During most of the 2000’s it seemed every time we turned around we were buying a new car. Each time we did, I took a picture of our grandson Danny (who is now in high school) behind the wheel. It’s fun to look at those early photos and see how he grew from year to year.

I like to look back over the last few years and see how I’ve grown, too. I can’t measure it with pictures, though. In Ephesians 4:13 we are told to “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (NIV). The following verses describe how this maturity looks. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves,” and we will “speak the truth in love” and walk in unity with other believers.

Of course I fall short in many areas, and I know I’ll never attain the completeness spoken of in these verses. Yet, I want to be sure I’m moving toward it. I find comfort in knowing that God has not let me stay the same as I was. He has given me exciting, challenging things to do that I could never accomplish on my own, helping me grow in my trust of Him. He has provided experiences, like my trip to Israel, that expand my knowledge and understanding of Him. And He has walked with me through situations I could never have anticipated, bringing me out of them stronger and more sure of His love and grace than ever before.

The Holy Spirit has been my comforter, teacher, and helper as promised in John 16. God’s love and His ways of showing it continue to amaze me. As I look back over these last few years, I can say, like the Apostle Paul, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12). My favorite Bible teacher says it this way: “I haven’t arrived yet, but praise God I’ve left the station!” And, I might add, I’m on the right track!

This is what a hot-air balloon looks like from inside the basket. I had the privilege of experiencing this on New Years Day 2013. The ride was delightful and full of surprises. The biggest surprise was finding that my hair wasn’t blowing in the wind. In fact, I couldn’t even feel or hear the wind. Yet, I knew it was blowing because the balloon kept traveling sideways. We were part of the wind, and whichever way it went, we went.

Another surprise was the amazing quietness as we sailed above the earth. The only sounds were our voices and the occasional loud whoosh of hot air being blasted upward to keep us aloft. Activities going on below us seemed remote and disconnected from us.

How similar a balloon ride is to our spiritual lives. In God we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28). When we allow ourselves to dwell in God’s presence, then wherever He goes, we go. Whether or not we feel anything, we are in the flow of His Spirit, just as in the balloon we were one with the wind.

By focusing on the pilot and the balloon, I felt secure in the basket. In the same way, we can focus on God’s love and be secure in His presence. Then, like the activities on the ground, our circumstances will fade. They won’t disappear, but when we are transported to a place where we can see them from God’s perspective, they become less important.

Who knew a ride in a balloon would really be a picture of life with God?