Stagnation

A student in my (Aimee’s) youth group made the comment a few months ago in a small group that she felt like her spiritual walk had plateaued. She was sure that she had been growing, and she still believed, and she still prayed, and she was still reading her Bible, but she felt like she had stopped growing and was leveling out. More than this, something inside of her was telling her that this was not good.

 

So our small group talked about it. 

 

Is it even possible to level out? Is it bad, normal, or ok? Should she continue on as usual or did she need to do something different?

 

I’m not going to get into everything that we talked about, mainly because there was a good amount that was very particular to her and may be different for different people. But there were a few things that I shared that I feel are truly and applicable to all people. So I want to share with you …

 

Calm water is deceptive. You may think it’s great, but do you know what happens to water that sits till for very long?

 

It becomes stagnate. It becomes a breeding ground for all kinds of parasites, fungus, and general scum of all kinds.

 

So too, it can be deceptive when you are cruising along thinking that all is good in your spiritual life because things are “calm.” When in actuality it may mean that all is calm on the surface and all hell is breaking loose (perhaps literally) just underneath the surface.

 

Leveling out in your growth toward God is an illusion. There is no happy plateau to be reached in our walk with God. The joy and pain and growth comes in the walk; not in the coasting. 

 

What it comes down to is that either your growing closer to God or you’re not. 

 

Do you understand what that means? Really understand? It means: either your growing closer to God or farther from God. Your growing to look more like Jesus, or your growing stagnate. One or the other. No middle ground.

 

I’m happy to be able to say that the same youth who was worried that she had leveled out in her growth has since then reported that she has broken out of her funk and that she is growing again. Prayer (her own and that of others who care for her) was a major factor in this battle.

 

If you’re growing stagnate, prayer is your best weapon to break out of your own personal funk. Pray and ask others to pray for you. And never allow the enemy to convince you that you’ve topped out or leveled off and you can’t grow anymore. 

 

Growing is a lifelong process.