Broken For Building

When my youngest child was about 9-10 months old, I started to get anxious because she appeared uninterested in walking.  I kept trying to push her into walking and she would look at me and continue to crawl. One day when it was just the two of us, out of nowhere, she stood up and walked to me. 

This experience helped me to see that no one simply arrives at a destination or at a milestone. A baby has to sit before he/she can crawl; then, the baby typically has to crawl before standing and stands before walking. And some babies zoom through the stages, while others linger in a particular stage for a bit longer than expected.

What stage does God have you in right now? There is a reason and a purpose for that season.

Skipping steps may mean that the qualities that need to be deposited in us for use at a later moment may be skipped because of hasty progression through a stage.  This concept also proves true for nature and a plethora of other areas of life. For example, flowers do not simply bloom when they are planted. The seed has to sprout, the roots eventually have to form before a flower ever springs up.

Its tough, but in my current stage, I am looking to avoid looking at the gardens around me and despising where I am in the process because the process is mine.  Everyone else is going through the process; we are just in different stages of the journey.  God has carefully orchestrated each moment and each stage of our lives to fit His divine design. He is a master builder who carefully and intentionally utilizes all our life’s materials to mold and shape us into His likeness.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.                                                                                  Romans 5: 3-4

So whatever stage you find yourself in today, do not despise it. Whether you are walking or sitting or crawling currently, you are right where you need to be. Don’t rush it. When you give yourself time to grow and go through the stages, you are better prepared for what lies ahead.

Lord, I don’t want to skip the stages I need to develop me into who you want me to be. Help me to see the beauty in each stage, knowing that it is not permanent and that you have  you have greater things in store for me.