slow, dull and confused

There are just those times I am.....slow and dull and confused. Chances are so are a lot of others.

But I think we, the confused, can find encouragement knowing that we are in pretty good company. Consider the many times Jesus looks at the disciples, the men who have been with him, watched him perform miracles...and he says - Are you still so dull? (Matthew: 15:16) or he asks them why they do not understand what he is REALLY saying (Matthew 16: 9, 11).....do you ever wonder at Jesus' patience with them? If He is that patient with THEM, how much more patience do you think He has with you and I?

I believe we grow over time and through much turmoil. Someone wrote that we don't learn about commitment by studying the definition, we learn by attempting to remain committed day after day, by trying and failing and trying again. We live it out to learn it, to grow. I believe our understanding comes that way as well. We learn a little and then we stumble and seem dull....and then we learn a little more. As we live our lives with Him. Growth does not occur at the pinnacle, growth is what happens on our way up TO the pinnacle, and it is followed by another valley and an often arduous climb after that.

So take courage if you feel dull, I tend to believe it is a sign that we are in the midst of a valley or on the upward slope of a new mountain, on the verge of new growth!

Thoughts in the morning ...