Becoming Real Takes Time

In Margery Williams's beloved children's story The Velveteen Rabbit, there is a quiet conversation between two nursery toys that holds more theology than some entire volumes. The Velveteen Rabbit asks the Skin Horse — the oldest, wisest toy in the nursery — what it means to become Real. The Skin Horse answers with hard-won honesty: "It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept."

The Rabbit wants to know if it hurts. "Sometimes," the Skin Horse admits. But by the time you are Real, he says, most of your hair has been loved off, you get loose in the joints, and you become very shabby. "But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

This is the patience the apostle Paul describes — the kind that produces character, and character produces hope. The God who began a good work in us is not in a hurry. He is not careless with us, but He is not rushing either. Sanctification is not an overnight delivery. It is a long, slow becoming — a process that wears away our sharp edges and loosens our need for careful keeping.

If the journey feels like it is taking too long, take heart. The Almighty is making you Real.