Growth

Imagine, just four years ago. Where were you? What were you doing? What mattered most to you? What filled your free time? What made you busy? Who occupied your thoughts?

As I leave high school and step into college, I am amazed at the growth and change in my life. The realization, discovery, and acknowledgement of me. Alex. Who I am and what I am and my personality, my needs and wants, my strengths and weaknesses, my similarities and differences with those around me, how I feel and what I feel and what it is that exists outside of my feelings and space and time. Well, who, that is. It's God.

And, believe it or not: God never changes. It's so beautiful that God is the same. He's always there. He is trustworthy and dependable and consistent, because he never changes. The lovely thing, the almost romantic thing, is that when we grow, we change. Our perceptions and illusions and beliefs and claims and feelings and desires change. And through these changes, we begin to see different sides of God. God hasn't changed, but now we see a deeper picture of God.

I once read a story about marriage. The author wrote about how men enjoy something new and adventurous. That's why when you're dating, young women are cautioned to be mysterious - to let guys enjoy the chase. Then the author posed a question like this: In marriage, though, one man is "stuck" with one woman for his lifetime. How can men enjoy that? And the author answered: In marriage, instead of going surface deep with several women, the husband goes deeper into his wife, learns more about her, and gets to know what makes her tick.

Such is the same with God. We can grow deeper into God if we allow changes within our own lives - if we don't fight change from God, but welcome it as a chance to grow.

So... four years ago! Think about God, too. Where were you with God four years ago? Where are you now? And where do you want to be with God in four years?