How To Make The Most Of Your Growth Season

Hey, beloved how are you doing? I hope you have been taking it easy and resting in God. Today I just want to take a moment to share a little about the growth season.

We will be looking at what growth is, how it looks like, how it is measured and your response (what is required of you). This is the time you get your journals ready, a hot or cold drink whatever you like lol! Let us dive right in.

 

What is Growth?

 

I took the pleasure to actually look up the term, and reading the different meanings of the word growth really helped me understand the different phases to it.

 

These are some of the meanings that stood out to me personally:

the process of developing physically, mentally, or spiritually.

the process of increasing in size.

the process of increasing in amount, value, or importance.

 

So, I picked just these three, out of many, because it helps us understand the different types of growth. Now, I want to draw your attention to something. When I was reading these definitions, the Holy Spirit highlighted an important word to me – PROCESS,

 

Growth is a process in simple, but yet powerful terms. Process is a series of change, and change is not always comfortable.

After digesting this definition of process, I now understood that – growth is a process of uncomfortable change. Wow! Amazing!

This definition of growth will liberate you! Therefore, beloved, the moment you start to feel uncomfortable your growth has begun.

 

What does Growth look like?

 

Now that we know what growth is, what does it look like? What are the characteristics of growth? I will list a few of what I have been experiencing in my own growth season and hopefully you can relate to them yourself.

 

The Stretch – this is probably one of the first things you will start to notice in your growth season. You will literally feel like you are physically being stretched, and this is what brings the discomfort. You will feel like you have been thrown in deep waters and you are swimming against the tide! Embrace this discomfort. It’s a sign of growth.

 

Increase in capacity – this is also another sign of growth; you actually begin to notice an increase in your capacity. For instance, when I embarked on my spiritual growth journey, I started to realise I could pray longer than before, and stay longer with the word of God without tiring out.

You find that you are able to sit with things longer, be more productive, you are able to handle a bit more than you used to do before. This is also a good way to measure growth.

 

Opportunities start opening up – now, this is usually tricky because the opportunities might not necessary be what you have been praying for.

They are actually opportunities that allow the stretching to happen and opportunities that let you serve. It is very easy to pass on these opportunities if you don’t know they are part of your growth, because they are mostly going to be out of your comfort zone!

 

How to measure Growth

 

We all know that in order to know if something is growing, it has to be measured. The three characteristics I mentioned above are  good ways to measure your growth.

 

When you are on a purpose journey, growth can be very tricky to measure because we are always looking for the physical outcomes or manifestations first. But we don’t measure the growth that produces the fruits but the growth that is produced by competence and this is where we miss it. Growth is from the inside out, not outside in.

 

That is why God can literally tear down expressions of your competence to work on the expression of your character so that you can be the person fit for the vision.

We need to learn to measure who we are becoming more than what we are doing. What fruits are growing in you?

 

The best way to measure your growth is through journaling, and paying attention to your thought process and your heart. For example, are you becoming more patient?

 

Are you letting go of offences easily? Are you kinder, more compassionate, considerate etc those are the fruits that play a big part on your character! Your competence doesn’t define you, your character does! I have paid for an expensive service before solely based on that person’s character and this is truth. Your character will search you out.

 

Be healed from thinking you are only growing when you see material evidence. You are growing from your roots and, your roots are important because they form the base of your foundation.

 

When your foundation is strong, you will be able to stand when you get to the top. But when it is weak, you will come down quicker than you rose!

 

Your response (what is required of you)

 

I am sure by now you are probably saying why is there always a response involved? Well, that is because as humans we are responsive even though we all respond differently to situations based on a lot of factors such as background, upbringing, mindset etc.

 

We are either proactive or reactive. So my question to you today is: how do you respond to this growth season? Are you being proactive or reactive? For you to get the best out of this season, you would have to take the proactive approach, you are going to have to be intentional because growth is uncomfortable.

 

When God is asking you to do something just do it.

When opportunities to serve present themselves don’t hesitate, even if they are out of your comfort zone!

Journal journal, journal! I can’t say this enough. It’s a good way to track your growth and document insights that the Holy Spirit is bringing to you!

Ask the Holy Spirit for HELP! This is so big, and I can so testify. I had a lot to do and time wasn’t really on my side. However, the Holy Spirit said to me to maximize my mornings, but your girl loves sleep and waking up as early as 5am was an impossible mission.

I was the queen of snooze; I would have like 5 alarms and snooze all of them! But I knew I had to develop discipline and get my act right, so I asked the Holy Spirit for help and he did!!!

 

This story is an entire post on its own and I don’t want to go into too much detail. If you want me to share a little more on this, then let me know in the comments and I will do just that.

 

And lastly, embrace the process because its bringing out the best version of you! Wow, this has been heavy, don’t know if you guys felt it.

Congratulations for reading till the end that is growth! Your capacity is increasing. Yaay! I am happy for you, and I believe God has big plans for you.

 

Love always, Lisa Maxwell