THE GROWTH CYCLE

We have all heard that cliche saying, " There is no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone."  Well, good news everyone, there is comfort in the growth zone.  It's a crazy concept, I know.  If we take a step back and look at things with an eternal perspective, there will always be moments in life when we are in need of comfort.

 I think we often confuse comfort, with complacency. I think that is why most would say that "there is no comfort in the growth zone." It is true that we will never get anywhere in life if we are complacent. Complacency leaves no room for progression.  Being complacent just makes us slothful, and unprofitable servants.  However, God does not leave us comfortless. He loves us, and His plan is for us to experience joy and growth in this mortal experience.   We are not given opportunities to learn and grow, to be unhappy, or unsatisfied.  We are given opportunities to learn and grow so that we can nourish our relationship with God, and cultivate faith in Jesus Christ.  

Life is never not going to change.  We go through changes quite frequently.  I have learned recently that there is a pattern to this "change."  There always seems to be times in our lives when we feel like the tribulation, adversity, or opposition will never end.  I hate to be the barer of bad news, but its never going to end.  Facing adversity, tribulation, or opposition is how we gain traction to move forward.  It is how we learn, and grow.  It is how we strengthen our faith and trust in God, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The nice thing about tribulation is that it does not last forever.  It is just part of a forever cycle.

After we have been faced with tribulation, we are then faced with patience.  I do not think that patience is a virtue that we learn just once. As we go through this "growth cycle" we are going to learn the virtue of patience time and time again.  Patience is tricky.  True "patience is the ability to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. " (Preach My Gospel) Patience is the ability to accept God's will, and timing.  It means that when we are faced with difficult conditions, we are able to face them calmly and hopefully.  Without patience, life lessons don't seem as valuable.

By this time we are getting impatient with practicing patience.  Which leads us to being blessed with an experience.  We are given experiences so that we can put our patience in action.  Experiences allow us to choose between good, better, and best.  The neat thing about experience, is that it will always be for our benefit. It might not always be a positive experience, but it is promised that we will always benefit.   Experiences teach us more about preparation.  If we experience one trial or hardship, we are then prepared for it the next time around, and know what we can do better, to be better.

Most of all, experiences seem to give us hope; hope that there are good things to come.  Hope has always been some abstract concept to me.  However, I have learned that hope is very similar to faith.  Faith and hope require belief rather than knowledge.  Hope is almost more motivating for me than faith.  Hope allows us to see that there is always a silver lining.

Hope is also motivating because it leads us to feel the love of God.  That is where the comfort in this whole growth cycle comes in.  We are reassured that God knows us. We are also reassured that he loves us.  When we understand that God is literally our father, it is the most comforting feeling in the world.

Change and growth is not the most convenient or comfortable time, but we can take comfort in knowing that God intends for us to learn, grow, and change. Romans 5:3-5 "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.