God showed the prophet
Ezekiel a vision of languishing: a valley full of dry bones. It was the image of a failure to thrive. God asked “Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?”
and Ezekiel answered, “You alone know.”
God did know, and he made them come alive.
I know a man named Tim who
was an addict, lost his family, lost everything, found God, gave up his
addiction, and got his life back again.
I know a man named Peter who was a tormented slave to sexual impulses,
and God got ahold of him and that changed.
I know a woman who hated confrontation so badly she once drove on an
extended road trip with her best friend for three days in silence to avoid
confrontation. Today she confronts
recreationally.
God wants you to grow! He created the very idea of growth. The Talmud says that every blade of grass has
an angel bending over it, whispering, “Grow, grow,” Paul said that in Christ
the whole redeemed community “grows and builds itself up in love.”
Your flourishing is never
just about you. It is a “so that” kind
of condition. God designed you to
flourish “so that” you could be part of His redemptive project in ways that you
otherwise could not. He wants you to
flourish “so that” people can be encouraged, gardens can be planted, music can
be written, sick people can be helped, or companies can thrive in ways they
otherwise would not. When you fail to
become the person God designed, all the rest of us miss out on the gift you
were made to give.
-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want to Be
#3677
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