Growth for this work does not happen without active work on our part. We have to want to change. We have to look at the challenges life brings us as opportunities to grow. Not just the tragic events in our life. Those have a way of sharpening our senses, focusing our attention and drawing us closer to the Lord. What about the other times when things are going well? How do we take advantage of the relatively calm times to grow?
Visualize if you will a traditional well with a rope, pulley and bucket. Someone standing next to it at ground level would no doubt make certain assumptions as to what was below the surface. And as the bucket was slowly being raised back up to the surface, there would no doubt be a certain level of anticipation about the water that would soon arrive. And then the disappointment as the person pulls the bucket up that is only full of dust, with not even a hint of moisture. Peter says that’s what false prophets are like: they promise you water, they give you every indication that they are brimming with water, and when the time comes to deliver, you realize they have nothing to give.
The flesh knows this won’t always be pleasant. It isn’t pleasant to be convicted of sin (see Acts 2:37), but that is the Spirit working (John 16:8). It isn’t always pleasant to be told “no” (see Acts 8:19-20), but that is the Spirit helping put us in the right spiritual frame of mind. It isn’t our flesh’s desire to stand out in the crowd because of our faith (see 2 Timothy 1:6-7), but it is evidence of a powerful Spirit living within. The flesh wants to balk at the idea of trusting God with all our cares and concerns, but it is the Spirit who works through our prayers (Romans 8:26-28).
This is appropriate. For most of history, the inheritance has gone first to the firstborn son, then there has been a distribution amongst the other sons. Daughters were left with a dowry and whatever their husbands could provide. So seeing Jesus as the Son of God is a reminder that he is the one who will inherit his father’s kingdom. As Psalm 2 reminds us, the nations are his inheritance.