Slow but Steady

Because the trail was so rocky, I was looking down while hiking in nearby hills one day. That’s when I spotted a huge black beetle on its own rocky “hike,” moving so fast that I wondered if it would be a blur on my photo.

As I later looked at this photo, I thought how it also pictures the Christian life. Becoming a Christian doesn’t guarantee that all life’s roads will be smooth and free of conflict. The very difficulties we resist, like a tough work or school environment, or living with a contrary or whiny person, may be part of God’s greater plan to shape our character.
In thinking about suffering, I’ve often returned to this quote: “If God’s net purpose in saving an individual is just to get him to heaven, He would probably take him to glory immediately. But God wants to prepare him for rulership in an infinite universe that demands character. Progress in sanctification, in the development of Godlike character and agape love, is impossible without tribulation and chastisement.”(1)
Yes, the Highway to Heaven is strewn with boulders, but we’re not to give up. One who knew that well was the apostle Peter. He saw the end result of getting through life’s rocks: “a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:9). Salvation is both a moment (of accepting Christ) and a process (of developing Christ-like character). It’s not absorbed like osmosis. It’s done by “giving all diligence” (v. 3), which comes from the Greek word spoude, suggesting earnestness, zeal, even haste. And what a list of Christ-like qualities Peter gives as a standard of excellence! From several Bible translations, here are deeper shades of meaning for his list in vv. 5-7:
*Virtue: excellence, resolution, Christian energy, good character.

*Knowledge: intelligence, spiritual understanding.

*Temperance: self-control, alert discipline.

*Patience: steadfastness, endurance, passionate patience.

*Godliness: piety, reverent wonder.

*Brotherly kindness: affection to one another, warm friendliness.

*Charity: Christ-like love--genuine, generous, and sacrificial.
I don’t know about you, but I’m still in process on all of these. I know that God loves me, but He also loves me too much to leave me in my old ways. Every unpleasant or difficult experience is a schoolroom for growing in these qualities. Like that beetle on a rocky trail, we’ll face unknown “rocks” that seem bigger than we can handle. But unlike the insect kingdom, we have the loving care and help of the Lord Jesus, who sees where we can go with Him—if we persist.

Next time you see a beetle, think about that. And thank God for lessons from His creation, even the creepy-crawly type.

(1) Paul Billheimer, Don’t Waste Your Sorrows (Fort Washington, Penn.: Christian Literature Crusade, and Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1977), p. 44.