The Pains of Growing

 The Pains of Growing.

 

 

Matthew 6:28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

 

For the last few mornings, I have been taking part in a Bible study on Zoom. This morning the person leading read from Oswald Chambers My utmost for His highest and there was a comment in the book from this verse. Roughly, it went something like this; Lilies stay where they are planted grow. Thus, they are able to grown roots, unlike people who don’t stay where God has planted them. The person leading made the observation about people who just church hop from one church to the next when things get uncomfortable.  This keeps them from growing because the discomfort or pain was really when the growing time was starting.  She then made the connection with growing pains when one enters adolescence. 

That led me to this. Pain and discomfort are things that, most of us, try to avoid.  There are billions of dollars that are spent every year on things to help us easy, take away or completely avoid pain and discomfort.  Change is something that many times causes discomfort and sometimes pain and because of this most will avoid or resist change to avoid it.  Problem is pain or discomfort are a part of and sign of the growing process that we cannot avoid if we are going to grow.  A pastor I once worked with would say over and over again, “Growth without change is impossible.”   

Comfort and pain avoidance can be one of our biggest enemies.  In the physical many people do not exercise as they should because it involves some pain and discomfort.  Let’s examine the term “Comfort food”, I have yet to know of anyone whose “comfort food” is something that would be put in the healthy for you category.  We can actually comfort ourselves to an early grave.  

This also applies to the spiritual.  Many avoid daily Bible reading/study, meditation on the Word, prayer, fasting, and gathering with other believers because it messes with their comfort.  Look at how many people, now, who will stay at home and watch church on a screen when they could actually attend a local church.  How many people bail out of friendships, marriages or other relationships because it got difficult, painful or uncomfortable?  Prov. 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend, do we not realize that this process described literally has friction involved in the process or that in the sharpening process there are parts of the iron that is removed, through the friction, so that there is a sharpened edged left? 

I believe that this verses, 2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables., speak to those who don’t want to be made uncomfortable and thus will not grow. 

In Hebrews 12 it speaks about the discipline of the Lord and sadly too many people take this to mean that God’s punishment is just hanging over their head waiting for them to mess up. In truth God’s DISCIPLINE is about OUR GROWTH.  See Hebrews 12:11 “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”.  So many people focus on the first part of the verse and miss the last half.  We get so averse to pain and discomfort that we miss what it says AFTER the nevertheless, “afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness”. Yet the peaceable fruit of righteousness only comes “to those who have been trained by it”. 

Of course, pain and discomfort can be signs of things not being right in your life such as an illness or injury but if we are honest with ourselves, we know the difference between the pain/discomfort of an illness/injury and when it is really a growing pain.  Let us choose to be wise and endure discomfort and growing pains so that we may Grow into all that the Lord has for us.