3 minute read
When I was in college, I realized I’d gotten really, really out of shape.
My diet was primarily made up of high-calorie cafeteria food (this being Texas, it was lots of chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, and chicken fried brownies) and fast food (often a dozen Taco Cabana tortillas and a bowl of queso). Add to that, my lack of physical activity (no one studies while moving, you sit in a chair, as stationary and sedentary as a CPA).
One Saturday morning, I decided to change things.
I decided to start eating healthy and exercising.
I found my running clothes—buried deep in a drawer—and went for a long run.
When I got home, I was hungry, so I decided to eat something.
In an effort to eat healthy, though, I opted against a box of tacos, cup of fries, or bag of gravy.
I ate an apple.
But I was still hungry, so…
I ate another apple.
In my mind I thought, “Apples are healthy. So, it only makes sense, that the more apples I eat, the healthier I’ll be—and curb my appetite so I don’t go eat gravy tacos later.”
In one 15 minute chunk, I ate five apples.
Five apples.
This was my idea of eating healthy.
At the least, it couldn’t hurt… right?
Wrong.
That evening, when my appetite returned, I ate something. I can’t remember what, but it doesn’t matter as I couldn’t eat it.
Seriously, I couldn’t.
Every time I swallowed, I felt a sharp, stabbing pain—like someone firing an awl into my belly from a compound bow—at the top of my stomach.
Every… single… swallow.
Even when I drank water.
I couldn’t eat a thing.
I slept on it, thinking that would help. Nope. It was worse the next day… and the next.
I couldn’t eat or drink anything without incredible, searing pain.
I told my pal about it and he laughed. “Sounds like you’ve got apple fever.” Which, of course, is nothing… and yet it became clear that eating five apples in one fell swoop had done a number on me.
After another day, somehow, the “apple fever” passed and I was, once again, able to consume foods.
What did I consume after that? More tacos and gravy and chicken fried hash browns.
*****
I think back to my bout with apple fever whenever I get a sense that God wants to grow something good in me.
Something that builds up me as a human, as a Jesus-follower. Something in my character. Something like—
Kindness
Perseverance
Self-discipline
Thoughtfulness
The skill of listening to others
Courage
Self-sacrifice
Faith
And what’s my knee-jerk reaction to God wanting to grow this thing in me? “Great God, let’s do this… now and fast and get it done immediately.”
And I take the tack that I took back in college when I realized I needed to get healthy: I ran too far and ate five apples.
Too much, too soon.
But God doesn’t work that way.
God’s way of growing good things in us is usually slow and steady.
Yes, he can change us in an instant… but I don’t see that happening that often.
Usually, He builds things in us over time. Little by little. Bit by bit.
He doesn’t cram five apples down our throat, almost killing us in the process.
He gives us a little apple here, a little apple there… and a slightly longer run here, and a few less minutes sitting in a chair there…
It’s good for Jesus-followers to keep this in mind.
God is kind. And He’s patient. And He sees our growth as a long-term strategy, not a short-term fix.
We’re often not that way to ourselves. We think, “I need to be better at BLANK” and then we rush to try to become BLANK… and in the process, wear ourselves out… or defeat us, making us never want to try again.”
Psalm 103:8 says, “The LORD is compassionate and gracious. Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.”
(In fact, this same sentiment is repeated at least five times throughout the Bible.)
Do we believe this about Him?
Are we willing to let Him do the slow and steady work of growing good things in us?
Or, are we so in a rush—like we are in so many other areas of our lives—that we miss out on the good, unhurried, intentional process of God at work in us?
One apple at a time. One apple at a time…