Blog
1-20-16
Know Me, Show Me, Grow Me
As I was doing my morning devotions yesterday, God put a phrase in my head…Know me, Show me, Grow me. I wasn’t sure if I had heard that phrase before or if I made it up, but all of a sudden it just popped into my head. I instantly grabbed a piece of paper and wrote it down, knowing I had to remember it, but not sure exactly what all it was saying to me.
As I look at the piece of paper sitting on my desk, drinking my morning tea, I realize these simple words hold incredible truth and power and are really a roadmap to what I think faith is about. First of all, I want to be real and honest with God, I want him to know me. The real me, not the one I wish I was or hope to be, but who I really am. Broken, full of doubt, fearful, nursing scars from my past…human. God’s greatest desire is to have true intimacy with us, and intimacy requires people to know us deeply and honestly. In order to have a close relationship, we have to be vulnerable and willing to share everything. That’s truly the paramount desire in my faith, to have that kind of closeness to my Heavenly Father.
The more intimate I am with God and the more He knows my heart, the more He can lovingly show me who I really am, His beautiful, wonderful, unique creation. The more God knows my feelings of failure, the more clearly He shows me His love. The more I confess to God my sin, the more He shows me His grace. The more I cry out to God and let Him see the hurt in my heart, the more He shows me His measureless mercy. The more I lay my hopes and dreams at His throne, the more He shows me the next step on my journey to the unique purpose and calling He has placed in my life. When I dive into His word with an open mind, hungry for answers, He never fails to show me exactly what I need to see.
The deeper I go on my journey, the more I realize that the know me and show me steps have to happen in order for God to grow me. The biggest growth in my faith has always come at times when I am intimate with God and willing to let Him show me the next step He has planned for me, usually because I’m standing at a dead end! We can’t move forward if we can’t see where we need to go. The seasons of growth are sometimes hard and difficult, but I’m always thankful for them in the end.
Click to tweet: know me and show me steps have to happen in order for God to grow me
I believe the Holy Spirit put these words in my heart because my ministry is in a huge season of growth right now. I am currently enrolled in leadership training through the John Maxwell Group. The training is pretty intense, and I’m learning that the greatest purpose of leadership is to add value to others. That’s what I humbly try to do in these blogs, add value to you! I’m not sure I accomplish that every week, but hopefully every once in a while my words strike a nerve and touch you in a positive way.
I am also learning that leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. We try to make it very complicated, but those words break it down for me and help me see that we are all leaders because we all have influence in one area of our lives or another.
I will finish my training in March in Orlando, Florida, at the national event where I will be certified as a speaker and coach. It’s all very exciting, a little overwhelming at times, but is clearly the next step God has shown me that I need to take for the sake of my ministry. It’s obvious to me that this is the area where God is calling me to grow.
I wonder how God might want to know you, show you, and grow you? Do one of these steps need attention in your life right now? Maybe all of them?
I hope these very simple words will work in your heart like they did in mine and will encourage you to draw closer to God so he can know you, show you, and grow you!
Hugs and love,
~Jill