By: Steve Wilmot
Your decision to receive Jesus is not a one-and-done affair. The day he saved you wasn’t the finish line; it was day one of a lifelong journey of faith.
As a lifelong journey, the obvious conclusion is it’s not quick. You won’t transform from a beginner in faith to a mature believer overnight.
You can’t take a few steps out of the starting blocks and a spiritual growth machine spits out a strong Christian. No, it’s a lifelong journey.
For you to go from A to Z overnight is impossible. God guides you a stride at a time from A to B to C to D and so forth until you get to Z. Change happens one step at a time. One day at a time.
The New Testament compares new believers to newborn babies. Just as an infant doesn’t turn into a mature adult overnight — or even in several years — you won’t either. The journey you’re on will take time. The rest of your life, in fact.
Peter’s spiritual journey proves the path to the finish line is strewn with progress and regression — a couple of steps forward followed by a step back and then a step or two forward.
If that’s the pattern the disciple who became the top dog in the early decades of the Church had to take, you’ll need to take it too.
The first time Jesus met Peter, his name was Simon, which means “shifting sand.” His name described him as a man without resolve or concrete convictions, kind of a follow-the-crowd type.
But Jesus saw something in Simon and gave him a new name to reflect it — Peter, which means “rock.” He would make Simon into Peter if he would follow Jesus the rest of his life.
Every believer follows the same pattern. You meet Jesus and he takes you on a journey to spiritual maturity. One step at a time as you follow him the rest of your life. In the process, you develop into the man or woman God intended when he created you.
Your spiritual journey is not a 100-yard dash, so speed isn’t important. It’s a marathon. What matters in distance races is endurance. Persistence and perseverance. Durability and staying power. Taking the next step when you don’t think you have it in you.
Long-distance runners talk about “hitting the wall.” It’s the point in the race when a runner’s energy level nose-dives, breathing becomes difficult, and his body pleads with him to give up because he doesn’t believe he can make it to the end of the race. The runner who finishes his race is the one who pushes through the pain and keeps going.
As a Christ-follower, you’ll need endurance too. You must keep at it when you’re dispirited and frustrated with slow progress. When you want to quit because the journey is too hard and the finish line is so far away, take the next step and keep following Jesus anyway. Every time you fall, get back up. Never give up. Endure to the end. Be patient. Celebrate every change toward godliness, no matter how small — it’s progress.
What does God want from you in troubled times? Resilience. Courage. Faithfulness. He wants you to never give up — no matter what.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6.9)
One of the interesting things about the way God works is he gives you a step to take and then waits for you to take it before he reveals the next step. He doesn’t hand out a series of steps — “Okay, do A and B and C and D.” He hands out directions one move at a time — “Okay, beloved, do A and when you’ve done it, I’ll give you B.”
David wrote, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119.105). In his day, most travelers who journeyed at night strapped a small lamp to their ankle (“a lamp to my feet”). It only lit up the road one step before him. Only after he took that step could he see his next one.
That’s God’s modus operandi to guide you on your spiritual journey. He doesn’t shine a lighthouse beacon so you can see miles ahead. He gives you just enough light for your next step.
In a long-distance race, there is often a pacesetter who runs at the head of the pack to set a steady tempo for his teammates.
As valuable as a consistent speed is, most runners report the pacesetter’s greatest contribution is he motivates them to run faster to keep up with him.
In your spiritual journey, Jesus is your pacesetter. He speeds up when you need to pick up the pace and get serious about your race. He slows down when you need rest and renewal.
He hollers over his shoulder when you need encouraged, “C’mon, keep running. You can do it. I’ll not leave you. I know your sides are killing you, and you don’t think you can take another step, but you can. C’mon, one foot in front of the other. One step at a time. You can do it.”
Take the next step God shows you to take. If you continue to take your spiritual journey one step at a time, you’ll be able to say with Paul when you cross the finish line: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Timothy 4.7-8).
———————–
Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.