One Step at a Time

“And endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Romans 5:4

By nature, I am a very impatient person. I have things to do, and I am not content until everything on the list has been taken care of. When our son was an infant, I feared that I had passed my impatience gene on to him. We called him a “professional crawler.” He was incredibly fast on all fours, and he seemed to have no interest in learning to walk. Our hypothesis was that he did not want to slow down long enough to learn! Of course, in due time, he got up on his feet and learned this critical skill. Time may have dulled my memory, but it seemed like after only one day of walking, he was running!

Isn’t that like us? We have so much to do that we have no interest in slowing down to learn–even if that learning may better equip us for the future. Often, God allows obstacles in our lives to slow us down, so that we might learn the critical lessons and skills we will need for the future. “Endurance produces character.” We learn to be patient. We learn that not everything happens in the way and it the time we want it to. We learn that we cannot control everything that happens. We learn to trust the One who holds every moment of our lives in His hands (Psalm 139:16). When this kind of character develops in our lives, we are filled with hope, because we see that God has prepared us and will sustain until the day when we see Him face to face. Friend–slow down today, and recognize the work of God as He produces godly character in you.

-Pastor Mike