Growth is Difficult
When I was a kid, I remember thinking that all I wanted to do was grow up. I was the youngest of four siblings, and I would constantly look at them and see all the cool things they were able to do just because they were older. Growing seems like a good thing, a natural progression of life, and the reality is that it is good. Growing is maturing, but growing does come with a cost. As a child, the things I thought were desirable about being older were things like independence and the ability to do what I want when I want. What I left behind was the carefree life we, as young children, grow up in, when everything in our lives was taken care of for us. As we grow, we begin to take on more responsibilities of our own. In order to move forward in life, we have to leave some things in the past.
This is no different in our spiritual walk with God. Hopefully, you came to camp for all the right reasons. You know, ones your Youth Pastor really wants you to say:
“I want to go deeper with my relationship with God.”
“It’s time to start taking God more seriously.”
“I just know there is something more that God has for me.”
These are great answers, whether or not you truly believe them. You may just be here because your parents made you come, or it's super fun, or that girl you like said she is going to be here. All of those things may be true, but God does have something more for you. It is time to go deeper in your relationship with Him and take Him more seriously. But in order to do that, you are going to have to leave some things behind.
I don’t know what those things are, but you do. God does. I know it may seem difficult to say goodbye to those things in your life that are keeping you from growing into who God has called you to be. I know it seems scary. It is easy to stay where it is comfortable, where you are familiar, but God is calling you into something more. Where you are planted makes all the difference in the world. If you will be brave enough to say goodbye to what is to step into what will be, the promise of God is that He will never leave you and He will secure your future.
JOURNAL:
What do you believe God is telling you to leave in the past?
What is God calling out of you that you are ready to walk into?
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
PRAYER:
God, I know it isn’t going to be easy, and honestly, I don’t know if I am truly ready for it or not. But I know there are some things that You want me to leave behind so I can walk into the future that You have for me. Help me identify and remove the things in my life that will keep me from You. Keep me near to Your heart.
This is no different in our spiritual walk with God. Hopefully, you came to camp for all the right reasons. You know, ones your Youth Pastor really wants you to say:
“I want to go deeper with my relationship with God.”
“It’s time to start taking God more seriously.”
“I just know there is something more that God has for me.”
These are great answers, whether or not you truly believe them. You may just be here because your parents made you come, or it's super fun, or that girl you like said she is going to be here. All of those things may be true, but God does have something more for you. It is time to go deeper in your relationship with Him and take Him more seriously. But in order to do that, you are going to have to leave some things behind.
I don’t know what those things are, but you do. God does. I know it may seem difficult to say goodbye to those things in your life that are keeping you from growing into who God has called you to be. I know it seems scary. It is easy to stay where it is comfortable, where you are familiar, but God is calling you into something more. Where you are planted makes all the difference in the world. If you will be brave enough to say goodbye to what is to step into what will be, the promise of God is that He will never leave you and He will secure your future.
JOURNAL:
What do you believe God is telling you to leave in the past?
What is God calling out of you that you are ready to walk into?
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
PRAYER:
God, I know it isn’t going to be easy, and honestly, I don’t know if I am truly ready for it or not. But I know there are some things that You want me to leave behind so I can walk into the future that You have for me. Help me identify and remove the things in my life that will keep me from You. Keep me near to Your heart.
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