God knows how to maximize the gifts and abilities that He placed in us. While there are elements of our purpose and destiny that require proving and maturity, we need to realize that the Holy Spirit wants to mobilize us wherever we are now. It is often through a process of spiritual development that God works to grow what has been planted (1 Corinthians 3:7).
Through our spiritual development, He activates a testimony in us that witnesses who God is and what He can do. Our lives may not always reflect a showy presentation. However, even our resilience from falling and rebounding speak of God’s goodness, grace, and glory in our lives (Psalm 37:24).
Our society often emphasizes work ethic, noting that if a person wants something, he or she works for it. While that stretches and develops character, life happens along the way, disrupting our view of the plans we’ve made.
Sometimes we put in the work, but results don’t always follow a linear path. We make investments toward a specific outcome, but human plans are notorious for encountering roadblocks. This can frustrate us if we have a vision that God has given us, but He, in His wise way, works through our detours and disruptions to produce the desires He’s placed in our hearts.
Commit your works to the LORD, And your plans will be established. – Proverbs 16:3, ESV
Spiritual development: See the vision
While we could become discouraged, we must encourage our hearts in the Lord. Nurturing the vision is essential to spiritual development. It requires that we believe that we already have what we’ve requested from the Lord (1 John 5:15).
Scripture underscores this and will build and boost faith. The Word helps us to see through the eyes of faith what hasn’t yet appeared in our natural surroundings. Here, the practical and spiritual work in tandem. We rehearse and recite God’s Word, but we can also review words and images to remind and encourage us of what we’re hoping for when we encounter delays.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. – Habakkuk 2:3, ESV
Spiritual development: Seed the Word
Jesus’ parable of the seed reveals that every word that God may speak to us will face challenges as it transforms into tangible reality (Mark 4:1-20). Some seeds root in shallow soil and become overthrown by the vines and tangles of life’s cares that choke out their viability. In other cases, the heat of circumstances dries soil and seed, unable to thrive without regular refreshing in the water of God’s Word.
There are other cases where it may be pecked out by birds or predators disrupting the places where we have planted the Word, but haven’t guarded our hearts with God’s peace or protective boundaries. Some, however, will be scattered on good ground, in fertile soil where they will make their natural descent and at some point, spring up, revealing life.
As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. – Luke 8:15, ESV
Spiritual development: Steward relationship
The Savior encourages us to steward our hearts like fertile soil that welcomes the Word of God, protects it, and experiences the harvest of what He’s promised. When we hear, He trusts us to heed, following through on what we’ve heard.
Our spiritual development is more than completing a series of activities to fulfill a religious checklist. We cultivate God’s vision as we remain connected to Jesus, as the Vine. We grow by taking in the Words of Jesus, relying on His Spirit to help us, and mobilizing our time, talents, and traits to manifest what the Father has envisioned for our lives.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. – John 15:5, NIV
Next steps
Though faith is seeded by the Word of God, it germinates in obscurity. While you may not see the results in the way you imagined or even when you imagined, you have the guarantee of God’s Word and a vision to hold. What God has planted in you can plumb the depths, push through the dirt, and produce beauty in your life that points to your Creator.
In the meantime, take courage for your spiritual development journey. Contact the reception team here at Stone Oak Christian Counseling in Stone Oak, Texas for support as you embrace what God is growing in and around you.
“Seeds”, Courtesy of Joshua Lanzarini, Unsplash.com, CC0 License; “Planting”, Courtesy of Markus Spiske, Unsplash.com, CC0 License; “Seedling”, Courtesy of Albert Moreno, Unsplash.com, CC0 License
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Kate Motaung: CuratorKate Motaung is the Senior Writer, Editor, and Content Manager for a multi-state company. She is the author of several books including Letters to Grief, 101 Prayers for Comfort in Difficult Times, and A Place to Land: A Story of Longing and Belonging...
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