God-Sized Dreams: A 30-Day Journey of Faith and CourageSample

Choose Growth and Life

The snow skims the tops of the trees and drifts over the last of the leaves. It’s quiet and looks like not much is happening. But I know that those trees are getting ready to grow. They’ll be dormant for the winter, but deep down below, new life is already coming.

I look up from my coffee and say to my husband, “There are really only two choices in life, aren’t there? Growth or decay.”

It’s a deep statement for a Saturday morning, but I can’t shake it. Everywhere I look, I see it.

Growth or decay.

Life or death.

It’s always been this way. All the way back in ancient Israel, God encouraged his people, “Choose life, so that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV).

And choosing life always means choosing growth too.

Now I don’t mean taking foolish risks. What I mean is saying yes to God and moving forward with him no matter what.

Through the pain.

Through the success.

Through the struggles.

Through the victories.

Whatever you do, choose growth.

And here’s the thing: like those trees, growth is not always big and flashy. It can happen quietly, almost invisibly. But it must happen.

And there’s more good news: growth doesn’t require perfection. In fact, it cannot coexist with it. You will fail and fall and learn and get back up again. Because that’s how you grow.

I don’t know where you are today, what circumstances you’re facing, what this day will hold for you.

But I’m begging you, cheering for you, quietly whispering to you, “Please choose life that you may live.”

The best part of all? The responsibility for growth ultimately lies with God. “God... makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:7 NIV).

So you don’t have to make growth happen. Your role is surrender and then obedience. When you embrace those, you can’t help but grow. “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:3 NIV).

You may not be able to control what happens to you on the journey to your God-sized dreams. But you can choose how you respond to it.

Choose life.

Choose growth.

Choose God’s best for you.

Go Deeper

Read Deuteronomy 30:11–20 to see how God invites his people to choose what's best.

God, I choose life and growth today. When I want to hold back, help me to remember that doing so feels safe but actually takes me away from your best for me. Give me wisdom in every circumstance I face to see how I can thrive through it—even if it’s not easy. I trust you to produce the fruit you want in my heart. Amen.

What’s one truth you want to remember?

What’s the next small step you’ll take?