have a much better vantage point to determine the best possible course of action. Do not let your discomforts dictate the decisions and direction that you take in your life. Break free from the bonds of significant and even subtle discomfort, and grow to see God’s plan for your life more clearly.
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