One type of cactus, the saguaro, grows only one inch within the first ten years of its life. It doesn’t grow a branch until it is 16 years old. It doesn’t begin to flower until it i nearly 60. It is one of the slowest growing plants on Earth. There is a certain kind of bamboo that can grow up to 39 inches in 24 hours, making it one of the fastest growing plants on the planet.
Despite their different rates of growth, if we were to point a camera at each of these plants and continually take one frame of video every 15 minutes, watching the footage back after 6 months would definitely show noticeable growth in each of them.
Change and growth aren’t always instantaneous. Sometimes they are hardly noticeable. Yet other times, change can be mind-bogglingly quick. So it is with us.
If you’ve ever longed for personal change and become discouraged by the seeming lack of progress, lift your head up in knowing that not all change occurs at the same rate. Someone might grow leaps and bounds before you see a bloom in your life. But despite difficulties, failure or opposition, persevere with the knowledge that from it comes character and hope.
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” –Romans 5:3-4 NIV
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