One of the great privileges I’ve had as a therapist is working with people over very long periods of time, usually on for a while and then off for many years and then back on at another stage or trial of life. This has allowed me to know a handful of individuals in very deep and intimate ways. With them, I have seen their darkness and their light. Their sin and their glory. And I have seen how God works on the heart, mind, soul and spirit through the years and even decades, so steady, persistent, wise and gentle as He purifies and beautifies. He is so committed to meaningful lives and rich relationships. So faithful year after year, bit by bit to nurture, heal and restore. If I didn’t get to watch over long spans of time I might not notice how the micro changes make such a profound difference.
So, please, don’t ever give up on people or dreams because God doesn’t. His ability to use everything around us and happening to us to move us all toward His purposes of love, holiness and unity is phenomenal, brilliant, creative and powerful. What He wants from us, while all this inches forward, often in what feels like slow motion, is faith and hope. Not in ourselves or our dreams, but in Him, who loves and dreams for us so much brighter and more beautiful then we can imagine.
It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Philippians 2:13 NIV