A couple weeks ago, I bought my pre-teen daughter a different face soap and lotion and explained the importance of cleaning her face daily.  A couple days after that I asked her how the face regimen was going. She said, “It’s not working.  It’s getting worse so I stopped.”  I told her to continue using it because sometimes it takes a while to get better before we see a change.

Just like my daughter, how many times have we been too quick to give up?  At some point, I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of getting discouraged because we didn’t see immediate results.  In fact, sometimes the situation gets worse before it gets better.  Have you started a new exercise or diet routine only to abandon it after the first week because it was hard and didn’t seem to be working?  Did you quit a job after a few weeks because it did not seem to be the right fit?

How many farmers do you know that reap a harvest the next day or even the next month?  There’s a season of planting, nurturing, waiting and finally, the harvest.  All good things take time.  Give the process time to work.  Don’t be too quick to give up in the event that you see no change.  God is always at work behind the scenes. Know that your work and persistence is not in vain.

Resolve today to keep going.  Keep planting.  Keep taking baby steps and wait it out.  You’re going somewhere!

~Coletta Jones Patterson