Still I declare

I received this devotion today through "The Redemptive Pursuit" (www.theredemptivepursuit.com). So good...

Still I Declare
By Laura Ziesel
June 18, 2012

Scripture:
"O God, you have taught me from my youth, and still I declare your marvelous deeds." -Psalm 71:17

Reflection:
I grew up in great churches and with great parents, but my faith was not wholly my own until I went to college. During my college years, I felt like I was growing in my relationship with God by leaps and bounds. I was constantly surrounded by challenging books, opportunities for service and prayer, and musicians and artists who led me deeply into worship. Those years almost feel magical when I look back upon them.

Not everyone experiences this type of super-charged spiritual growth in college, but I have found that most adult Christians have experienced it at one point or another in their life: after joining a new church, after enlisting in the military, or upon becoming a parent. These months or years of super-charged growth shape us and train us for the rest of our lives.

However, as great as these periods of amazing growth are, they are rarely sustainable. Now that I am five years out from my college graduation, my day-to-day spiritual growth is not as impressive or exciting as it was during my college years. I continue to grow in my faith, but my growth is slower and markedly less magical.

But I don't think this is bad. In fact, I think this is normal and healthy in some ways. If I think about my relationship with the Lord like it is a real relationship, it only makes sense that sustaining it would be less exciting than discovering it. Like falling in love, my years of extreme growth in the Lord are something I will cherish forever; they were a honeymoon phase, so to speak. But by now, God and I have been married for a few years and I'm learning the dance of day-to-day faithfulness to him in the midst of paying bills, scrubbing dishes, and sorting through emails for work. And learning how to love him now is hard if I expect our love to be the same as it was during that honeymoon phase.

I've heard it said that comparison is the thief of joy. I think we often view comparison to be a problem when we are comparing ourselves to others. But comparison can be the thief of joy even when we are comparing ourselves to a former version of ourselves. If I expect every devotional or church service to be life-altering, I'm setting myself up for disappointment. And if I expect every year of my life to result in super-charged spiritual growth, I am rejecting the reality of how relationships work. Relationships change; they go through intense periods of intimacy and periods of monotony.

I don't know if I'll have another phase of super-charged growth like I had in college. I hope so. It would be great to honeymoon with God again. But right now, today, I need to stop comparing my daily walk with God to what it used to be, and I need to accept it for what it is. It is still an undeserved gift, and that should be enough to make me thankful for it.

Prayer:
Lord, I am so thankful to you for reaching out to me and rescuing me from myself. Thank you for giving me more to live for, for giving me hope and purpose. Thank you for each and every day that I've had the privilege of living for you. Help me to be thankful for today, even if it doesn't feel exciting or life-changing. I want to be faithful in the small things, so I ask for your help. Amen.