What has God grown in you this year? As the year comes to a close, it can be easy to focus on what remains unfinished, what didn’t go as planned, or where you wish you had grown more. But reflecting on your year through the lens of faith can help you recognize the spiritual growth, lessons, answered prayers, strengthened relationships, and deeper trust in God that may have developed along the way.
God often grows something meaningful in us through ordinary days, difficult seasons, waiting, disappointment, and unexpected opportunities. Like gathering a harvest, taking time to look back can reveal how God has been shaping your character and drawing you closer to Him. Reflecting on His faithfulness can help you celebrate progress you may have overlooked, give thanks for what He has taught you, and carry those lessons into the year ahead with greater faith and purpose.
Highlights
How to recognize the spiritual growth God has cultivated in your life this year
Why we can overlook meaningful growth when we focus only on what remains unfinished
How difficult seasons, waiting, and disappointment can produce lasting spiritual lessons
Practical ways to reflect on answered prayers, changed priorities, and deeper faith
Why remembering God’s faithfulness can strengthen gratitude and hope for the future
How to gather the lessons God has grown in you rather than simply moving on to the next season
Encouragement to look back with gratitude and trust God with what He will grow next
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Full Transcript Below:
Gathering What God Grew in You This Year
By Melinda Eye Cooper
Bible Reading:
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. - 1 Corinthians 3:7 NIV
An interesting thing happened this year. Two tomato plants grew in the exact spot we’d planted them last year, but they shouldn’t have. My husband had pulled the plants out of the landscaping last Fall when they were done producing.
We planned on putting a couple more plants there again this year because they’d grown well in that shaded spot beside the house. But strangely, in spring, when we began preparing the landscaping for flowers, two healthy-looking plants were growing in the exact same place we planted them the year before.
“Are these tomato plants?” he asked after he finished pulling weeds, preparing to plant flowers. Thankfully, he didn’t pull them out thinking they were some kind of weed.
I examined the two healthy plants and couldn’t stop the excitement in my voice. “They sure are. Wow.”
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