How do we grow and change to reach new places of freedom and flourishing? Where does the revelation and power come from? The Holy Spirit is the one who instigates, promotes and enables change through his empowering love and truth. And we can agree to and collaborate with the movements and grace of the Spirit as he beckons us to transformation.
God wants to expand the territory of our heart and enlarge our capacity to know Him so we can thrive and mature. In that process, he has to reveal what hinders, like rocks buried below the surface of a river…. our propensities to anger, pride, impatience, jealousy, self-deception, addiction, and so on. He orchestrates events to bring what is hidden to light, the “layers of rock deep in the substrata of our beings” (Carla Waterman). This gives us an opportunity to repent and amend our very way of being, our old mindsets and patterns of response. But he does this in ways that don’t destroy us, but rather unfold to us truths of our real condition. Then he invites us to come to him for the power to sustain real change, for forgiveness, mercy and empowering grace. Our responses to his orchestrations reveal what’s really in our hearts.
Our souls can become so introverted and crowded, but the kingdom is full and wide open! He is able to heal the deepest pain that has paralyzed our emotional well-being and stifled and stymied our spiritual formation. Rather than self-managing the old pain, we welcome his movements toward us, leaving our old ways behind to make way for the new freedom he brings. Transformation is really an opportunity to repent, to actively change our mind and direction. Out of the death to the old, we find his glorious life and light. He changes our entire way of being! As his beloved children, we long to experience his goodness, and we know that is his desire for us, for surely goodness and mercy follow us all our days (Ps. 23).
There are no formulas here because he takes the initiative, but we can partner with him and place ourselves at his disposal. Bro. Lawrence said: “Lord, make me according to Thy heart.” It’s about letting Jesus become the Lord of our lives, changing us into His image that Christ be fully formed in us. Then we become our true selves in him, fully alive in every part of our being, able to truly flourish and become like well-watered gardens (Jer. 31:12).
Comments