Reader
“March- It comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”
Maybe this phrase is as nostalgic for you as it is for me. As a grade school student, I remember hearing this each March as we talked about the Spring weather emerging.
This year the ‘lion and lamb” metaphor has new meaning to me. Throughout the month of March, I’ve faced multiple challenging situations. I’ll spare you the details, other than to say: It’s been an INTENSE 31 days. And even as the month comes to a close, it feels like my “lion” of circumstances is still camping out crouched and swiping his enormous paw at me. I'm longing for the lamb!
I found myself repeatedly praying ,“Come JESUS come! Meet me here in my March Madness.”
All puns aside, perhaps you, too, have had an emotionally exhausting month of “the roaring lion”, and you’re longing for the gentleness of the lamb.
Our personal growing seasons are much like the emergence of the delicate spring season from the harshness of winter.
The beginning of new growing seasons are often painful but in the midst of the HARD beginnings, we have hope that the results will be GOOD.
This is not a time to be extra hard on ourselves.
Although, we often are, aren’t we!?! I know I am …more often than I’d like to admit.
A normal growth season is God refining our character or teaching us something. I’m the one who makes unnecessary meaning by mulling, “What have I done wrong?” or “Why is God punishing me?”
Nor is this a time to attempt to force our way through the process, no matter how tempting that may be.
Throughout the challenges in March, I kept wanting to push through the painful parts, forgetting the value of the journey.
I found myself saying, “Lord, I'm done! Can this just be over now?”
But the Lord whispered, “Patience my daughter. This is part of the growing process .”
In such times, Growth with Grace is life-giving.
Cultivation must happen before growth can occur. Before new seeds can even be planted, the ground needs to be prepared. In a garden, this means a complete overturning of the soil. God prepares our hearts in much the same way. For us, it can feel like an upheaval of our hearts. Though painful, this breaks apart the hardness, dryness, and “rocks” in the way. This can be a slow and painful but necessary process.
What does Growth with Grace look like as we journey through a growing season?
Here is what I’ve learned about giving myself grace in the midst of the growth process:
- We give ourselves the grace to slow down and allow that process to take place.
- We give ourselves the grace to allow that process to be messy as God refines us.
- We give ourselves grace when the process looks different than we thought it should.
- We give ourselves the grace we need to learn the hard truths and lessons.
I hope you find these things encouraging. While each one takes continual work and constant reminders, ultimately it is our embracing of God’s grace that makes these steps possible.
If you’re in the midst of feeling the pain of overturning and refinement, here’s what I want you to know:
God wants you to flourish in your growth.
So even when you’re feeling uncertain about what’s in front of you, your first step is
letting go of any tendency to resist the process.
As you allow God to work in you, the painful overturning will cease, and soon the tiniest signs of growth will become visible.