God Celebrates Your Progress
Adapted from Trusting God Day by Day
But the path of the [uncompromisingly] just and righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines more and more (brighter and clearer) until [it reaches its full strength and glory in] the perfect day [to be prepared].
Our youngest grandson recently stood by himself for the first time. We were out of town on this joyous occasion, but we received a phone call telling us the great news. I vividly remember that there were four adults in the car when we received the news and three of us acted fairly ridiculous about the event. I actually clapped my hands together. Dave grinned from ear to ear and in a very surprised tone said, “REALLY!” A good friend was also in the car and she got excited. I heard questions like, “How long did he stand there?” and “Has he done it more than once?” Nobody asked if he sat down again, although we all knew that he did. We were even aware that he could have fallen down, but we did not care about anything other than his progress.
We had a similar scene at our house when he smiled for the first time, ate his first solid food, crawled, and said “mama” and “da-da.” We get really excited about any little progress that he makes and we all express it to him to encourage him. Dave and I just spent several days with the baby, and, to be honest, we probably encouraged him hundreds of times during those few days. I don’t remember even one time that we chastised him for what he could not do yet. God used this example to help me understand that He celebrates our progress just like we celebrate the progress of our children and grandchildren.
God isn’t keeping a record of each time we fall, but He is excited about our progress, and we should be excited, too! I spent way too many years mourning over my faults and weaknesses. I was taught to grieve over my sins, but nobody in the church I was in at the time ever told me to celebrate my progress, and I think that is tragic. If you missed this important lesson like I did, then today I am telling you to celebrate, celebrate, and then celebrate your progress some more.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me focus on progress instead of perfection. Teach me to celebrate growth, trust Your work in my life, and move forward with joy and confidence each day, amen.
