Growth of a Promise

I sand floors for a living.  I really want to be a pastor someday, but thats not happening right now.  It doesn't mean it won't happen, it just means I'm not there yet.  I need to grow, I need to take that seed that God put in me years ago, and I need to water it, and nurture it.  There are other seeds God has planted in me that I need to do this with as well.  Every Christian has seeds, "giftings" if you will, that need nourishment and food to grow.  So here's the issue I think can happen often and has happened with me.  We expect instant results!  God plants a seed in our hearts, and like worldly culture today....BAM we need it now!  Think of it.  You've heard other people talk about how we live in a "Microwave Society", a "McDonald's Society", a "High-Speed Society".  So I'm not going to focus on that.  Let's look at "God's Society".  Take Jesus for example.  Jesus was like 30 when he started his ministry!  Luke 2:40 tells us that as child he GREW in strength and wisdom, and it says it again in verse 52.  Jesus had to grow in wisdom. That can't be right, can it?  Jesus, the son of the most high God, the savior of our hearts, grew....... in wisdom.  He had to.  He set aside his divinity when he was born into this world.  Everything he did, he had to do AS A MAN! He had to eat like a man, sleep like a man, work like a man, GROW like a man.  And more than just physical stature and normal lifestyle, he also needed to grow in his relationship with his Father.  It took Jesus time to grow, so you know it's going to take time for us to grow as well. 
     You see, growth is key in the Kingdom.  Think of the example of the oak tree. This great and mighty tree comes from a tiny little acorn.  The acorn sprouts and begins to grow.  A little sapling springs from the ground and begins to grow leaves. This little sapling endures the freezing winters and the harsh stormy winds of earths weather.  In time this sapling becomes a massive tree that has endured the worst weather to become what it is, what God made it to be.  All because of one tiny seed.  Hebrews 10:36 says "For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised." I like the new living translations version, it says "Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised."  How sweet it is.  It takes time... days, weeks, years for that promise to come to fruition.  The promise is the seed.  The seed is in you.  God planted it there.  Now feed it, nurture it, and watch it grow into something beautiful.