Making Room For Growth by Pastor Karena Lout

“Continue to grow and increase in God’s grace and intimacy with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18

A few years ago, I found myself telling God all I thought He needed to do and how He should do it in my life. My original intent was to sit quietly and ask for His leading and direction in my life. After I stopped rambling, Jesus said to me, “If you don’t find yourself asking me questions, you might have to consider that you’re too comfortable already having all the answers.”

“Go ahead and make all the plans you want, but it’s the Lord who will ultimately direct your steps. We are all in love with our own opinions, convinced they’re correct. But the Lord is in the midst of us, testing and probing our every motive. Before you do anything, put your trust totally in God and not in yourself. Then every plan you make will succeed.”  Proverbs 16:1-3 (TPT)

I knew at the root of it all was that I didn’t fully trust God would come through for me. This is an area I’ve been growing in and it’s something I’ve had to make room for. What does it look like to make room for growth? For me, it means staying teachable. It’s welcoming correction in my life from healthy leaders and friends I trust. It looks like kicking pride, fear and control out of the driver’s seat and inviting vulnerability, surrender and healing in. There’s nothing passive about it.  Even though Saul had a life changing, supernatural encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he still had a lot of maturing and healing that needed to happen after. Before he met Jesus, he was as legalistic as they came. He was born into a family of Pharisees. All of his identity was wrapped up in his intellect and religious beliefs. Acts 9:22 tells us, “Saul’s power INCREASED greatly as he became more and more proficient in proving Jesus was the Messiah.” There was a progression. His writings and first missionary journey were 14 years after his encounter, and later we know him as Paul the apostle.  He writes in Galatians 2:1 “I spoke privately with those who were viewed as senior leaders of the church. I wanted to make certain my my labor and ministry for the Messiah had not been based on a false understanding of the gospel.”  Paul completely submitted himself to Jesus because he didn’t want to misuse the power he was given. Unfortunately this happens when put in the hands of authority who are unwilling to look at their pain and invite Jesus’ healing. But Jesus shows us that He always uses His power to heal and to love us. God is more concerned with the condition of our hearts than He is with all of our abilities and gifts. Pride keeps growth and healing at a distance.  We can only embrace the process of growth in our lives when we understand all Jesus paid on the cross for our complete freedom. I pray for all the grace and courage to say yes to this journey in your own life. I pray that your story will be the light that will lead others out of darkness, just as Paul’s experience in Damascus became the spirit of prophecy for all those who heard his message. I pray that you would give yourself space to grow from your mistakes and that you would lean into Jesus’ strength in every place you feel weak.

Click here to listen to Karena's message from Saturday night.