“He makes everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Growth takes time. Sometimes in ministry (and in life), it is easy to hear miraculous, supernatural stories of people being healed, of money growing on trees, of someone walking on water, and begin to believe that that is how everything in life should be. We are a instant download generation. We are a get-it-now society. If my phone takes an extra 5 seconds to load an app, I assume I need a new one.
But just as there are physical laws in the universe, there are also spiritual laws. There is the law of growth. Growth takes time. You see this law played out in both physical and spiritual settings. It takes time for the seed to become the tree. It takes time for the baby to form in the womb. It takes time for a child to graduate into adulthood. You cannot bypass these ways. It would be foolish to try to force a child at 3 years of age to pay the bills or drive a car. They simply are not ready.
And so it is in the spiritual. Growth takes time. The formation of Jesus-like character takes time. There is no vending machine for patience, self-control, and charity. Discipleship is often a slow and at times a pain-staking road to follow. It is not as glamorous as raising someone from the dead. It is not as miraculous as feeding 5,000 from a few loaves of bread, but it is necessary. It is messy and mundane. But it is where true life occurs and where love is found. And if we have not love…
I am not making light of the mountain-top experiences. We need more of them to inspire and encourage us along the way. But we must be wary of focusing only on those times. We must be willing to walk the day in and day out with the Lord and with others until we become like Him. We must be willing to commit to helping others and receiving help until we mature.
At times, I wish I could get an instant character download. But then I would shortchange the beautiful process of metamorphosis in my life. The struggle and the glory. The joy and the pain. It is here that I see the commitment of God fleshed out. It is here that I am changed into His likeness.
