Beauty in the Waiting

My garden often teaches and reminds me of spiritual truths. Watching the progression of peonies going from bud stage to full-blown loveliness brought to mind how sanctification and growth in Christ takes place.

I was trying to explain to the children in Sunday School what it means to image Christ. It’s probably an over-simplification, but I tried to convey that it was reflecting Jesus in our words, thoughts and actions. As we get to know Jesus better, people begin to see Jesus when they look at us. Reflecting Him well does not happen overnight. It is a incremental change of heart as we learn to practice what we have seen in Him through our study of God’s Word.

For too many months, my life reflects that of a slow-to-change peony. I glance back over my shoulder, looking for the smallest indication of transformation. Hardship lingers, fraying the edges of my soul. Will this season of estrangement that breaks my heart open like parched, crumbled soil produce anything worthwhile.

Beth K. Vogt

Beth Vogt describes the way my life sometimes feels. Slow-to-change, parched, and like I am in a “season of estrangement” of my own. In those times, I often turn to 2 Peter 1:3-8, a favorite passage of Scripture. I come back to this page in my Bible time and time again when I feel as though I am not imaging Him well. Verse 8 gently reminds me that the fruitful and effective life comes about little by little through the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:8 (ESV)

Imaging Christ well comes through the process of sanctification, which Pastor Chris Brauns described as —

“Incrementally, progressively transformed into the image of Christ.”

Chris D. Brauns