Growing Pains

I remember getting growing pains in my legs when I was little. I would sneak up to my mom's room in the middle of the night, crying because they hurt so much. She would rub my legs and comfort me until they felt better. Here I am, many years later...now I'm the mom. I'm the one rubbing sore legs in the middle of the night, bringing comfort to my own growing children. Growth is strange. It can bring joy and sorrow at the same time. We love to watch our children grow, but it hurts to see them changing. They're not the little babies I remember, they never will be little again, but it brings me joy watching them grow and mature into the people God created them to be. 

Growth can be painful, but it's necessary. You can't grow and stay the same at the same time. There must be change—even painful change.

Think of a baby, safe in its mother's womb, protected and warm, but a baby can't stay in the womb forever, it would eventually die. It needs to come out into the world, breathe it's first breath, cry, laugh, see things it's never seen before, learn to smile, to talk, to walk.

All living things grow. Growth means change. Not everything will look the same or feel the same. Sometimes we want to be comfortable more than we want to grow, but not moving, staying in the same place, stunts growth. Think of a plant in a pot. Soon, the plant will outgrow the pot and need to be placed in a larger pot or it will die. 

If we never venture out of our place of comfort, never trust God and walk on the water every once and awhile, our faith begins to slowly die. We begin to lean on our own understanding, we begin to trust our own resources for provision. God wants us to step out, to walk by faith; not by sight. He wants us to trust Him to bring whatever it is we need for that moment. Courage, grace, wisdom, provision...whatever we need God will provide—when (and sometimes only when) we need it. We can't hoard up these intangible things in our life so we'll never have a rainy day. The storms will come, but with them also comes the grace and provision we need to walk through to the other side—victoriously.

While growth and change can feel scary, we can trust this one thing to be true: We have a God that never changes and will never leave us alone. He is the same yesterday, today and forever more. He never leaves us or forsakes us. In an ever changing world, He is our constant, our Rock. He and He alone can bring us the true comfort and security we long for. 

My kids at their favorite place in the world. Then & now. I miss those round, little faces. But oh, how proud I am of the little man and little woman they are becoming.