"Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress."—1 Timothy 4:15

Everything's getting faster; cars, business, communication, and life. It's an expectation for everything to be fast, accessible, and easy. But not everything is this way; maturity, discipleship, growth, wisdom, and "progress" are things that take time. They don't just show up tomorrow. You don't buy them off a shelf. They don't get done because you've checked them off a list. They are learned by "immersion" which infers participation, persistence, and practice. So today when you are irritated that someone doesn't understand you in a first explanation, remember their maturity will be slower than you want it to be. Or at that moment you beat yourself up for a personal shortcoming, remember that your mistake is just another way to not do something on the slow road of progress.

DO THIS: Keep moving forward—slowly.

PRAYER: God, help me to take one step forward today, and help me in this irritation to move faster to see the steps we have taken together over the previous days, weeks, months, and years.