As we get older, we get wiser. For example, I’ve learned that I need a day off after the spring time change. Can I get a witness? Every year, it’s the same thing: spring forward an hour, be cranky the rest of the week.  Apparently, it was started to help the farmers out. All I know is in the fall, we rejoice. In the spring, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth and excessive coffee consumption.

The whole phenomena of daylight savings time is intriguing. Last week, we had the ability to jump from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. just like that. No waiting the 60 minutes like we have to do the other 364 days of the year. It just happened. Bam.

Wouldn’t it be nice if life was more like that?

Recently, my sister asked me about a particular situation that I had struggled with in the past which has recently come back up again. My response to her was, “It stings a little less this time!” but the fact is that it still hurts. On the other hand, I also have some dreams that I am eagerly awaiting the fulfillment of.

I wouldn’t mind a little springing forward in those situations. The lingering issue that I am still dealing with? Bam. Gone. My dreams that seem to be taking their own sweet time? Bam. Here.

Maybe for you, it’s different. You are dealing with the loss of a loved one and you want to be on the other side of that grief. Or you have a prodigal child who you want to see come back home.

We love those “bam” moments, don’t we? Sometimes it happens like that (Paul on the Damascus road) but more often than not, we have to wait the full 60 minutes…

The children of Israel encountered this as well.
Deuteronomy 7:22 “The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once…”

But why not God? This is their promised land. After all, they’ve been slaves for 400 years and wandering for the past 40 years! Can’t You just give it to them?

Nope. And there was a good reason: “…otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you.”

God always knows what He is doing.

This is the seed of a Chinese Bamboo. For the first 4 years after it is planted, it is watered & fertilized but all you see is a little green sprout about 1 inch off the ground. Then, in year 5, the root system is established and it grows from 0 to 90 feet in a span of 6 weeks.  

What looks like BAM is actually not. Even though it seemed like nothing was happening, everything was happening. Little by little.

 

It’s easy to get frustrated when things don’t materialize as quickly as we want…I’m there now. But another thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is to appreciate the process. God has provided the lamp for my feet – each step I have taken has been ordered – and a light for my path – He is guiding me on the journey ahead.

Minute by minute. Step by step. Little by little, we’re getting there.
~Anu