We idealize spiritual progress as a line always moving upwards. Long term, it should be that. Short term, it is not that way. There are setbacks. We deal with failures, dilemmas and paradoxes. We struggle. There are points when the circumstances of our lives are so disordered and chaotic that we cannot locate where we are on any map of spiritual advancement. The fact is, we don’t need to locate where we are in our spiritual progression. We couldn’t if we tried. That is God’s view, not ours. Cheer up my friend! If you hold to the Lord in all things and at all times, that is progress.
“One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14).
