“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Last night I undertook the task of sorting through baby
clothes and toys to determine what to sell, what to save, and what to give
away. My house was an absolute wreck. I spent the entire morning this morning
not only organizing closets to put things away, but scrubbing and cleaning so
that now I can drink my coffee and write with my surroundings “in order.”
I am very impatient with myself when it comes to processes.
I have very little tolerance for waiting for something to be completed when it
is in my power to complete it. When I have moved from one house to another, I
stayed up late, got up early, and did not stop working until boxes were
unpacked, broken down, and thrown away. I like things to be settled. I like
things to be neat, tidy, and completed as quickly as possible.
Our faith doesn’t work that way though. I often I wish that it
did, but it doesn’t. I wish I was perfect, polished, and made fully into the
image of Christ as of yesterday, but I’m still a mess. Don’t get me wrong: I
know that I am fully forgiven by the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.
I know that I belong 100% to God the father as a result of my faith in Him.
However, the sanctification process and renewal of my mind can feel so daunting
sometimes. I see so many weak areas of my life---selfishness, control, and pride
are all deep-rooted weeds in the garden of my heart. I am so thankful that the
Master Gardener cares about me enough to not leave those weeds in place!
Becoming a parent has so greatly affected my perception of
God and myself. Parenthood is an amazing earthly shadow of what God’s love for
us really is like. I mean can you imagine if I expected my three-year-old son to act
and reason as an adult? Okay, Okay, Okay, so there’s another area of
imperfection in me: sometimes I DO expect him to act like an adult! However,
does it make sense to do so? No! He is a "grown-up-in-progress." I'm okay with that. I'm ok that he is not an adult yet because he's not! He's still new to this life, and it is my job to teach and train him to be a mature, responsible adult. This is a LONG process with a lot of repetition, a lot of discipline, and a lot of humor required. While he is not perfect, or grow up yet, he is 100% my son. He has access to me, my
home, where I am. I provide for him. I love him unconditionally.
In the same way, as believers we are fully accepted into the
Lord’s home as His children once we have authentically placed our faith in
Christ. However, His word tells us that we are now His ambassadors. We
represent Him to a lost, broken world, to desperately invest in the mission to invite
all people into His kingdom as sons and daughters through the Gospel. So, He
equips us. He changes us. He reaches deep into the pit of our heart and starts
to root out weeds that choke out His spirit from within us so that our work may
be increasingly fruitful and abundant.
Immediately on the
outset of our faith journey, God invites us to work alongside of Him as a
father would invite his child to help him. In my house, “help” is usually a big
mess when my son is involved. But we adore the intimacy built with him when we
share labor. Can my husband and I do the work without him? Absolutely, and
usually better and faster. But we love
him, and we want him to be an active participant in our family---to identify
with my husband and I that he is a part of “us.” As he grows up, his impact in
this work develops more and more. God has invited and commanded us to work
alongside of Him in His power as His children because He wants us to identify
with His heart, and His kingdom. What a privilege, and what a joy that we do
not have to have “arrived” to be co-laborers with Him!
Miles J. Stanford has a fantastic book about Spiritual
growth called The Green Letters. In
it, Stanford states that, “many [believers] feel they are not making progress
unless they are swiftly and constantly forging ahead.” He goes on to quote A.H.
Strong: “When God wants to make an oak, He takes an hundred years, but when He
wants to make a squash, He takes six months” (Stanford, 6-7) [1].
Maturation, growth, and spiritual depth take time. This is no excuse for
choosing to sin or oppose God’s word. Rather, it is an opportunity to be set
free from the self-expectation of immediate perfection. God is working,
shaping, deepening, strengthening, pruning, and creating healthy, fruitful
followers. Let us continue to accept His invitation to work alongside of Him,
to hear His words, to accept His loving discipline as our Great Father.
No comments:
Post a Comment