This is the final blog in a set of three. If you have not read the others, it may be beneficial to engage them first. In those blogs I spoke of areas of growth that I called the “steady level” and the “giant step” level.

The final growth area is what I would call “The Great Leap.” Unlike the other two types of growth, this growth type is completely hidden until complete. In many respects it may involve pain and suffering and confusion and as such many will often turn away from it and never let it go to completion and will miss the great learning and life change that it can bring.

In fact, until you actually experience a few of these growth leaps you may be hard pressed to understand what is going on. You’ll probably hope that it never happens again although you will talk about the great growth and learning that did take place once you are through it, perhaps even sharing it with as many people as will listen. Others may also be in awe of what you experienced and talk of your great faith. They will be thankful that you experienced such great insight and may in fact believe that they have also learned from your great leap, yet it is most likely a mirage, for no one can really know of this growth and understand it other than the one who engaged it at its core.

Honestly, I believe that I have been the recipient of this growth and still would rather not experience it again if I had the choice. I believe that I have also run away from other potential moments of this type of growth because the pain or confusion that I thought I would have to experience was too great to want to go into or remain in.

Have you experienced what I am speaking of? Are you in one of these moments right now? Are you attempting to short circuit the learning?

I have been in my current pastoral role for ten years. However after just three years working in my current church context I was ready to move on. I was frustrated with what I was doing, I had convinced myself that the leadership was not competent, I felt that I would be better off back in the corporate context where I had come from, etc. I settled into a “woe is me” mindset and had all kinds of “good quality” reasons why my time was over. Yet something inside me, a very small voice, told me that my time was not yet over. I could recite my grand arguments to escape and perhaps even use some great God language about a new calling to get myself out of there, yet for some reason I chose to gut it out. It was a time of great confusion and frustration and I’m sure that I frustrated others during this time as well. Yet looking back on that time, the learning that took place was incredible. What I was able to cultivate in myself in the areas of conflict resolution, endurance, and commitment was incredible. In addition, the influence that I have developed in my community has increased in ways that I can’t fully explain, yet is only present because I chose to stay in the game and not run due to my frustration. I have learned through that time (2 years or so) what spiritual growth looks like in others in a fuller way as I was able to continue to journey with others during that time, something I would have missed if I had moved on. And this learning has helped me to develop new initiatives that have enabled others to grow in their relationship with God.

I also experienced this great leap of growth in the three years of “wilderness” I wandered through from 2001-2004 as I transitioned from a 12 year banking career into my present pastoral role. I was so lost during those years and cried out to God on many occasions wondering where he even was and why it felt like he had abandoned me. On more than one occasion I almost short-circuited the process, yet something inside me said “stay”.

I wish I could give you the simple formula on hearing God in these times, but I can’t. In fact I could possibly argue that God may even choose to step away from us for a season just to see if we will still choose to follow him. I know that this might not sit well in our present age of theology that has God meeting all our needs and caring for us – we interpret that as a life of no pain or at least resolution to our issues in drive-through time.

Yet look at 2 Chronicles 32:31 talking about Hezekiah: “…God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and see what was really in his heart.” That verse intrigues me and at times I wonder if God is doing the same with me.

I don’t know where you are presently in your faith journey. Perhaps you are wondering in the wilderness right now, unsure if you will ever get out. These deep moments of learning (I call it learning but recognize that while you are in the middle of it, it doesn’t feel like learning, just pain and confusion) can be even more complicated if you are leading others in a discipling relationship and find yourself struggling and not sure if you have what it takes to lead yourself let alone lead someone else. I won’t give you a simple answer as to what you should do, as simple answers are never all that helpful during these unique times. I do believe that it may be very impactful for those you lead to experience this with you, that you can model faithfulness to Jesus in all circumstances, even if that circumstance is confusion.

In all of this, when you find yourself in these times, lean in, don’t run away. Develop a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit. Don’t pretend to think that you know how long it will last because you simply can’t predict these things. It may be a month, it may be three years. Or, like the Apostle Paul, you may be given a “thorn in the flesh” that will be your reality for life.

Faith in God is simply that, faith. You will never understand it all. Yet we still have the privilege of pouring out our lives and what we have learned into the lives of others.

Let’s keep doing that – for the Kingdom.

In this set of three blogs, I have chosen to look at what I see as three levels of growth in the life of the follower of Christ. In recognizing different levels of growth along with the good aspects as well as the areas to watch out for, we can be more aware of what this journey of maturity looks like and better able to manage our expectations as well as the expectations of those we lead on this journey.

In my last blog I outlined the “steady level” with its benefits as well as its potential pitfalls.

In this writing, I want to address what I am referring to as the “Giant Step” level. This level is the growth that is exciting and fun to be a part of, both for yourself as well as those you lead.

If you have been intentionally engaging in your journey of faith for any significant length of time, you are well of aware of those times when things seemed to click in what was a moment of revelation. It was as if God showed up in person and brought clarity to some aspect of faith that was so amazing.

I’ve had moments in reading scripture during my regular devotional time when it was as though the words from a verse rose off the page and came alive in ways that I had never experienced before. All of a sudden I understood something that changed my way of thinking and led to a new way of living. These scriptural revelations often resonate in my mind for weeks if not months as I am eager to share this new found insight with others. It is energy that you can live off for a long time.

I recall one of my seminary classes on the book of Luke. The prof who led us through it made it come alive in ways that I had never before realized. And in a way I felt like I had become a Christian all over again, like I had been re-saved. Now I know theologically speaking that that wasn’t the case, but I fell in love with Jesus in a whole new way – it was amazing, a giant step forward.

I’ve been able to experience these moments with the guys that I am privileged to come alongside. There will be moments when we get together that one of the guys will take over our meeting even before we’ve sat down. He just has to tell us about how God met him the past week, how the scriptures came alive in a new way, how his prayers went to a whole new level, how his marriage or parenting relationships moved in new and great direction as a result of our learning and praying together – a giant step forward.

I love these moments. I’d love to have them every day. To experience the emotional high that so often accompanies them. To live on these mountain tops, hopping to a new one on a regular basis. A let me be clear, these moments are so often springboards to new levels of faith and life, and they are meaningful and very relevant to our journey of faith. Embrace them fully.

And yet there are two “beware of” notes that I’d like to make here.

First, you can’t plan them, they just happen. You can’t manipulate them into taking place. I’ve watched many people try to create these “God moments”, to get one every week on a scheduled basis, to pretend that they are experiencing one just to enjoy the emotional high that can come from them. You can’t do this. They are God ordained that so often come from the simple ongoing commitment to regular spiritual disciplines. Fail to engage in these and you’ll miss out on the depth that a “giant step” can bring to you. At times these steps have occurred every few weeks for me, and at times they haven’t shown up for over a year, I just never know. Yet I am so amazed and thankful when they do jump out at me, they are fun to experience.

Second, mature from them, don’t waste them. Taking a giant step forward so often entails the hard work of building foundations under the new revelation, to learn to engage in new activities so that the reality of the learning becomes engrained in who you are. Too many people that I connect with have had some amazing God moments of growth that I truly do believe was the Spirit moving in them, and yet they so often don’t take the next step in doing the hard work of maturing, they just look for the next big revelation, the next emotional high to live off of. It is sad to watch people of faith live like this and miss out on the life change that really could have been theirs to experience.

The “Giant Step” level of growth, embrace them, learn from them, and move forward.

Next: Great Leap level.

For the Kingdom.