What does God require of you right now?
Sometimes He wants us to grow and change and ‘pack on the pounds’ spiritually. My daughter is on a growth spurt at the moment. I’m having to change the nature of her food to help her to grow. I don’t want her just to drink milk all her life or she’ll never have the energy to mature. Nor do I expect her to start with a rump steak. I am introducing her to new foods, a little at a time. I think our Father does the same with us. The ‘diet’ of what He feeds us on and teaches us changes in each fresh season.

One of my worst character flaws is my impatience. Once I decide something, I want it achieved, completed and dealt with. Even my kindest friends would agree this is an area where I need most work. I am growing in patience at the moment. I can feel new tiny bits of it budding and blossoming in unfamilar places. I don’t recognise it as ‘me’… God is changing me.

What about you?
Where could you use a little extra spiritual muscle? Where is the Holy Spirit reshaping and re-moulding you?

We all have areas where we need to become more like Jesus. The doubting person needs to grow in faith. The impatient person must grow in quiet trust. The selfish person has to grow more outward-looking. The cautious person must grow in courage. The timid person must grow in confidence. The anxious person must grow in peacefulness. The dominating person must grow in sensitivity. The critical person must grow in tolerance. The negative person must grow in positive attitudes. The pleasure-seeking person must grow in compassion for others. The person in a hurry must be calm and wait.

When God is allowed to renew us, then, truly, miracles can happen:
Addicts are set free.
Conception is granted to barren women.
Failing marriages are reborn.
Doubters discover fresh hope.
Diseased tissue responds to treatment.
Dreams are unfolded.
Threatened jobs becomes secure.
Friendships are renewed.
Bitterness is replaced by forgiveness.

One line from ‘The Great Gatsby’ has stuck in my mind for years. In it, F Scotts Fitzgerald describes a fullsome lady as ‘woman who wore her weight well.’

I would like to be such a woman. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some spiritual snacking to do…