When the seed of the Chinese bamboo tree is planted, it is watered and fertilized regularly. During the first four years, there is no visible growth. However, during the fifth year when it finally emerges from the ground, it grows to a height of ninety feet in just six weeks.

Plant experts say that during its first four years in the soil, the bamboo seed is building an elaborate root system. It is this root system that enables the Chinese bamboo to grow ninety feet and stand sturdy and strong, all in just six weeks.

Personal growth, like the bamboo, is not a sudden change. Every minute of each hour, your natural purpose is growth---mentally, spiritually and physically. Every event and experience in you life adds to your personal growth.

When you are faced with daily situations and experiences, look on them as a source of growth and positive change. There is always a lesson you can take from the experience and use it to grow. The next time you confront a difficult situation, choose to take what is positive and use it for personal growth.

Most of us would not choose difficult circumstances to help us learn to trust God. So, in His perfect wisdom He often will lead us into situations that can strengthen our faith. He uses our difficult experiences to teach us spiritual lessons we could learn in no other way. We can therefore praise Him and trust Him in any circumstance.

If you are facing a seemingly hopeless situation today, don't give up. God promises that the good seeds you sow and the good deeds you do will yield results in His time. By faith, keep up your good work.

Comment

You know, there is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities.
Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds. Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.

Thought
We all have some regrets about the past and try to forget our sins and mistakes. We know that we can't change what happened yesterday. But we can learn from yesterday's sins and mistakes, and with God's help we can use that knowledge to make a better tomorrow.

Remember, we cannot erase yesterday, but we can learn from it. When we take our sins and mistakes to the Lord and seek His help, we can be better today and tomorrow.