Slow Growth
Well, it’s nearly springtime. I love the spring and planting season. It’s almost time to start thinking about my spring and summer garden. I absolutely LOVE gardening, and I’ve learned so many practical spiritual lessons from it. One such lesson is that of slow growth and gradual progress.
Like a plant, I should always be growing. Sometimes growth is slow and not as noticeable though. It’s often only detected in hindsight.
Consider a plant…
Most of the time, when I go out and look at my garden every day, I rarely notice a significant difference in size from one day to the next. It’s a slow growth that is unnoticeable without a time-lapse camera or video. However, if I look at the plant just every now and then and then think back to that same plant a month ago, I can definitely see a difference in size and growth. The same is true if I were to take a picture and then compare the plant to a month old (or more) picture of that same plant.
We usually can’t see the growth as it’s happening. It’s only in hindsight and retrospection that we can observe some of the progress.
Consider kids growing…
I don’t notice my kids growing from day to day. I can look at them each and every morning and they look exactly the same to me. However, if a friend or family member who hasn’t seen them in a while sees them, they always comment on how much they’ve grown.
This past school year my son went up 4 sizes in clothes all in one year! We even had to buy him new baseball pants and cleats midseason because he outgrew the others just since the start of the season. He was quite obviously growing. I just didn’t notice it daily. It’s a slow growth process. Though my bank account might not have considered it too slow having to buy new clothes so often!
Spiritual slow growth
My spiritual growth may be quite similar to that of my plants and kids…it’s often slow growth. I may not feel like a spiritual giant increasing in wisdom each day. Nevertheless, if I look at where I’m at now and then think back to one year, five years, or even ten years ago I can see a noticeable difference in my spiritual growth and in my relationship with God.
Others may see it in me a little easier too, especially if they haven’t seen or spent time with me in a while. My hope and prayer is that it’s a noticeable difference to others. Though the ones I’m closest to and spend time with day-in and day-out may not notice the growth as easily. They may have to stop and think back or compare where I am now to where I used to be in order to see an observable difference just like I would.
Lasting change happens little by little
I believe that lasting change happens little by little. Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind has a chapter titled “Little by Little”[1]. She really helped me to understand that sometimes progress is slow, and that’s okay (it’s even on purpose at times). We need to celebrate the small changes and slow growth that we do notice. We should focus on the positive and not get discouraged. It helps to remember that God is working behind the scenes and that these types of changes in our spiritual growth are from the inside out. It may take a while to see a noticeable difference unless we stop and evaluate our progress from time to time.
I also mentioned this ‘little by little slow growth process’ in this post about the power of restraint and how we gain that power little by little, asking for God’s help along the way and repenting when failure happens. Additionally, I discussed seeing slow growth in others in this post about praying for unsaved loved ones and how we may only see small changes, little by little when we start praying.
“The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you.” Deuteronomy 7:22 (NLT)
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin…” Zechariah 4:10a (NLT)
Think about your own growth or that of others
Do you get frustrated with yourself, thinking that you should be further along than you are in a certain area? Do you get frustrated with others also wondering why they aren’t showing more progress?
Consider taking some of the following practical steps when slow growth becomes frustrating…
Take Some Practical Steps When There is Slow Growth:
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First, realize that growth IS happening—it’s just slow.
It’s happening little by little in such a way that you don’t see the progress because you are too close and not far removed. Remember the plants. Looking at them every day doesn’t yield a noticeable difference. It’s only after time and looking back that you will start to detect the changes.
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Secondly, step back and do a comparison in order to perceive the growth.
Think back to where you used to be. If you had taken a snapshot of that time and then compared it to now, would you see some changes (even small ones)? This is also where it comes in handy to use a journal. A journal allows to look back at previous notes, thoughts, and/or struggles and see how far you’ve come.
If you’re frustrated with someone else’s progress, do the same thing. Don’t compare today to yesterday. Think back to where they used to be. Have they at least shown some growth?
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Finally, don’t get discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Celebrate the small, slow growth!
When you feel like you aren’t making progress (or that others aren’t), after you’ve done a comparison to discern even a small amount of growth from where you (or they) used to be, take a moment to celebrate that progress, no matter how small. As Joyce Meyer would say, “I may not be where I need to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be!” Remember that God will be faithful to finish the work that He’s started in you (or in another person).
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin…” Zechariah 4:10a (NLT)
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:13 (NLT)
Have you taken some time to notice the slow growth in your life or in that of someone else’s? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.
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- “Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind.” Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind, by Joyce Meyer, Faith Words, 1995, pp. 29–34. ↑
