Growth
Internally for years, I have wrestled with both what has been rooted so deeply inside of me and the Spirit of the living God. There has been two realities waging war on each other, and it has all happened inside of me. My concept of Success and Winning has been so firmly rooted since I was a little boy. Some of it was nature and some of it was nurture, but that isn’t really the point. I have based my entire life on my perception of Success and Winning, and my guess is that you have too. Of course, I started off with the world’s simple vision, but early on I was able to see through its facade. The one that has been much more difficult to navigate is the warped perspective I created based on my view of God. It kinda meets in the middle; the world would be happy with it, and it sounds like just enough of God to pass the spiritual test. Unfortunately, His Spirit has been moaning inside of me for years and years and years. I couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but over the last few weeks God has revealed why my Spirit has been at such unrest. Success and Winning is a worldly scale. In the world’s eyes, Winning is a temporary result or destination. That is NOT the Kingdom’s scale. The Kingdom’s scale is Growth, and it is more about a continual experience than a temporal result. Just look at the majority of the parables. I, like so many of you, have tried to chase after Success and Winning, with the thought that it would open up my platform. (As if He needs the result of winning to activate a platform to share, what the world would call, His losing message.) But if I’m really being honest, it has always been more about the recognition than anything. I want both! I want God, and I want the recognition. But God knows you cannot experience the Kingdom chasing after both. One must die, so the other might live.
Like I stated before, the Kingdom’s scale is Growth, and Success and Winning is defined as Experiencing True Life. In John 17:3 it says, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” For all of eternity, we will have the opportunity to know/experience more and more of God, and that is the best possible Life available for mankind. Unfortunately, we live as if Life is found somewhere else. The well that so many of us draw from is the Well of Performance. We think that I can experience Life if I just Perform well enough. That could be on the field or in the way we behave. It appeals to us because we unconsciously scream for independence. The problem with Performance is that the weight is heavier than we can bear. We were created to be dependent; the very fact that we have to strive, declares our need for something. So as we strive to Perform so that we can Win or Succeed, our Father, slowly and patiently, is Present. He is sitting there calling out to us by our True Name (Our Identity). He says, “Are you tired and weary of striving and trying to find Life in your Performance?” Performance was never, and will never be My scale. Remember, I sent My Son to bear what you could not shoulder. So STOP searching for Life in the fleeting deception of Performance. I AM the God of Contentment, Rest, and Peace! Come and drink from My Well and fill your need. I am willing to take the time to uproot all the impurities from your soil because I don’t work on a time-table, like Performance. I can manipulate all soil into Good Soil. I can provide Living Water and My Son’s Light. There will be different Seasons, but My Grace (Presence) will testify to My Mercy (Vision). I am there to monitor your Growth. I just need your Mustard Seed (Faith), so come.
In Matthew 13:3-8; 18-23 it says, “3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
The Kingdom of God’s scale is Growth NOT Performance. A seed has been planted into all different types of soil. Many will have momentary wins, but only those in the Good Soil will Grow (“.., yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”). So, Soil matters! Environment matters! Speaking from my experience, I have felt God uproot weeds in my Soil. He has patiently and compassionately uprooted things like Performance, Winning, and Success in my life, so that I can Grow. I don’t know what my Growth will look like, but I am getting more and more glimpses of His Kingdom. My old roots are being removed, and new seeds are being planted, like Grace, Mercy, and Growth!
Andrew