Arrested Development

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"When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things." -1 Cor 13:11
 
Dr. Paul Hegstrom is the author of a book called Broken Children, Grown Up Pain. A psychologist himself, Dr. Hegstrom describes a phenomenon known as "arrested development", in which people are emotionally stunted due to past childhood traumas that occur before the ages of 9 and 12 years old. 

I went through a biblically-based training he developed called Lifeskills, and the knowledge and revelation I received was truly life-changing. Traumatic experiences are classified as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, and excessive rejection. When these experiences happen when we're young, we take them in as truth. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." -Proverbs 22:6 The enemy's lies about us and our identity can get planted very early - limiting us from being able to receive God's love for us and understand our true identity and calling in Him. 

Dr. Drew Pinsky, famed celebrity psychiatrist and host of the show Loveline also describes this phenomenon happening in our culture today, as it relates to the increasing trend of narcissism: "As I continue to talk with these people {celebrities}, they usually reveal childhood experiences that were clearly traumatic - the kinds of damaging episodes that are at the root of narcissistic disorders." pg. 106, The Mirror Effect 
 
But, there is good news! God can heal us of any kind of wound we may have experienced during our growing up years. "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard."  - Isaiah 58:8 

Can you see any areas where you might be arrested in your emotions? Can you see where others might have had some wounds in their past? Pray and ask God to help to heal you in these areas, and that you also might be a healing force in the life of someone else. Our heavenly Father desires that we be healed of any lie from the enemy, so that we can grow strong in our faith and know His love, be free from our wounds, and come to full maturity in Him. His love never fails. (1 Cor 13:8)

Solve People's Problems, but Let Them Find the Answer

"I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except through Me." ~Jesus, John 14:6

When I was a little younger, I needed help with something. At the time, there was only one person who could help me - my dad. My mom thought at the time that since he had the means, he should be the one to solve my problem. It had been extremely hard for me to ask for help, so when I did, I had expected for him to say yes. Instead, I got a different response: He said, "no."
 
I was taken aback by his response. At my time of most dire need, how could my father, who obviously had the means, not be willing to help his only child? I was hurt, let down, isolated and felt so abandoned. I queried, "How could there be no one to help me? God, why is my life this way? Am I not worthy of someone's help, in my time of greatest need?" I cried and cried, and felt pretty pitiful.
 
But then, I realized I could not place my trust in a man, even if the man was my father. I had to place it in God. And He turned up in a greater way then I could have ever thought possible. He had solved my problem, in a much bigger way.
 
Later, dad and I were having dinner, and the topic emerged in conversation. He said, "I knew you would be hurt, but I also knew that if I solved your problem, you wouldn't have found the answer, and grown as a result?
 
That was huge. Much of the time, we expect others to solve our problems. Often, we are let down as a result. But if we realize that the source of all things is our Father in heaven, we can rest assured that our future rests in his hands, and when we place our trust in him and are obedient to His will, he is not going to let us fall.
 
Who or what is your source? Is it in a lifestyle, a boy or girl, a substance, or a mentality? Ask God to show you what is needed to resolve your problems. He has all the answers we will ever need.

Growing Through Experience

 

"So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah." -1 Samuel 16:13

We live in a very microwave culture.  If we want something, we want it now!  But, even though we can go through a drive-thru to get fast food immediately, this microwave mentality often does not apply to our calling and life with God.

We tend to think of David in the Bible as the great shepherd king, the worshipper after God’s own heart.  But I wonder when we think of him, if we truly consider all the processing David endured after he was anointed to be king?  Yes he won the fight against Goliath; but after he was anointed, he went back to tending sheep!  He spent many years running from Saul.  It was only after he was tested and he did not kill his enemy Saul that God allowed David to be king. This was years after Samuel had anointed the little shepherd boy in the field before his brothers.

Often we can be impatient with God’s processing.  We may want God’s promises - all right now!  But God has His reasons for timing that may not make sense to us in the moment.  We may not be ready.  We may not be able to handle what He wants to give us until He puts us in a place of character building.  We have to learn to trust God when we have not yet seen the manifestation of the dream that is on the inside of our hearts. This is how God knows we can be trusted with it. This is how we grow to be able to have the capacity to carry God-sized dreams.  We grow through experience.

Are you letting God grow you through experience?  Even if you feel the place you are at right now is not your ultimate destination, decide to treat it with respect.  It will often provide the training ground we’ll need to be able to withstand God’s promises in our lives and our ultimate calling.

Spiritual Seasons

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build..." -Ecc 3:1-3

One night at our church discipleship group, our worship leader had something she felt needed to be shared during prayer.

"I feel like God wants some of you to know that everyone goes through spiritual seasons, much like we're in a season change right now. Some of you may be in spring, where you're excited about new ideas and new things happening in your life. Others of you may be in winter, where you don't see much going on. But I want you to know that being in a different spiritual season is all okay, and it is all a part of God's plan."

Life in God has spiritual seasons. Sometimes our lives may be in flux. We may not know quite where we are going, and that is okay. We might be shedding old thought patters and beliefs that we need to get rid of in order to take us to a new place. We need to trust God in these seasons. We may be in a harvest season, enjoying the fruit of our labors. We may find ourselves in a dry place, like winter, or we may find ourselves in a place where everything is blooming and we are seeing a lot of spiritual fruit, like summer.

Whatever the season, know that God has a purpose for the season that you are in right now. Like the trees outside, when we're firmly planted in Him, these season changes are a natural part of being a Christian. Sometimes we need to be pruned. Plants that aren't pruned aren't able to grow to their full potential. We need to remember to hold tight to Him and trust Him during these season changes so He can do the greater work in our lives, and so Christ's glory can be revealed in us.

What season are you in right now?