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What Has God Been Growing in You This Summer?

What Has God Been Growing in You This Summer?

Last updated on: August 23, 2026 at 5:00 am by Michele Gunn

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What Has God Been Growing in You This Summer? 2026-08-18T06:42:28-05:00 Michele Gunn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Growing

What Has God Been Growing in You This Summer?/created in Canva

Summer is ending. For many, it has already ended. Summer vacations have come to an end. The altered, more relaxed summer schedules are giving way to the busy fall season. It is interesting how everything seems to pick up speed in the fall. But before you jump in at full speed, take time to reflect on what God has been growing in you.

Growth isn’t always visible. It often takes work. Sometimes roots deepen first. This means that your growth is not seen by you or others. Your roots need to be strengthened to ensure you can handle what God has been growing in you. Finish summer strong by preparing your heart, as well as your mind, for a new season. Reflect and recommit to growing in God’s purpose for you.

Notice God’s Quiet Work

Growth often happens unnoticed.

Think about a garden. When a seed is first planted, you don’t immediately see evidence of what is happening beneath the soil. For a time, it may appear that nothing is happening at all. Yet beneath the surface, the seed is changing. Roots begin to form. Eventually, a tiny shoot pushes its way through the soil. It is growing.

Our spiritual growth can happen much the same way.

You may look back over the summer and wonder whether you accomplished everything you intended. Maybe you didn’t read all the books on your list. Perhaps the project you hoped to complete remains unfinished. Maybe you intended to spend more time in prayer, improve a relationship or finally make a decision you have been contemplating.

Before focusing on what didn’t happen, ask another question: What did God do that I wasn’t expecting? Perhaps He taught you patience through a delay. Maybe He gave you an opportunity to rest when you thought you needed to accomplish more. Perhaps a difficult conversation helped you understand someone differently. Maybe you began trusting God in an area you have been trying to control.

Sometimes the greatest growth is not something we can check off a list. God may be strengthening your roots. Those deeper roots may look like greater trust, stronger faith, increased patience, a willingness to forgive or the courage to take a step you weren’t ready to take a few months ago. Don’t dismiss God’s quiet work simply because no one else can see you growing.

Celebrate Small Victories

We often celebrate the big moments: the promotion, graduation, new home, completed project, answered prayer or major breakthrough. Those moments deserve celebration. But what about the smaller victories? What about the day you chose peace instead of worry? What about the prayer you continued praying even when you didn’t see an answer? What about finally forgiving someone, not because what happened was acceptable, but because you were ready to stop carrying the weight of the hurt? What about finding the courage to say yes to something God placed before you? Or perhaps finding the courage to say no because you realized something was no longer aligned with where God was leading you?

These moments matter. Spiritual growth is often made up of many small choices to trust God, to surrender to Him. Each choice strengthens us for the next one. Look back over the past few months. Where have you experienced answered prayers, deeper peace, forgiveness or courage? Where have you responded differently than you might have a year ago? That is growth. Instead of immediately rushing toward the next goal, stop long enough to thank God for how far He has already brought you.

Continue What God Started Growing

The end of summer doesn’t mean the end of what God has been doing in you. Philippians 1:6 reminds us, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” I love the reminder contained in the word continue. God isn’t finished. We often think of our lives in neat seasons. Summer ends and fall begins. One school year finishes and another starts. Jobs change. Children grow. Relationships evolve. We move from one stage of life into another.

God, however, continues His work through all of them. Something He began teaching you in one season may become essential in the next. The patience you developed during a season of waiting may prepare you for a new responsibility. The courage you discovered during uncertainty may be exactly what you need when a new opportunity appears. The deeper prayer life you developed during a difficult season may become the foundation that keeps you grounded when life becomes busy again.

Don’t leave behind what God has been growing simply because the calendar says the season has changed. Ask Him, “Lord, what do You want me to carry forward?” Maybe it is a morning prayer routine you began this summer. Perhaps it is more intentional time with family. Maybe you learned to slow down, protect your peace or listen more carefully before responding. Whatever God has started, give Him permission to continue.

Journal With God

Before fall becomes filled with schedules, obligations and activities, spend some quiet time reflecting with God. Take out your journal, sit somewhere peaceful and invite the Holy Spirit into your reflection. Don’t worry about having perfect answers. Simply pay attention to what comes to mind. Consider these questions:

How have I changed this summer?

Think beyond accomplishments. Have your attitudes, priorities or responses changed? Where are you stronger, wiser or more peaceful?

Where have I seen God?

Was He present through another person? An unexpected opportunity? A closed door? A moment in nature? A Scripture passage that seemed to arrive exactly when you needed it?

What still needs surrender?

This may be the most difficult question. Is there something you continue trying to control? A fear you are carrying? A plan you are reluctant to release? A hurt you haven’t completely placed in God’s hands?

You don’t have to resolve everything before entering a new season. You simply need to remain willing to let God continue working, to continue growing you. Prayerful reflection helps you recognize that your life is not a collection of disconnected seasons. God is weaving them together.

Rise, Align, and Shine to Grow

God grows us from the inside out. That is one of the reasons I believe so deeply in the process of “Rise. Align. Shine.” Sometimes rising doesn’t mean making a dramatic change. It means recognizing that God has already been working within you. You rise by seeing yourself through His eyes rather than measuring your life only by visible accomplishments.

Then you align. Ask yourself whether the life you are carrying into this new season reflects what God has been showing you. Are your priorities aligned with your faith? Are you making room for what matters most? Are there habits, commitments or expectations that need to be released?

Finally, you can shine. The growth God creates within you isn’t meant to remain hidden forever. Strong roots eventually support visible fruit. The patience God develops in you affects how you treat others. The courage He gives you allows you to step into opportunities. The healing He brings may enable you to encourage someone walking through a similar struggle.

Your growth can become part of someone else’s blessing. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5:16, “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” God grows you so that you can become more fully the person He created you to be and so that your life can point others toward Him.

Celebrate Progress, Not Perfection while Growing

As summer comes to a close, resist the temptation to measure it only by what you accomplished. Instead, notice who you are becoming. Maybe you are more patient than you were in May. Maybe you trust God a little more. Perhaps you have learned something about yourself. Maybe you finally surrendered something you had been holding tightly. Perhaps God planted a dream that hasn’t even begun to take shape.

Celebrate it. Growth does not require perfection. It requires willingness. You don’t need to have everything figured out before entering a new season. You don’t need to know exactly where God is leading or understand why certain things happened the way they did. You only need to remain rooted in Him. So before you rush into fall, pause. Look back. Give thanks. Notice the roots that have grown deeper, the prayers that have been answered, the lessons that have been learned and even the places where God is still asking you to trust.

Then look forward with expectation. The season may be changing, but God is not finished with you. What He planted yesterday may be exactly what He intends to use tomorrow. Rise with gratitude for how far He has brought you. Align yourself with where He is leading. And shine with confidence as the person God created you to be. Because sometimes the most important question at the end of a season isn’t, “What did I accomplish?”

It is: “What has God been growing in me?“

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