Perspectives on Growth and Progress

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

I John 3: 2

We have the promise that we are children of God. We have the promise that when Jesus appears, we will be like Him and see Him as He is. But what happens in the meantime? How do we keep perspective on who we are in the middle of growth and progress?

It’s so hard to observe progress that is still happening. As trees grow and develop, their inner rings keep expanding outwards in concentric circles. To us, however, the interior growth of a tree is really only visible once the tree is cut down. Looking at a cross-section of the tree trunk shows us how much the tree was growing through each season of its life. We can even examine the width of the rings and see which seasons of the tree’s life were lean seasons or seasons of greatest growth.

Our growth as people happens much the same way; it’s only when we have passed through something and come out on the other side that it becomes evident just how much we have grown through the experience. While we are still in process, though, understanding what exactly is happening in the middle of our growth process is more than a little murky.

In the midst of this uncertainty, Romans 8: 22-25 offers us this comfort:

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Paul reminds us here to wait patiently in the hope of what we do not yet have, a clear picture of who we will become. This knowledge rests only in the hands of our Father, who not only knows us intimately but is faithfully making us in His image. The Word says we are awaiting “our adoption to sonship,” claiming our place in the heavenly family that God has prepared for us. The assurance we have is that we will be like Him.

Even though the details feel unspecific and fuzzy, we can rest in knowing that we are becoming, we are growing, and one day, exactly what we will be will be made known to us.