Growing Pains

My legs used to hurt so much I felt I couldn't stand it.  Many times I couldn't settle into sleep at night.  I guess they didn't know then that extra calcium would have relieved the ache... I vividly remember the night--it seemed like it was the middle, the very darkest part of the night--that my mom put me in a tub filled with warm water.  She swished the water around and murmured comforting words, "It's just growing pains...they won't last...this pain is because you're growing taller."  But I would have amputated those legs in a heartbeat.  Gladly.  And been crippled for the rest of my life.


It's very, very hard to recognize discomfort, much less pain, as a good thing.


Growing pains can easily be mistaken as an indication of harm or trauma rather than growth.


So how do I know if what I'm suffering is trauma or growth?  Is the current discomfort a sign of something terribly wrong or gloriously right?


If you've ventured into new territory, decided to make changes, are attempting to leave behind the status quo, seize the dream that's stirred your heart...you will experience growing pains.  In the same way your arms and legs grew too long for your brain when you were a teenager, your heart has outgrown your current equilibrium. Inevitably, venturing into unknown territory will rattle your sense of identity, confidence in your ability might waver.  All because you've been bold and brave enough to reach for more, bigger, deeper, higher than you've ever gone before. 


This discomfort is good.  It's a sign of growth.  It'll make you lean into the Source of strength, wisdom, and grace.


There will be moments when it would be so much easier to back off, back down, back up...anything to relieve the discomfort.  Don't do it.  Hang in there.  Remain focused.  Remember the words He has spoken--both the ones written in the Book and the ones that He's breathed into your spirit.  His words are spirit and life, the calcium that eases the growing pains.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don't try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he's the one who will keep you on track.

Don't assume that you know it all.

Run to God!

Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health, 

your very bones will vibrate with life!

Proverbs 3:5-8 MSG

*John 6:63