It is called growing pains for a reason. As you grow as a child some have physical pain from growing so quickly. As you grow mentally and spiritually into an adult there are other growing pains to experience. The death of loved ones is a long lasting pain. The loss of a loved one in a romantic situation is another kind of pain. The experience of leaving home after high school may be painful.

Football practice is also a place to experience growing pains. Football practice at times is just plain uncomfortable. Weightlifting is of course a painful thing, the day after a heavy workout.

The idea of putting ourselves into painful situations in order to grow as a person is almost a lost concept today. We are all about the next pleasure and what’s in it for me and because of it; we are becoming a weak nation.

Who in our nation today experiences difficulty? The immigrant, the poor, the disadvantaged, those who join the military, small acreage farmers and ranchers and dare I say, those high school kids who go out for football. These are people that have been raised or exposed to harsh conditions and taught that life is tough, sometimes not fair and the strong survive.

As a Christian are you still growing? Do you ever feel uncomfortable? Do you ever feel the pain of growing? Do you go to church once a week in your comfortable environment and feel you have done your weekly duty after an hour? Where as a Christian should you feel the growing pain?

During repentance or confession, when you truly humble yourself and ask to be forgiven, you should feel weakness that turns into strength. That weakness to strength thing is a growing pain.

Daily prayer is painful at times, because you should do it in the quiet times of life. That will be before everyone gets up or after everyone goes to bed in your house. It is painful to miss out on sleep.

Bible reading of course is on our list. Many people have told me how difficult the Bible is to read. To big a book, to long a book, to boring, don’t have time to read, don’t like to read and all those excuses sound so painful, like growing pains that you don’t want any part of.

Do you ever fast from food? Spiritual fasting involves turning away from evil and turning back to God, but the lack of food can be difficult on the body. John Wesley was very famous for fasting. His main fast was from sundown on Thursday night until Friday at 3:00 p.m. Try that just one day next week. My guess is you will feel some pain on Friday.

I challenge you to continue to grow this next week and may it be painful.

2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.