Transformation - A Long & Winding Road …
Romans 8:28 and 29 are some of my favorite words in Scripture. They assure me that everything in my life—good, bad, ugly, beautiful, shameful, admirable—is being worked together by God, who knows me far better than I even know myself, for a good purpose. I feel encouraged that God’s ongoing goal for me is to become increasingly more like Jesus, but God knows this type of transformation will be ongoing.
Eugene Peterson in The Message, translates these words into modern language, saying, “… we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son.”
John Newton, an English Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist who penned the words to the iconic hymn “Amazing Grace,” had in his younger years been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He never minimized the ugliness of his past profession but nonetheless, understood the process of transformation when he wrote:
“I am not what I ought to be.
I am not what I wish to be.
I am not what I one day will be.
But, by the grace of God,
I am not what I once was.”
John Newton (1725-1807)
John Newton’s words and the photo in today’s post, which my husband Ron took during a recent photo excursion to the Palouse, reflect exactly how I feel about my own journey of transformation into greater Christlikeness. The road leading me there often seems long, winding, clouded by dust, and always under construction.
How grateful I feel right now that God knows what lies ahead, and with infinite wisdom and grace, keeps leading me in the right direction.
Blessings on your personal journey of transformation,
