Faith: Growing in grace

Faith: Growing in grace 

"We often think, as on our way we go,

That we are wasting time;

We see ourselves worthy of better things,

The hourly strive and the dull daily round

Seem commonplace and slow.

How gradually the babe becomes the boy,

The boy the clever man,

We, too, so slowly grow in things divine

That we lose heart in our long struggling task,

And wish for more employ.

Thirty years long was Moses minding the sheep,

Thirty was John outcast;

And thirty growing years gave Christ, the Lord,

To preparation for His three years' work,

His Father's plan to keep.

So shall I fret because to grow in grace

Means constant, weary work?

My every effort and my every thought

I'll consecrate to God, and be content

To let Him choose my place."

- 'Growth in Grace', a poem by Mary Ethel Challands, The Way of the Golden Dawn, 1929, published by W.R. Smith and Paterson.