Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Yesterday I asked you to look in that spiritual mirror to see who you are in Christ. Each of us are undergoing change. What we were in the past is not who we are today. Growth in Christ can be just as difficult for us as growing up as a natural child. We are not exempt from periods of frustration or even down times. These next verses point out we are not exempt just because we have a relationship with the Lord.

Psalm 143:7-8 Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

Hear me Lord speaks to relationship. My spirit fails, speaks to our inability to maintain a continual or constant right attitude about ourselves. It is easy to feel right when everything is going good. It is when the enemy attacks that we feel like we failed to maintain contact with the goodness of the Lord.

There were times in my life I was told “pick yourself up by your bootstraps”. This is error. It isn’t always your fault that you are down. “Cause me to hear” in verse 8 above begs God to intercede on our behalf because it is He who lifts us up and not we ourselves. You cannot dig your way out of a hole.

Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

There is no way to learn what this means without being there in that moment.

Habakkuk 1:3-5 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

When I look in that spiritual mirror, this is what I see. This is my reflection. If I were to ask you to look into your spiritual mirror what would you see? If you are anything like I was when I first came to Christ, you might pick out some popular phrases that sounds spiritual or you might pick out scriptures that reflect what you would like to be in maturity.

Perhaps you would identify with one who is struggling to change. That would be OK for a season but growth in Christ has a goal, an end, an identity which is based on what Christ has done in you to build in you to be an effective servant.

We are not all alike and we should not desire to be someone else. You are special to Christ in who you are and His intent is to grow you with purpose.

Ephesians 1:8-12 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.