Groanings of a Weary Child
“How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1, NIV).
Growth is gradual…How long, O LORD, will it take before I can love like you? How many times will I fall into selfishness before I keep others first? It feels like I’m running uphill to love “the least of these.” I know You call me to die to self. How long until I learn?
I wrestle with temptation. Just give up, it whispers; why try? Give yourself a break! What difference does it make? God knows you are only human; go ahead, retreat. These people are such hard work.
Then the voice of love whispers, “This is the way…” and Love pulls me back into the gradual climb.
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).
Trees grow slowly. They seem still as statues. All the time, they are stretching upward, branches like arms reaching for the heavens. Take a picture of a tree every month for a year…a decade…a lifetime. Watch it twist and climb.
We too grow slowly, but faithful God is working.
He completes what He begins.
