Processes annoy me. I’m definitely a politically incorrect, cut through the red-tape BS kind of guy. I’m also an IT guy. That means my life is filled with processes. Processes to make things work, processes to document on the process we used to find where another process was broken, and yet more processes to make sure customers are happy while we implement trouble-shooting processes.
Now you can see why I don’t like processes. In my world, they’re everywhere. It’s all I can do to not pick up the phone and answer with “Hello, IT, have you turned it off and on again?” and hope the other person hangs up, so I don’t have to go through the process of fixing things. I like my job, but in the end, to me a process is all about getting somewhere: getting something fixed, getting something documented, making someone happy. It’s all about finishing. Which is why going through God’s process of life and waiting is so much of a nuisance for me – I wanna get there already!
Then I read something the other day in Josh Harris’s book, Boy Meets Girl, that caused me to pause and think for a minute:
He [God] wants us to use this process [courtship], and all the questions and uncertainties it involves, to refine us, sanctify us, and increase our faith.
In my work, processes are a necessary evil. Finding what bit of programming code needs to change, what’s wrong with the front-end of an application, and, honestly, when the end user just needs to learn to use Google before calling in. (It’s harsh, but true.)
But with God, the process isn’t a necessary evil, it’s something He delights in. Because just as I work through a program to remove flaws, the process of waiting (for anything) is God’s way of working on me. Hammering out dents, healing wounds, and chiseling away that which does not reflect Him. Granted, sometimes it does feel like I’m being hit with Thor’s hammer and that God’s using a sword instead of a scalpel. But I know that when it feels like that it’s because the flaw runs that deep and the dent is that big…at least I “know” it after the fact.
So, as we go throughout the week, through our own individual processes, rather than complain about the process, we should be thankful that He loves us enough to take so much time to perfect us. Because God’s processes are designed to make us more like Him, we can work and pray for grace to see times of waiting as God’s good gift to us, and enjoy it. We can pray for wisdom to not wait inactively, but to wait with expectation, asking God to show us what He’s changing in us.
What are you waiting for this week?
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