Time for Eternity, from http://nighttimethoughts.org
dlplife August 20th, 2008
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18a
Miles J. Standford wrote a tremendously powerful little book called “The Principles of Spiritual Growth” or sometimes they go by the name of the “Green Letters.” You can find these online at http://withchrist.org/MJS/glchapters.htm
These are a collection of short chapters that provide biblical encouragement for all who want to grow as believers. They have been my regular companions since my seminary days and I recommend them to you whole-heartedly.
In the chapter on “Time” he wrote these words:
It seems that most believers have difficulty in realizing and facing up to the inexorable fact that God does not hurry in His development of our Christian life. He is working from and for eternity! So many feel they are not making progress unless they are swiftly and constantly forging ahead. Now it is true that the new convert often begins and continues for some time at a fast rate. But this will not continue if there is to be healthy growth and ultimate maturity. God himself will modify the pace. This is important to see, since in most instances when seeming declension begins to set in, it is not, as so many think, a matter of backsliding.
John Darby makes it plain that “it is God’s way to set people aside after their first start, that self-confidence may die down. Thus Moses was forty years. On his first start he had to run away. Paul was three years also, after his first testimony. Not that God did not approve the first earnest testimony. We must get to know ourselves and that we have no strength. Thus we must learn, and then leaning on the Lord we can with more maturity, and more experientially, deal with souls.”
Since the Christian life matures and becomes fruitful by the principle of growth (2 Peter 3:18), rather than by struggle and “experiences,” much time is involved. Unless we see and acquiesce to this, there is bound to be constant frustration, to say nothing of resistance to our Father’s development processes for us. Dr. A.H.Strong illustrates for us: “A student asked the President of his school whether he could not take a shorter course than the one prescribed. ‘Oh yes,’ replied the President, ‘but then it depends upon what you want to be. When God wants to make an oak, He takes an hundred years, but when He wants to make a squash, He takes six months.’” Strong also wisely points out to us that “growth is not a uniform thing in the tree or in the Christian, In some single months there is more growth than in all the year besides. During the rest of the year, however, there is solidification, without which the green timber would be useless. The period of rapid growth, when woody fiber is actually deposited between the bark and the trunk, occupies but four to six weeks in May, June and July.”
Let’s settle it once and for all — there are no shortcuts to reality! A meteor is on a shortcut as it proceeds to burn out, but not a star, with its steady light so often depended upon by navigators. Unless the time factor is acknowledged from the heart, there is always danger of turning to the false enticement of a shortcut via the means of “experiences,” and “blessings,” where one becomes pathetically enmeshed in the vortex of ever-changing “feelings,” adrift from the moorings of scriptural facts.
Let these thoughts be an encouragement to you tonight as you grow in the Lord. The development of patience is a grace gift that is greatly needed in today’s world, but it is also essential for us in our spiritual development, patience with ourselves, especially, that we can enjoy the confidence that faith in God should bring.
An effective way to pray through our worries is to come to Christ and envision Him in His holiness and love sitting on His throne. Then take that matter that concerns you and place it there before Him, leaving it there. If you are worried over your children, take them there one by one and leave them there with Him, asking Him to meet their need. If you are worried over money, take your finances into His presence. If you are concerned about your health, place that before Him. Surrender it all to Him, letting Him act in His good time and in His good way.
Lord, we confess that often we are without patience. Rashly we plunge into matters when we should learn to wait on You. Let us rest tonight in You and learn to leave matters too great for us to understand in Your hands. Thank You for Your grace that forgives our sins, cleanses us, and enables us to continue following. Let Your patience guard our hearts from worry, as we leave those matters with You. In Christ Jesus, Amen.