Major Projects

This week I decided to tackle a major project in my personal life. I'm working on making a to-do list and a timeline for everything, and have already given myself a deadline that, if it's the Lord's will, I will reach in the next few months.

Much as I would love to be able to snap my fingers and have everything completed, it's not going to happen that way. It's going to take time and a lot of work. Since I already work a full-time job, I don't particularly relish the thought of coming home and doing more work at night and on the weekends. But that's what I have to do if I want to reach my goal.

Just thinking about all that needs to get done for this project can really overload my brain and make me feel overwhelmed. However, when I break it down into day-by-day projects, it's easier to tackle mentally (not to mention physically).

I'm reminded of the process of being transformed into God's image. If I examine my life and see all my flaws and all the ways I want to change, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and become discouraged because I may feel like I'm not progressing far "enough" or at a fast enough rate in my walk with Him.

Yet, there are some important things to remember. First of all, the transformation is not up to me--it's God at work in me.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:18)

Note that we are being transformed; we are not the ones causing the transformation. Also, note that our transformation is a work-in-progress. It doesn't happen overnight. It's not that God doesn't have the power to make that happen--He formed the universe and all that's in it in less than a week, so surely a makeover on us humans is a snap for Him. But rather than an overnight change, God chooses to work on us every day. We will never achieve perfection here on Earth, no matter how hard we try. Only when we are with God in Heaven will we finally be all that He intends for us to be.

Another exciting reminder is that we are invited to play a role in this transformation process by growing closer to the Creator and Transformer. When we spend time communicating with God through prayer and through reading His Word and meditating on it, we not only deepen our relationship with Him, but we open ourselves to more of His transformative work. We don't have to be of a certain intelligence, or a certain income level, or even a certain spiritual heritage in order to be transformed and used by God. We simply have to be willing to be molded and shaped into His image.

Trusting God to change us, in His time, and in His way, brings a great sense of peace when we're faced with the enormous task of becoming like Him.