Are you someone who likes before and after transformation? Well, for some unknown reason I do. I find myself drawn to watching before and after transformation shows. Whether it is a house being renovated, growth in a particular area, a weight-loss journey or a positive lifestyle change. I mostly find myself gazing in amazement at how putting extra effort and doing the work pays off and makes a huge difference in a person or the outcome of a transformation.

It fills my heart with Joy when I see the ‘after’ of a transformation but it does leave questions on my mind. I totally forget about the how or what was done to get the ‘after’ outcome. I find myself admiring the after so much that I get tempted to compare myself, my situation, my story or my house with the ‘after’ of that transformation or renovation. It is also easy to do the same with the God sized dreams of others that seems to be flourishing.

Sometimes I look at someone else’s dreams and i admire their strength, skills, talents or desires that have come true from before to after and i say to myself i wish this can happen for me someday.

‘But wait a minute’, I tell myself. Hold on and take your mind one step backward. Something must have been done for that transformation. I call that the ‘middle’ or the ‘in between’.

I then ask myself the below questions:

Am I ready to make some adjustments to my lifestyle?

Am I doing what that other person did to get to that point?

Am I willing to do the work?

Am I ready to let go of extra bagages?

Am I ready to surrender all to the holy spirit?

Am I ready to cry the tears that came along?

Am I willing to experience sleepless night?

Do I have the back story that shows God gets all the glory?

I don’t see the whole picture and I don’t know how much renovation happened in that person’s life to get  there. Never compare your before to someone else’s after. It’s just not fair to you or the other person. If we are asking for someone else’s after then we are also asking for their effort, time, sacrifices and even emotions that comes with their after.

The next time you see the middle or the after in someone else’s God sized dreams, think of how they got to the point, be thankful for where you find yourself now and ask God to lead and direct your own journey in pursuing your God sized dreams. Trust your own process to take you from before to after.