Jill Vande Zande and her InterVarsity students wish that God would work more quickly. But often God chooses to take his time.
By Jill Vande Zande
“We’re the ‘microwave’ generation,” my student told me this week. “We want everything to happen instantly.”
Yes, we do, I thought. In my last two years of ministry with college students as a campus pastor with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, I’ve learned that nothing happens quickly. Students need frequent reminders. Meetings start 15 minutes late. It’ll get done eventually. Such thinking is part of this culture, and I’ve learned to adjust my timetable. It’s either that, or be constantly stressed out.
I have more difficulty adjusting, though (and I would venture that everyone struggles in this area), when it comes to spiritual or personal transformation.
For some reason, we often think of transformation as an instantaneous phenomenon. A sudden, miraculous epiphany that changes everything in one fell swoop. But when Paul writes that we should be “transformed by the renewing of [our] minds” in Romans 12:2, he points toward a continuous, ongoing process, not a cataclysmic event.
My student went on to say that God doesn’t usually work rapidly. She was frustrated by this, but at the same time, willing to acknowledge that perhaps God does things this way for a reason. For her, this slight movement toward accepting what God is doing is huge. When I met her last semester, she was ready to give up on God.
The shift isn’t enormous, but it’s there. Transformation is happening. So instead of looking for one moment where someone is dramatically changed through my ministry, I’ve learned that my calling is to help my students move closer to Jesus. The transformation is slower. It’s more subtle. But as they take one step after another toward Jesus, the transformation is no less real.
The same applies for our personal lives. Instead of thinking that I’m going to conquer my issues overnight, I’m realizing that my transformation is much more gradual.
I, too, wish that God would work more quickly. We think that God would be better served if he would just fix all of this now, or make this thing happen. And we wonder why he doesn’t. We can fight against it and try to get God to change (which is hilarious), or we can live with gratitude that God is at the work of transformation in every part of our existence.
I choose the latter.
Jill Vande Zande is an RCA minister serving with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA at Bakersfield College in Bakersfield, California. “Platform” gives RCA members a chance to share their opinions.
[Photo courtesy Jill Vande Zande]
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