Growth Stages

1 Cor.13:¹¹ (TLB) “It’s like this: when I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I became a man my thoughts grew far beyond those of my childhood, and now I have put away the childish things.”

God is not only with you, God is for you; so you do not have to wait for things to be perfect before you are happy. You do not have to be perfect for God to love you, but God loves you too much to leave you the way you are. Sadly, this is where a lot of us miss it. I pray we do not get uncomfortable with the dealings God brings our way to get us to mature properly. Even though you do not have to be perfect for God to love you, God will not leave you the way you are because of His love for you.

Imagine changing the diaper of your six months old baby and as you to open the diaper, you get the urine fountain experience. Has that ever happened to you? You may shout but you know it comes with the territory. But imagine getting the urine fountain experience when you open your sixteen-year olds room door. That child will definitely get punished. However, the fact that you are punishing him does not mean you hate him. Neither does it make him any less yours. What has changed? Your expectation has changed. A lot of people are totally unaware that God’s expectation of them has changed. You need to get this; you cannot still be pulling the urine fountain with God, you are older now.

Infants feel that their parents exist to meet their needs. Just when you are attending to their cry for food, they are crying because they want a diaper change; just you are done attending to that, then comes the ‘I want to sleep’ cry. The parent is on call twenty-four hours of the day. As spiritual infants, the experience is very similar; even before you ask God answers. Before you say in Jesus Name, miracles just happen all around you, all you can think of are the joys of being a Christian. The reason is because as an infant, your love for your parents is not required of you. It is all about your parents love for you. We need to get that. But, as you mature physically and spiritually, that requirement increases. When you mature spiritually, God’s expectation of you and of your love for Him changes. As an infant, your love for Him is irrelevant. No parent demands love from an infant.

Prayer: Father, help me discern what You require of me in each season and act accordingly, for You are my safe place Lord Jesus, in Jesus Name. Amen!