Growth can feel destructive

There is a story I have read about a seed. It describes the seed being cracked open and the insides falling out before it begins to grow. For someone that doesn't know the process, they might look at the seed and just see destruction. 

Four years ago, I started a journey of growth. I had made a decision that my life was no longer going to continue in the direction it had been going. What I didn't realize when I made this decision was the destruction that would occur first. 

Today, there is very few things in my life that resemble my life four years ago. People, places and things have all changed. The lifestyle is not even similar. 

What happened? Well the details of what happened won't fit in a blog post, but I am sure of one thing. I sought God's will for my life and he plucked me out of chaos and placed me with purpose. For that, I am grateful. 

That process has been difficult, exhausting and lonely. But a good friend kept reminding me, "don't give up before the miracle happens". So I kept surrendering, not sure of the outcome but knowing that I could not negotiate life on my terms for one more minute. God has plans for me and I had to let God be God. Oh the miracles that did eventually come to fruition.

I wanted to share, there is another side, another place for those of us that are seeking something other than what we have been told. For those of us that wake up thinking, this can not be what my life was intended for. God can and will bring each one of us through the desert. Just like the Israelites he brought out of Egypt, he does have the ability to grant victory over any hurts, habits or hangups that may be causing us to live as slaves. 

Many of us know Jeremiah 29:11, but we also need to know Jeremiah 29:12-13.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. "

(Jeremiah 29:11-13 ESV)

 Seek God with all your heart! Have faith and give in to the process of growth, even if it looks like destruction. God will not destroy you, he wants to bring you a future and hope. 

A grateful believer in Jesus Christ, 

~Johnna