For us to find out what is best and gain insight into our lives to apply it, we need to know what God wants us to do. We should always be learning the ways of the kingdom. We must learn about principles and how God designed things to work. Gaining insight includes work, feedback, correction, digging inside our hearts and souls, and prayer, specifically about our own character dynamics and patterns. We are not able to see and understand ourselves by ourselves. Insight comes from God and others. David asked God to show him the hurtful ways in himself and lead him into good patterns (Psalm 139:23-24). In other places the Bible tells us that we need to gain insight about ourselves from other people. “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out” (Proverbs 20:5). People are never going to grow by only listening to a sermon once a week and then just go about their business. They must gain deeper understanding about God’s ways (His Kingdom) and also find out how those ways apply to their own issues in life (His righteousness). They need to discover what is true about them, and they need feedback about how their patterns work and what to do differently. Then they grow.
Growth requires effort and is a process over time. We look for a quick fix and we want it now. The Bible tells us what to expect: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). We all want the “harvest of righteousness.” We want to be well, and we want the fruit it brings to give us the good things of life, as Matthew 6:33 says. But we must realize that to receive the fruit we want, we must commit to discipline (work and training). We must go into the deep, dark, hidden areas of our souls week after week to change the destructive dynamics that are ruining our lives. Pain is the pathway to greatness. It is not fun, nor is it pleasant but the pain is temporary and the fruit is long-lasting. It hurts to grow, but this kind of pain is good, it will not return again, and the lessons and results will last forever.
Seeking God first means that we know Him as the God of grace who is for us. God is not only a God of grace, He a God of truth. Getting well and “having all these things given to you” will be provided. In every area of life, we adhere to principle. A pilot must seek the laws of physics. If he does not know them and apply them to his work, the plane is going to crash. Life and righteousness are exactly like that. Life is designed with laws that govern relationship and success. Laws govern healing and growth. For those areas in our lives that we want to “fly”, we have to learn the laws that govern them.
Seeking righteousness is not without results. It is about learning and becoming life itself, and in the end the “right” way is not only the best way, it’s the only way. The process is much deeper than just knowing the concepts. The concepts must interfere with where you are and call you to change.
Pain is the pathway to greatness.
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