SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

Bark Blowers sells bark, dirt, sand, and stones to people who have landscaping needs. I drive past their company virtually every day I am in town. Currently their parking lot is a disaster. It is a mud-rutted, quagmire in which even their large trucks are in danger of getting stuck. Twenty-four days of rain will do that.

Several years ago, the owners laid a foundation of gravel to keep their lot firm and drivable. But what was on top could not overcome what was below. Their company is located on marshy ground. After prolonged rain, the water table rises such that mud literally swallows rocks to become mush.

Meditation
2 Corinthians 4:16,17—Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Sometimes no matter what I do or think I cannot escape mud! I want my life to be orderly and sane yet circumstances conspire such that I encounter chaos and stress. This week I picked up a schedule for soccer fields for my adult coed league. It should have been ready months ago. Instead it was not only late but we had seven weeks of playing time taken off our season with a lame explanation. I had to scramble for an entire day to find alternate fields. On top of this huge snafu, I could not access labels I needed from a website to print a major mailer and my hard drive threatened to crash. We were supposed to go to the coast with our children for the weekend but two family members are sick. Mud, mud, mud, everywhere I turn.

I rejoice in weeks like this one. Spiritual development is not accomplished because everything goes right. There are those days when I seek a word from God and all I hear is a deafening silence. This teaches me to persevere. Opposition and conflict, disappointment and pain all work together. They remind me that I am not to base my faith and disposition on circumstances or the actions and attitudes of people, but rather on the One Who gives me breath.

Sometimes we have to spin in order for God to teach us new lessons. On occasion we have to sit, stifled and unable to move forward, to be reminded that we are not in control. And yes, God may even allow us to undergo intense suffering, life-terminating trauma. What is important is that we not lose heart. If you are struggling right now, don't lose perspective. God has not stopped loving you! What He allows in your life ultimately leads to His glory and your spiritual betterment if you'll trust Him. Something to think about . . . in reveration!

Inspiration
There are stages in spiritual development when God allows us to be dull, times when we cannot realise (sic) or feel anything. It is one of the greatest mercies that we have those blank spaces, for this reason: that if we go on with spiritual perception too quickly, we have no time to work it out. And if we have no time to work it out, it will react in stagnation and degeneration.—Oswald Chambers in Bringing Sons Into Glory