Stick With It
I stood looking in the mirror as I exhaled in frustration. “Seriously, what’s it going to take? I mean, I was watching what I ate and running, and still nothing!”
With all the love and kindness he could muster, sweet husband looked at me and said, “But Babe, you did that for about a week.”
As I rolled my eyes as far back in my head as they would go, I thought, How rude! How mean! How… right.
Don’t you hate it when that happens? When the people who love you most love you enough to just be honest. Sweet husband wasn’t trying to discourage me about my looks. He tells me most when I believe it least just how beautiful I am. But he loved me enough to tell the truth… Doing what’s right simply will not get results unless you stick with it.
FUN FACT NUMBER ONE. I don’t know how many times as a parent I have said, “Because I said so. Please do what I asked.” And like most lessons I learn, my own words ring out over and over and over in my brain as God usually speaks to me in quiet whispers that sound an awful lot like the lessons I am trying to teach my kids.
And so I find myself here in the learning. Sometimes God asks us to do things that in our own eyes don’t make a lick of sense. We don’t know how we will accomplish it. We don’t know why we have to step out. And yet, it is often in those moments, when we have the faith to follow through that God does His best work.
FUN FACT NUMBER TWO. My love language is without a doubt, hands down, words of affirmation. I thrive on encouraging words. Unfortunately, coupled with that is often a need for instant gratification. So to feel loved, to feel successful, it helps to know that my efforts were noticed, and a good atta girl doesn’t hurt from time to time. The struggle with doing God’s will is that you almost never, EVER see instant results. In fact, it often takes on a semblance of “it’s going to get worse before it gets better.” Why, Lord??
Because I said so. Please do what I asked.
Why? Because He sees what He has called us to. Because He wants us to commit to the process. Because our faith and character and purpose are often developed in moments that look like complete chaos.
God wants to stretch, push, and mold us on the journey. It is when we can be faithful to do what He has asked—when it feels crazy, when we look crazy, when we don’t see results right away, when we want to go our own way—it is in these moments that He is doing His best work in us.
Be faithful in the fire.
Be devoted to development.
Be patient in the process.
Your chaos will one day create your character…
