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Transcript:
Hello, this is Walking in Step with God, and I am Steve McDonald.
We all have ups and downs. We all have times in life when it seems as though things are moving, progressing, increasing, and growing in ways that make us feel happy, secure, and joyful.
There are other times in life when it can seem as though we are doing all of the things we feel we should be doing, but progress is difficult to come by. When it comes to our faith, it can be difficult to remain steadfast in our faith and trust in God when it seems as though the expectations we have for our acts of faith are not coming to fruition. We are told to put our trust in God and be patient. We are told that God’s timing is not our timing. Even so, it can be challenging to feel we are growing when circumstances seem to suggest that there is no progress in our lives. It can be difficult to be intentional about growing when it feels like we are stuck.
In today’s message, we are going to explore 3 ways that we can continue to grow even if we feel stuck in our lives.
Before we dive in, why don’t we take a quick break? I will be right back.
Welcome back. Let’s continue our discussion with 3 ways that we can continue to grow even if we feel stuck.
#1 Pray and talk to God about our concerns
One of the most powerful things we can do to ensure we keep growing is to remain in constant contact with God. Only God knows the intricacies of our situation in a way where there is a complete understanding of a timeline and plan. We can turn to God to seek guidance and wisdom to be aligned with this plan.
I have personally experienced many times in my life where it seemed as though I was spinning my wheels. I was striving and pushing and pulling and climbing, and it seemed as though there was very little to show for all of the effort.
What I would learn in time is to bring these observations to God. To ask Him to help me to understand why nothing I was doing was working. The most important thing I learned as I have shared many times, was to seek out God’s will first and foremost. In doing so, He will course correct us to the path that He has in store for us and we will grow to trust Him even more in the process.
#2 Serve others and help those in need
If you are feeling stuck, why not find ways to channel your energy into serving others in need? If part of the reason you are feeling stuck is because you are doing things in your life that don’t seem to have the desired effect or outcome you had in mind, why not find ways to have an impact on someone else’s life?
Have you considered that in serving others in need, you may in fact be helping them to feel unstuck? Giving your time or resources to someone in need not only rewards the individual you serve but will also bring feelings of accomplishment and rewards to your heart as well.
Serving others in need will help you to grow in your heart and grow your comfort level for giving and selflessness as well.
#3 Focus on the future and trust that God has a plan
When you are feeling stuck, it is important to understand that if you trust God with your plan, you can rest assured that the creator of the universe has a plan for your life that you could not possibly accomplish on your own.
When we feel stuck we may actually be feeling like our efforts are in vain. No matter what we do, it simply does not matter; no matter how hard we work, we are not seeing progress in the way we anticipated.
By actively yielding to God and His timing, we can grow in confidence. While we may not know what is coming down the road, we know God loves us more than we can possibly imagine. Therefore, we can grow in peace and grow in understanding. The more we focus on seeking out His plan, the better off we will be.
Wrap Up
In today’s message we explored the challenge of feeling stuck in our lives. Feeling as though we are striving our way through life with little or no progress in return. What we learned is that in the middle of these circumstances, we can still continue to grow even though it may seem as though we are stuck.
We learned we can pray to God, sharing our concerns, worries, and fears. That we can ask Him to reveal to us what we should and should not be focused on. We can ask Him to correct us to be aligned with His plans. We also learned that serving others in need is a great way to keep growing if we feel stuck. Turning attention away from us and forming a selfless posture towards others brings growth in others’ lives and helps us to grow in our hearts. We also learned that we should always trust that God has a plan for us. We can decide to trust God, knowing that He knows what is best for us. In doing so, we can grow by having more calm, peace, and wisdom as we learn to patiently await His plans to be revealed to us.
When we feel stuck in life, let us remember to seek out God first and foremost. In doing so, we can be assured of being guided to a plan that not only allows us to grow in heart and mind but also to grow into the master plan that only God can orchestrate.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: How to Keep Growing Even When You Feel Stuck
