Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

-By Teilhard de Chardin (Patient Trust excerpted from Hearts on Fire)

Do you struggle to trust the long, slow process of your spiritual journey through life? What do you think God is gradually building through your faith and trust in Him? How are you maturing spiritually through the trials of your life? Comment below, and I’ll be happy to keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Jesus, it can be hard to trust in You. So often, you ask us to do things that we don’t want to do, things that are scary and hard, things that don’t make any sense to us. We can’t always see the good that will come through our yes to You. But Teilhard de Chardin is correct, though it may take a long time, we can trust in You to gradually create a marvel through our obedience to Your calling on our life. Jesus, help us to hear Your call on our lives and trust in You even when what you’re asking shakes us to our core. Give us the courage to persevere in faith until Your work is complete in us. In Jesus name, we pray.

written by Nicky Gant for http://www.uniteinprayer.org 11/22