Sooner or later, God’s methods will be seen to have been the best, however ineffective they seem right now. Until then, let’s trust the process and give it time — nothing less than a lifetime — to work. The process may be slow, but it’s very sure.
In the kingdom, there are many new things to be learned. But before we can learn them, there is a good deal of grown-up “stuff” that needs to be unlearned, especially our desire for counterfeit pleasures rather than the real ones God has provided.
We need to be more honest, openly acknowledging the things that move us most deeply. The darkness is to be avoided, yes. But even more than that, the light is to be loved. The Lord is to be worshiped “in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2).
We can’t stay put and move forward at the same time. Change will come to us all, our choice is simply a choice of attitude: will we resist change and make ourselves miserable, or will we accept it with gratitude for the good things it makes possible?
It’s a dangerous thing to replay the still-enjoyable aspects of the memory of sin. Like Lot and his family who were told to leave Sodom and not look back, we need, in the case of some things, to leave them alone decisively for the rest of our lives.
We paralyze ourselves by failing to forgive. Doing little to rid our hearts of resentment, we find that our minds do little but replay the past. Energy that should be spent building a better future is wasted in bitterness. Our future is blocked.
I might wish my misdeeds could be seen as nothing more than personal quirks or foibles, but unworthy character and unacceptable conduct can’t be excused by saying, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” Christ gave His life to get us over the way we are!
What will we do with this ordinary day when nothing unusual will happen, no one will be looking, and there’ll be no particular reason to do our best except a desire to keep on serving our King? It’s days like today that test of our true love for God.
“No man is so insignificant as to be sure his example can do no harm,” wrote Edward Hyde. It’s hard enough already for those around us to keep moving ahead. If we make it even harder for them by our example, we should expect God’s displeasure.
It doesn’t do much good to simply say, “I know I need to be a better person.” Instead, we need to take an honest inventory of our personal traits on a regular basis and then make definite commitments to change our character, God being our Helper.
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