Free to Be Me

God always knows exactly what every person needs. God had Abraham take a walk, Elijah take a nap, Joshua take a lap and Adam take the rap. God gave Moses a forty-year time-out, He gave David a harp and a dance, He gave Paul a pen and a scroll, He wrestled with Jacob, He argued with Job, He whispered to Elijah, He warned Cain, He comforted Hagar, He gave Aaron an author, He gave Miriam a song, He gave Gideon a fleece, He gave Peter a name, He gave Elisha a mantle.

Jesus was stern with the rich young ruler, He was tender with the woman caught in adultery, He was blistering with the Pharisees, He was challenging with the disciples, He was gentle with the children, He was gracious with the thief on the cross.

God never grows two people the same way. God is a hand-crafter, not a mass producer. And now it’s your turn. God has existed from all eternity, but this is something God has never done before. God has never had a relationship with you before. And the problem so many people face when it comes to spiritual growth is they listen to somebody they think of as the expert--maybe it’s the pastor of their church or somebody who writes or leads--talk about what they do and then people think, That's what I'm supposed to do...

God’s plan is that He wants you to be His best version of you, but that will not look exactly like His plan for anybody else. And it will take freedom and experimentation for me to learn how does God want to grow me up.

--John Ortberg