Last week, God answered a prayer and delivered some much-needed wisdom in a rather creative way. I have a dear friend who is a new believer with somewhat of a similar testimony to my own. (Translation: A one-time doubter who was previously critical of Christianity and viewed it as a crutch for the weak). It has been exciting to watch my friend's journey of discovery from the sidelines and witness God's relentless pursuit of his heart along the way. I count it a privilege to be one of many "gardeners" who have been granted the task of planting and watering seeds of salvation into his life. (1 Cor. 3:6)
Witnessing my friend's journey has served as a reminder that we are all at different places in the journey. Too often, I write and speak to my audience without taking the time to filter the presentation of the message through the eyes of a skeptic or new believer. It's easy to become desensitized when talking with others and assume that we're all tracking along in the Christian journey at the same pace. I cringe at the thought of how many times I may have launched into a mini-sermonette with someone, seasoned with churchy-sounding lingo only to be met with a blank stare in return.
Last week, I checked in on my friend to see how he was doing. He expressed that he was experiencing some discouragement, which is all too common for a new believer. Seeing the length of the Christian journey before him after coming out of the starting blocks strong, he found himself overwhelmed and frustrated with his lack of progress. Similar to those maps you find in amusement parks that conveniently mark "YOU ARE HERE" and provide the route to your targeted destination, my friend was caught off guard by the distance from point A to Z. I encouraged him to stay the course and more importantly, prayed that God would further encourage him.
After praying for him, I took a few minutes to try and remember back some 24 years ago when I found myself in the same place in the Christian race as a new believer. Since I often mark up my Bibles in the margins, I felt compelled to grab my first study Bible off the shelf that I carried in my first five years of being a new Christian. After brushing a layer of dust off the cover, I opened the Bible and began to fan through the pages. It is not uncommon for me to find notes tucked away in my old Bibles, some written on offering envelopes or old event program guides, marking my journey along the way. As I flipped through the Bible that marked the beginning of my journey, I found many notes written in the margins, but only one loose piece of paper tucked in the pages.
I could hardly believe it when I read the title of a page that I had torn out of an old "Daily Bread" devotional: "A step at a time." As the only scrap piece of paper tucked in my Bible, it obviously had significant meaning at that time in my life. The key verses were from Colossians 2:6-7 which says, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude." The first paragraph of the devotion reads:
Scripture portrays the Christian life as a process of growth in which we advance from one stage to the next. From spiritual infancy to maturity, from milk to strong meat, from being rooted in Christ to being firmly established. We may want to be grown up all at once, but we must learn to take one step at a time.
What I found most interesting is that the entry was dated Wednesday, June 7th. Having become a Christian in 1985, I wondered if perhaps I had torn the page out within the first year of my journey. I pulled up an old calendar to solve the mystery and discovered that June 7th fell on a Wednesday in 1989, not quite four years after I had begun the Christian journey! Four years? Shouldn't I have felt like an old pro by then? Probably not, since some 20 years later, I still don't feel like an old pro!
As I reflected on my state of mind in 1989, some five years after making my leap of faith in 1985 as a single college student, I quickly realized why the devotion must have spoken to my heart at that time. I was now a married, stay-at-home mom of a one-year old and probably feeling way in over my head. I was surrounded by seasoned believers (including my own husband) and no doubt, I was feeling frustrated over my own self-perceived lack of progress. I guarantee you that I couldn't have spelled "Colossians" at the time, much less found it without looking it up in the table of contents in the front of the Bible! And trust me, there are some books in the Old Testament that I am STILL having to resort to the table of contents to find even today!
It's been two decades since I left that devotional page in my Bible and yet its wisdom still speaks to my heart today. While I have certainly matured as a believer, I am far from having my act together, so to speak. In fact, I have found that the longer I am a believer, the further it seems I have to go in the journey. Oh sure, I can distinguish between the Old and New Testaments now, spell "Colossians," flip to Bible passages much faster, and have an arsenal of Bible verses memorized, but I am still slow at times to apply God's truths to my everyday life.
My friend made the statement that his progress seems more like taking "baby steps." I think if we're all honest, we can relate to feeling like we're taking "baby steps" throughout various legs of the race that mark the journey to Christian maturity. Sometimes our progress will seem slower than at other times, but it is essential that we keep moving forward with our eyes fixed on the finish line. And for the record, I wouldn't be one bit surprised if twenty years from now, my friend has logged many hours cheering others along in the journey, myself included! I can hardly wait.
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