Daily Encouragement: Day 333

Adapted from Handbook to Spiritual Growth

GROWING IN GRACE

Our task is to place ourselves under the conditions favorable to growth and look to God to change us. Time is a significant factor in the growth process, and He uses different paces and methods with each person. Furthermore, growth is not uniform.

In a culture that promotes instant gratification, it can be wearisome for us to wait patiently for God’s timing. Many of us are tempted to bypass grace and take matters into our own hands as we seek some method, technique, seminar, or experience that will give us the results we want when we want them. But the fact is that we are as incapable of changing ourselves through our own efforts as we are of manipulating God to transform us more quickly. We must accept the reality of uneven development—remaining patient with God and with ourselves as we wait for the next growth spurt or special infusion of grace.