Most things in life require a process. For example, if you want to make a chocolate cake, you must go through a specific process. You have to gather the ingredients, properly mix and assemble them, and finally bake the mixture in an oven.
What would happen if you decided to leave some ingredients out, or add wrong ingredients in? What would happen if you didn’t mix the ingredients, and just threw everything into the oven? Would the end result be good? Of course not.
Like it or not, you have to follow the process or you won’t end up with a chocolate cake.
Instant gratification.
A lot of times we don’t like process. We want what we want… and we want it now! (Which is why many of us go to a bakery to buy our chocolate cake.) We’re always on the lookout for shortcuts. We like instant results. We want fast food, fast communication, fast travel… forget the process, just give me the end result! It’s the finished product I’m after.
Don’t get me wrong, I think modern conveniences are great, but I wonder if in our quest for instant gratification we haven’t lost something along the way. Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination.
Why does process matter?
Going through a process has many benefits. We gain knowledge, experience, and satisfaction that we just don’t get when we take shortcuts. Going back to the chocolate cake example, you can eat and enjoy a cake you buy from the bakery, but that won’t teach you anything about how to make a cake. To learn that, you’ve got to go through the process.
When we take too many shortcuts, we deprive ourselves of opportunities to learn and grow.
You’re probably wondering where I’m going with all this. It will hopefully make sense in just a moment, so bear with me.
At the bottom of my prayer list, there are five things I pray for everyday: wisdom, guidance, strength, patience, and courage. I thought the answer to my prayer was going to be something like: “**Poof!** Here you go, Seth!” Turns out, God had something else in mind. He’s answering my prayer through a process.
Process can be painful.
You’ve probably heard the saying, “no pain, no gain.” For our bodies to get stronger, muscles have to stretch and strain. It can be extremely uncomfortable.
Sometimes a process requires sacrifice. If you’ve ever gone through the process of losing weight, you’ve probably had to sacrifice some things (like chocolate cake).
The process I’m going through right now includes both pain and sacrifice. But God is helping me to develop strength, patience, and courage through it. As I trust in Him to guide me, He’s developing the very character traits I’ve been praying for! I wouldn’t say it’s a piece of cake (that’s my last cake reference, I promise), but I know that the end result will be worth it.
There is always hope!
Perhaps, like me, you’re in the middle of going through a difficult process. Don’t lose hope. Ask God what He’s trying to teach you through it. Trust that God can take your pain, your struggle, your difficult situation, whatever it is you’re going through, and use it for good.
I’ll leave you with five Bible verses that are helping me through my process. I pray they will encourage and inspire you as well:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
~Romans 8:28
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.
~Psalm 118:1
[God] You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope.
~Psalm 119:114
Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp.
~Psalm 131:1
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.
~Deuteronomy 31:6
