Another day of therapy and I’m thinking how exhausting it is to search the brain to do things on demand that are normally natural…kind of like trying not to kick when the doctor hits your knee with his little hammer. And as I sit in wonder at how God made “spare parts” so doctors can fix our broken bodies, I strain to retrain a finger tendon to work in its new position in my thumb.
Then I think of the spiritual application of what my body is going through. And I have a whole new level of patience and understanding for some of the people I know who are trying to break bad habits and physical addictions. So often as Christians we talk about “transformation” and turning things over to God. But this isn’t how God chooses to work in everyone every time.
I find it frustrating to have to concentrate so hard to make my thumb do things independently. I watch in wonder as my thumb moves with a mind of its own when the finger that the tendon came from is moved. And it’s with some level of frustration and a lot of work that I begin to make minute progress…every other hour all day long. That means I need to watch the clock all day to get the right number of “practice” sessions in for the day. That means stopping what I would normally do and taking the time to exercise. That means being able to notice almost unnoticeable progress so I don’t get discouraged.
Shame on me for not being a better encouragement to someone struggling with sin in their life. They need to focus on changing their behavior. They struggle with resisting. They become discouraged because we make it look so easy and it’s not easy for them. They slip up and want to give up because of it, instead of trying again. And like the patience of the therapist, Christians need to be there to encourage, remind of small progress, and show them the right way to do the new “exercise (lifestyle).”
More often I see Christians talking that the new believer should just be “transformed” like a caterpillar into a butterfly…like it’s this overnight change. But how long does that worm take to spin its cocoon and then sit in there as a chrysalis while the actual transformation takes place? And how much of the insect’s lifespan in spent in transformation?
Butterflies and moths are a wonderful example of Christianity. You see, they are born from an egg as a caterpillar of some sort, and then transform into a winged creature…a second birth (John 3.) Depending on where and when the egg is laid, the average lifespan is 4 to 11 months, though some live only days. Most of that life is spent growing. And it’s only as adults they reproduce…a short window of their life. Few eggs and larva make it to adulthood. (Matt. 7:14 But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.)
Lord, give me patience helping others transform…make me fertile in reproducing my faith (Your love) in others!
