Life Is Iterative

You're not behind. You're being shaped.

We all want change to be instant. We want to arrive. But real life - especially life with God - doesn’t move like that. It doesn’t unfold in dramatic leaps or final breakthroughs. It moves in loops. Repetition. Return. Slow layering. The kind of growth that feels almost imperceptible while it's happening.

You don't graduate from weakness. You don’t master the spiritual life. You are formed in cycles. You are changed by degrees. You are grown by a Father who refuses to rush what He loves.

But that’s not what we’re used to. That’s not the story we’re sold.

We’ve been trained to believe that if change isn’t fast, it isn’t working. We’re still circling the same struggle, and we believe that something must be broken. And the more painful part? We often assume that something is broken is us.

But what if the delay isn’t a defect? What if it's the design?

The False Promise of the Shortcut

Modern life doesn’t leave much room for process. Everything from marketing to ministry has learned to prey on our impatience. We’re constantly pitched the next breakthrough, the next method, the next three-step formula that promises to fix what’s still unfinished in us.

But these promises are built on a lie: that transformation is something you can purchase or download, something that happens fast, as long as you’re doing it right.

The deeper truth is harder: much of our growth will feel like a return to the same places, again and again. Not because nothing is happening, but because something deep is happening - something that can’t be microwaved.

There is a multi-billion-dollar industry built on your frustration with slow change. You’re not just being sold solutions. You’re being sold escape - escape from discomfort, delay, repetition, and especially from the ache of feeling stuck.

But escape is not the same as transformation. The way God forms a man rarely bypasses pain. It includes it. And it insists that you stay present to the process.

God Is Not in a Hurry

You’ll never find Jesus rushing someone through their healing. You’ll never hear Him say, “Aren’t you over this yet?” You’ll never see Him frustrated by someone who comes back to Him again for the same need.

He is patient because He knows what’s exactly required for real change: presence, repetition, surrender. The slow work of untangling. The kind of growth that doesn't just make you look better on the outside but makes you new on the inside.

Paul writes in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest as long as we don’t give up.” That’s the cadence of the kingdom of God. Not instant. But inevitable, if we keep sowing.

God’s timeline is slower than we want, but more stable than we know. He’s not distracted or withholding. He’s wise. And wisdom never rushes what must be rooted.

Growth Feels Like Return

One of the most discouraging experiences in the spiritual life is the sense that you’re circling the same issue again. You thought you'd moved past this. You thought that conversation, that prayer, that retreat, had finally closed the loop. But here you are, again - back in the same frustration, the same fear, the same old ache.

It’s easy to interpret return as failure.

But what if it’s invitation?

What if you’re not actually going in circles, but spiraling upward?

See, the Spirit works in layers. He rarely resolves things all at once. Instead, He deepens us. He re-visits. He forms something new in the same old place, if we stay long enough to let Him.

God doesn’t mind return. He actually welcomes it. Return means relationship. Return means you’re still in it with Him. Still showing up. Still willing to be shaped.

And slowly - again often imperceptibly - things do shift. Not dramatically. Not on cue. But deeply. A little more surrender. A little less shame. A quieter heart. A clearer yes.

Why We Struggle With Delay

We don’t just want instant results - we want to feel competent. We want to feel like we’re progressing, winning, maturing. And when we don’t, we get anxious. I know I do. We get ashamed or worse, numb.

The desire for arrival - the longing to be done with the mess, done with the process - is rarely just about convenience. It’s often about fear. We’re afraid that maybe we’re the exception. That maybe others are growing, but we’re stuck. That maybe something is wrong with us because it still hurts. Because we’re still not clear. Because we still feel undone.

That fear makes us vulnerable. Vulnerable to over-promises. Vulnerable to hustle. Vulnerable to comparison. And ultimately, vulnerable to giving up - not in dramatic rebellion, but often in quiet resignation.

So many people live stuck not because God isn’t moving, but because they’ve lost trust in the slow pace of real formation.

But transformation is what God is after. Not hype. Not short-term change. Not spiritual performance. He wants sons and daughters who are sturdy. Grounded. Resilient. Honest.

And those kinds of people are grown not manufactured.

The Ache of Desire

There’s another layer here. And it’s not just about expectations. It’s about desire.

Part of why we crave immediacy is because we want good things: healing, intimacy, clarity, impact. We’re not wrong to want them. In fact, those desires were probably placed in us by God Himself.

But when desire runs into delay, we have a choice.

We can manipulate. Or, we can trust.

We can try to force what we want. Or, we can stay open-handed.

The difference between taking and *receiving* often comes down to this: Can I wait without grasping?

See, taking comes from suspicion - “God must be holding out,” we think. Receiving comes from trust - God knows the right time.

When we let God train our desire, not suppress it, we become people who wait with hope, not cynicism. We become people who keep sowing even when there’s no fruit in sight. Because we’ve learned that the delay is not a denial. It’s part of the forming.

Nothing Is Wasted

There’s no wasted loop. No wasted effort. No wasted prayer or struggle or step. When you live with God, even your returns are productive.

Every time you enter the same conversation with Him, every time you offer the same fear or need or question again, you’re being shaped. Deepened. Rooted. Not in self-sufficiency - but in faith.

Faith is not proved by speed. It’s proved by return.

Do you come back to God? Then you're growing.

Do you still care, still long, or still try? Then you're becoming more mature.

Do you still want to be made whole - even when the path to it is unclear? Then the Spirit is at work.

God honors the person who keeps showing up. Not the perfect person. The person who returns, again and again, because they believe that God is still present, and still good.

Let It Be Enough

If you’re in a season that feels slow or stuck or repetitive, you’re not doing it wrong. You’re living the a life of transformation. You’re being invited to trust the long arc of God's forming love.

That trust doesn’t mean you don’t act. It doesn’t mean you don’t want. It does mean you stop trying to escape process and start leaning into it.

You stop measuring your success by your speed. You stop shaming yourself for being in process. And you start paying attention to the small shifts that accumulate over time. The subtle faithfulness. The hidden strength. The quiet courage.

You don’t need a breakthrough to be faithful. You need to believe that faithfulness is the breakthrough. So circle around again. Let God show you what He’s deepening this time. Let the slow work be enough. Let your return be your worship. And, let me encourage you:

You’re not behind.

You’re not irreparably broken.

You’re being shaped.

And, He is not done with you.