As I’ve walked these last few days, I’ve been watching blooms pop out on flowering trees. I passed what I believe is some type of magnolia (I could be wrong) and noticed the blooms are just ready to explode. As I admired it, God put the word “becoming” on my heart. Specifically, the noun becoming not the adjective, though in the case of those blooms that would also apply. Maybe it should have been my word for the year because the state of becoming resonates deeply with me.
That tree is in the process of becoming what it is supposed to be. Me too, tree, me too. I walked on thinking about becoming and the story of Esther came to mind. If you haven’t read the book of Esther, please do. It’s a Biblical version of a reality show.
Here’s the gist, the queen had the nerve to tell the king no. She lost her spot as queen. A bunch of “beautiful young virgins” were brought in to undergo “beauty preparations” and try to win the role of queen. See. Reality show. Esther is one of these women. She was an orphan being raised by her uncle, Mordecai.
Esther was taken with the other young women to set about becoming a suitable queen for the king. Ultimately, Esther is chosen and becomes Queen. Her real becoming happened when she learned of a plot to kill her people, the Jews. Mordecai tells her that maybe she was born for just such a time. Her “becoming” led up to that crucial moment. She took a risk that could have cost her life to save her people. She was successful.
We all must go through the process of becoming to get where God intends us to be. We must walk before we run. We must be children before we’re adults. Inside of childhood are peaks and valleys that help us in our becoming – school, puberty, teams, lessons, wins, losses, disappointments. Inside of our adult lives are more ups and downs that are helping us become suitable for our king – spouses, friends, jobs, births, parenting, deaths, disappointments.
Age is linear. Becoming is not. There are zigs and zags on the way. I’m reminded of the popular quote attributed to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I can anecdotally attest to that. Hard places that I have come through have helped in my becoming. Much like failure is one of the biggest keys to success, I find the hard parts of are most effective in my becoming who God created me to be.
The difficult places helped me make more progress, even when it wasn’t linear or immediate. I’ll admit it hasn’t always been neat and tidy. Some of my personal becoming involved a lot of wrong turns and missteps. My journey has included plenty of one step forward and two steps back. But God is still working on me.
That’s the place God began to highlight for me. Friends, becoming is a process. It takes time. Sometimes we will hit homeruns. Sometimes we swing and miss. Both are parts of becoming. God wants us to be holy (1 Peter 1:16) but we don’t start out that way. We pursue holiness. We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We should be a constant work in progress.
Please give yourself some grace if you’re struggling with the occasional two backward steps, or you are having trouble with a particular hurdle in the process. Learn and keep moving forward. Esther was not ready to play her role a second sooner. She wouldn’t have been queen material at age 5. Perhaps her lack of family made her people more worth the risk. If she had been with her parents and not Mordecai, she might not have learned of the plot to kill the Jews. God used all her experiences in her becoming. Jesus was always perfect, but even He had to grow into His public ministry.
Becoming who God wants us to be takes time. Just like spring rains produce summer flowers, our experiences and challenges will help us become who we’re supposed to be. We don’t bear fruit the day we’re planted. Stick with it. You are becoming.
