this matters.

this matters.
because you matter.
right now.
because i’m here.
right now.

to journey to future seasons in your head too much is to discount the season you’re in right now.
to waste it.
it matters.

to discount who you are right now is to discount who i created you to be,
and the power i have to use you.
you’re not ready for what you want.
you’re not ready for what i have for you.
this matters.

rooting.
preparing.
refining.
this, now, seems unglamorous and stagnant.
but rooting establishes strength and staying-power.

mind the gap.
the gap between where you are and where you’re going.
growth happens in the gap.
leveling up happens in the gap.
faith and grace reveal their depth in the gap.
mind the gap.
the gap matters.

romans 8 msg

18-21 That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.