I feel like there’s a mountain to conquer in my life at the moment. Slightly discouraged, I mentioned something about it to my wife (we’ve already been talking about it and making headway in the past couple weeks—finding our next step and taking it, then the next, then the next).
She responded, “It will take time. It took us time to get here, and it’s going to take time to get there. But we’re moving forward and we’re not where we were.”
I’m reminded of the many “Overnight Success” stories that are out there, and how none of them are truly an overnight success. We tend to only see the big defining moment where they’re suddenly successful and showing up everywhere but nobody knew about them before last week. But if you ask them, they’ve usually been at it for years.
Moses showed up with a handful of plagues and suddenly brought an end to generations of slavery—but God had been been working behind the scenes to make it happen before Moses was even born. Did you know he was 80 when he approached Pharaoh? (Ex. 7:7).
Noah had a massive boat when the floods came and rescued all the animals. But did you forget that it took him a century to build it, while others looked-on and laughed?
A young boy, David, showed-up on the battlefield to face a giant and in only a moment took him down. But we have no idea the many days spent protecting his father’s sheep, facing down lions & bears, or practicing his aim with the sling.
And Joseph: a prisoner one night, second in command of a nation the next—saving an entire region from an extended, deadly famine. But do we forget this followed 13 years of holding onto God’s promise with integrity while a slave or imprisoned?
The list goes on and on. For many of the great stories of the Bible there were years and years of faithfulness that occurred in the lives of our heroes before God even called them to whatever it was they did. Ultimately, God was the author of each of their successes, and we know both from experience & countless references in Scripture that he is incredibly patient.
All that to say, keep at it. Open God’s Word, day after day. Take the next step in front of you. Become familiar with the term “longsuffering,” and what it means to be Steadfast. Spiritual growth takes time.
He is faithful. And before you know it, you’ll look back and wonder at how quickly you got where you are.