The spiritual journey is not about living as we should so life works as we want. It’s not a linear path.
It’s not about growing up into the maturity of a good self-image and developing the energy to do good things; it is about growing down into the brokenness of self-despair and deepening our awareness of how poorly we love compared to Trinitarian standards. It’s not about working hard to get it right so we can present ourselves before God to receive the blessings we desire; it is about coming before Him as we are, honestly, pretending about nothing, becoming increasingly convinced that we can’t get it right though we try as hard as we can, then listening for the whisper of the Spirit, “Welcome! You’re home. You’re loved. You’ll be empowered to speak with your unique voice as you hear the Voice of God singing over you with great love.
The Spirit is inviting each one of us to walk a very different path, to embark on a radically different journey. We’re bidden to come as we are, boldly, without fear, even though our souls still sometimes seem a cesspool of foul muck with no living waters in sight, abandoning ourselves to God for whatever He chooses to allow, waiting for Him to reveal how near we are to Him already in every circumstance of life, and to then draw us nearer. That’s the new way of the Spirit.
--Larry Crabb, "The Pressure’s Off: There’s a New Way to Live"
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