I recently visited my Godson for the first time after the longest period of time without having seen him since he was born. He had just turned one the last time I saw him, he’s now 18 months old! The difference is massive! He couldn’t quite walk last time I saw him but now he is charging around wherever he can escape to. He couldn’t speak last time I saw, now everything of mild interest is met with words. Mostly; “that”, “duck” or “I did that”. Mostly in the wrong context. But still, it’s very impressive (to an extremely biased Godfather). Beyond that, His character is beginning to show. Part of this rapid development is simply the age that he’s at, but mostly, it’s that he’s had longer to develop and learn these new tricks to show off! When I saw him more regularly it was more difficult to see the changes because the were smaller each time, but without regular visits I saw only the big developments and missed the small steps it took to get there. It might seem more impressive, but it doesn’t tell the true story.
Sometimes life brings seasons of struggle to our lives. Things we’d rather not go through, things we’d like to rush through and things that sometimes feel like they will never end. But they are part of our story, part of what shape us into the people we are going to be. 2 Peter 3:9 says; The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you. When it feels like I am not moving forward through the difficulty I find it helpful to look back. Not yesterday, the day before that or the week before that, but months before, years before and even decades before. Then I realise that the small steps are sometimes impossible to discern but the change is there in the big picture. And even when I can’t see a particular something changing, I can see the ground around it shifting, making a way for the future.
My Godson may only be a toddler now, but one day he will be a fully grown man. He might be a brilliant scientist, a world-class footballer, or an award-winning ice skater. (or he might be extraordinarily ordinary, which I will be quite happy with too). It’s hard to imagine what he will become and in someways hard to imagine the infant who can’t walk and look at a dog at the same time becoming any of those things. But Albert Eistein’s, Zinedine Zidane’s and Christopher Dean’s greatness didn’t begin with the first great discovery, great goal, or great routine, they didn’t even begin at the school, academy or summer camp. They began learning to crawl and making garbled noises as an infant. When we are crying out for God to change us or to use it, it can seem impossible that He ever would or ever could get us to where He wants us. When I feel like that, once again, I find it helpful to look at how far God has brought me in so many different ways. Philippians 1:6 says; “be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion”. Zechariah 4:10 says “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin” and the work has already begun!
Originally written for the April 2024 ABC Newsletter
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