Recently, one of my roommates and I were talking about some decorating I want to do in my room. I had mentioned to her that I want to get a desk plant or two, but I want to plant them in bright yellow pots. I love the way splashes of yellow can brighten up a room. I wanted to know if it was feasible to move a plant from the pot it comes in to a brand new one. She explained to me the principle of repotting plants. Apparently, the bigger the pot you put the plant in, the more the plant will grow. If you keep the plant in the same pot, it can only grow to a certain extent.
I know nothing about keeping plants alive, so that bit of information came as a shock to me. I also found it to be super profound. I realized that throughout my life, when I have gone through changes in seasons and (sometimes painful) transitions that God was merely repotting me.
I am a firm believer that when you are a follower of Jesus that He never allows you to stay comfortable for too long. Settling into comfort zones and patterns of living for too long stunts our growth. I believe that God intends for us to learn and to grow in each season of life that He has planted us in. But from time to time, we start to get stagnant. Even good seasons run their course and it becomes time to set off into uncharted territory. A sudden shift of seasons and circumstances can be jarring and unsettling. God’s heart in these periods of transition is to expand our territory, to teach us new lessons, and to grow us and to mature us, until we look even more like Him.
I know I sound like a broken record when I say that this year has been one of transition for me. The latest development includes a potential move out of my house with one of my roommates to live in a ministry house in an impoverished community. This is both exciting and scary. While I will be with friends and doing something that I love, I also realize that in order to do this I will have to sacrifice much time, energy and even my personal space to a certain extent. The neighborhood won’t be “safe” and I know that I will be challenged, tested and stretched. However, above all else, I know that I will grow even more than I have grown in this last season. I know that God is going to teach me things I have not yet known and bring me to an deeper understanding of who He is and who I am in Him. I know that He is going to use this situation to bring even more glory to His name. I know that I am being repotted.
Like Jabez, in the Old Testament, I want to be one who never gets to comfortable, but who rather prays: “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain”(1 Chron. 4:10).
