Isn’t it funny how uncomfortable growth is? Perhaps if I lingered in the garden a little longer in the mornings and knelt close to the soil, I would hear the groans and uncomfortable laughter out the newly planted tomatoes, herbs, flowers, and cucumber seeds. What a wild feeling it must be to crack and sprout out of a seed, pushing up through the dirt, or to have new leaves burst out of your head and reach for the sun while sending roots down deep to look for water and nutrients.
Spiritual growth can feel that way too. All our life we were a seed, and then one day we get put into a new place and God pours out water and light and something new comes shooting out of us in multiple directions! Growth in forgiveness and confession feels like a lot of uncomfortable conversations and emails. Growth in righteousness makes us stand out as we change our entertainment habits, while growth in giving reveals how attached to our money we are.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 6:12
I’m growing in discernment right now and there have definitely been some groans and giggles. When I say discernment, I mean becoming aware of what is happening spiritually around us. What does this awareness look like? Well sometimes it’s really weird!
Sometimes I just know something entered the room that wasn’t there before. Sometimes I notice patterns of moods in myself and in my family. I have seen things like a flash of a dark shadow fly across the room, something I would have ignored in the past and assumed it was just a shadow but now the Holy Spirit nudges me to pay attention. I may feel it, or hear it, know it, or see it.
I have even smelled things! This is one way of discerning that makes me laugh. If you had told me a few years ago that God would use even that sense to speak to me, I would have rolled my eyes. In fact, I hear some of you rolling your eyes right now! Ha! I get it.
I have smelled sweet flowers on the side of my house where there were no flowers and concord grape juice when I walked through the house. I took the smell of flowers for something angelic assigned to our family and grape juice as an invitation to communion. I have smelled cat pee that lasted only a moment, and other gross smells. Last week I smelled sewage right before driving around a corner to see a golden statue that was clearly idolatry outside of a Shriners building. The smell was there and gone in a couple seconds, but it alerted me to pay attention.
God has been showing me things about my neighborhood and the city that we moved to. There are spirits and ideas that are not from Him that want the worst for everyone. He even used pop culture to help me understand. I’m over here looking up the premise of Beetlejuice just to learn what God was saying.
I am definitely wrong sometimes. God uses this to keep me humble and keep me so close to Him to help me. Since I am wrong sometimes, I move gently and carefully. I try to remember to always approach humans with love, God with respect, and the forces of darkness with no tolerance.
God’s express desire is to have His light shine through us to our neighbors, family, friends, and everyone we meet. He wants all people to be free from demonic influence and suffering. He wants us all to turn to Him and His salvation.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. – 2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV
Salvation isn’t just to get us into heaven, it’s to bring us into the mission of God. To spread the gospel, heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons. It’s pretty hard to cast out demons when you can’t see them, so God must show us and grow our awareness.
Want to grow? It’s a simple process. Spend time with God, read His word, and ask to grow. Then ask Him a lot of questions! Ask Him what’s going on in the spiritual at the grocery store, church, your house, and the park.
Ask Him to help you see the difference between the person in front of you and what might be motivating them to act a certain way toward you. Ask Him what is motivating your own behavior. Pay attention to all your senses. You may feel it, see it, know it, hear it, and yes even smell it.
It might be uncomfortable and others might think you are a bit crazy but that’s what they thought about Jesus so you will be in good company!
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