“AWAKENING – Erasing Famines”
Recently I read about an experiment done by psychologist Jonathan Haidt. He came up with a fascinating hypothetical exercise, which went something like this:
Participants were handed a summary of a person’s life and asked to read it over. Participants were then asked to imagine that the person was their daughter. This is her unavoidable life story. She hasn’t been born yet, but she will be soon, and this is where her life is headed. Participants then had five minutes to edit her story. Eraser in hand, they could eliminate whatever they wanted out of her life.
The question for participants was: What do you erase first?
Most of us would instinctively and frantically begin to erase the learning disability and the car accident and the financial challenges. We love our children and would want them to live a life without those hardships, pains, and setbacks. We would all prefer our children’s lives be free from pain and anguish.
But ask yourself: Is that really what’s best?
Do we really think a privileged life of smooth sailing is going to make our kids happy? What if you erase a difficult circumstance that will wake them up to prayer? What if you erase a hardship that’s going to show them how to be joyful in spite of any circumstance? What if you erase some pain and suffering that ends up being the catalyst God uses in their life to cause them to cry out to Him? What if you erase a difficult circumstance that wakes them up to God’s purpose for their lives?
It may sound harsh to say, but the number one contributor to spiritual growth is not sermons, books, or small groups; the number one contributor to spiritual growth is difficult circumstances. I can tell you this because of personal experience, reading spiritual-growth surveys, and my own anecdotal evidence after talking to thousand of people over the years. AHA comes out of the suffering, setbacks, and challenges of life. Many people could point to those moments as their greatest moments of spiritual awakening.
Read 2 Corinthians 7:10.
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Read Luke 15:14.
14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
What times in your life have you experienced the most spiritual growth? Were they times of plenty, or were they the hard time? Is God trying to grow you right now through some difficult trial or circumstance?
