Climbing the mountain.

Here I will attempt to sum up what God has taught me on my mission trips, and I will discuss my opinion on spiritual growth because, really, that's what mission trips do. They grow you spiritually. And because you don't necessarily have to go on a mission trip to grow, I will break what I think spiritual growth means into three parts.
Like I said before, I didn't go to seminary. This is just MY OPINION, formulated based on what I believe God has taught me and when I examine my life, these are the three things that I had to learn most to get from where I was, to where I am now, and I pray with all my heart I don't ever stop growing.
First, you need to LOOK AT WHERE YOU ARE NOW. Examine where you stand with God. I mean really, be honest with yourself. You have to start somewhere, and you can't move forward if you don't know where you are to begin with. How much do you trust God? How's your knowledge of Scripture? Do you follow God's laws well, pretty well, or not at all? Are you satisfied with where you are with Christ? (here's a place to start: "yes" is the wrong answer) Analyzing where you stand is important. If you're a believer, you may remember that this is the first thing you had to do before you became one. You had to look at where you were and realize that it was not with Jesus. Now, you've got to do that again and take another look at where you stand in relation to Him. If you're off by a few spiritual degrees, you're going to have to figure out how to get a little closer. This is what they call conviction, and I felt this big time on my first mission trip to Japan. If you read my post "Missions Overseas part I: Japan," you know what I mean.
Second, YOU'VE GOT TO TRUST GOD. This is a big deal. Trust is something you may be familiar with, but if you're like me, tend to struggle with. In society, you judge how "close" someone is to you based on how much of yourself you share with them. Relationships develop as two people open up to each other. I don't just mean the dating kind--friendships, too. Think of the people you trust most: maybe family, your spouse, or best friend. Think of how much they know about you-- all your hopes, dreams, desires and sins. Do they really know everything? Granted, they might...but consider this: God already knows ALL OF IT and you didn't have to tell Him! As much as you've told that one person you trust most in the whole world, God knows far more than that. So isn't He the One you should trust with helping you with your problems and drawing you closer to Himself? Don't you think He can handle your little broken heart? Not that you shouldn't cry with your best friend about your problems (by all means do, I recommend it) but don't forget about God. YOU CAN'T GROW IF YOU DON'T LAY EVERYTHING OUT ON THE TABLE. Don't hold anything back. There's no point, He already knows about it. So just get it out there and let Him turn it into something beautiful.
Thirdly, YOU MUST STEP OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE. Leave base camp. Point yourself toward that mountain and start walking. You've probably already stepped outside your comfort zone by completely opening yourself up to God and laying everything out in the open for Him to use, but here's the crazy thing about a relationship with Christ. It's dynamic. It's a spiritual walk, not a spiritual sit. God intended for you to keep moving along beside Him--He's got so much to show you that you just can't see being still. So when you get comfortable--and you will, eventually. You'll sit back and think, "Wow, God is so awesome. I've learned so much. I've even shared the Gospel a couple of lost people. This is great!" Then He'll shake you. He'll take something away, or throw something in like a wrench in the gears of your happy, contented spiritual sit. Not because He's cruel, but because He wants you to move! It's completely necessary. Paul said to the Corinthians (I use Paul a lot because, let's face it. He's done it all): "For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!" This is the same guy that wrote about a spiritual thorn that was growing Christ's strength in Him; our bodies wasting away but our spirits being renewed; being beaten, driven down, pressed on every side by troubles and sharing in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus could also be seen in our bodies. So you've got to be pruned if you want to grow any blossoms.
So, to sum it all up: examine, trust, move. In Japan, God caused me to examine where I was standing in relation to Him because of the incredible work I was seeing around me. I was seeing fruit everywhere, but I myself wasn't growing any. So I made a commitment to move closer, to get rid of whatever was standing between myself and God. To do that I had to trust Him. Like you'd trust a surgeon with your body, you must trust the Lord of the universe with your all. Because, honestly, who else are you going to trust? In Bolivia, the danger I was often in and the chaos of feeling unsure and insecure led me to become totally and completely dependent on Him. And once I was, I moved closer. Once I was closer, He moved me forward. I had to step outside of my comfort zone. I tried things I'd never tried before. I had to put it all on the line. But I became braver, stronger, more assured in Christ's safe hold over me. That is what Christ wants. He wants us to put it all on the line for Him. And remember that we're not alone. We'll climb higher and higher, grow closer and closer, and experience more and more of this incredible experience called the walk with Christ.

"God's way is perfect. All the Lord's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection. For who is God except the Lord? Who but God is our solid rock? God arms me with strength, and He makes my way perfect. He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights."
Psalm 18:30-33