Little By Little

In this day and age of instant living it is easy to want instant results with everything.  You only need to walk around the supermarket to realize that many foods are pretty much instant - just add water and mix; put in microwave on maximum power for 3 minutes;  pour on boiling water and leave for 2 minutes; mix with water or milk and microwave for 1 and a half minutes etc. ... ... This also spills over into the world of technology.  Do you remember when we used to have to wait about 5 minutes for the computer to get going before we could actually do anything with it?  Nowadays so much of life is simply press a button and 'Hey presto' - result!  So it's good to remind ourselves that much of life is not really like that.

Peas appearing.

In the beginning ... it took God six stages of creation to make the world, the length of a stage depending on whether you lean to the side of creationism or evolution.  However you view the story, it was not done instantaneously.  And those who do any gardening will appreciate this fact when you need to plan your year according to whether it's time to sow seeds or harvest the produce.  This week, after having sown quite a bit in March, I have seen the first signs of peas and carrots growing, while other things have yet to make an appearance.  We wait and we keep looking and hoping that we did everything right so in time it will happen.  Some things take a little longer than others.


We don't expect children to suddenly overnight be able to walk and talk.  These things take time.  That's why there is such joy when a child utters its first word, takes its first step, gets its first tooth.  Each first in a child's life is an indication of growing, slowly but surely.  So it saddens me when new Christians are suddenly thrown in at the deep end and expected to just know all the rules, what they are expected to do or say, or not as the case may be.  There is often so little tolerance shown to anyone who doesn't immediately conform.  We are all on a journey and are at different points on that journey.  How many of us have children who constantly asked during a journey, 'Are we there yet?' Little by little, bit by bit we are learning what God wants to do with our lives and that is different for everyone.  What He wants of me is not the same as what He wants from you who may be reading this.  So it baffles me just why all who say they are Christians are expected to be and do the same.  We are not a string of sausages, uniform and identical!  


God made us all different and wants us to be different.  We don't all have to dance to the same tune (or worship song).  He wants us to evolve and go forward as individuals.  That's why it's ok when we don't want to do some of the things we used to do, we have moved on to another phase on our journey - growing and learning, little by little.  Sadly many who have stopped conforming are viewed as having left the pack as it were, gone astray when all we are doing is seeking a more personal, individual relationship with the Father.  Our life journey is just that - a journey throughout our lives and it takes a lifetime to evolve our way through it, growing and learning a bit at a time, changing, rethinking, questioning and learning through our lifetime experiences. A child learns by its mistakes and falls but also by asking questions.  Which parent has not tired at some point because of the apparent incessant questions of 'Why?', 'How?'.  So why not ask God questions about things that we don't understand?  We cannot know it all (although some think they do!).  I am not at the same point in my journey as I was 10 years ago or even one year ago - I keep learning, growing and moving little by little.