I can just hear it in a sermon: "Turn to your neighbor and say 'trust the process.' Turn to your other neighbor and say 'he's talking to you.'" I miss church if you can't tell 😭 If you can't relate to that sermon snippet, you've still probably still heard this phrase before. When we're going through something (whether it's difficulty with school, financial problems, coping with loss/grief, or anything else really), it can be helpful to be reminded that it's all part of the process.
(Quick aside before I proceed: It can also be hurtful to say this [or any other phrase about how it's going to get better] to someone if they aren't ready to hear it. Sometimes we just have to be there for people while they're going through it. That means listening, not judging, validating feelings, the list goes on. I know it can be hard because we want to help the ones we love 'feel better,' but sometimes the best way to support someone is by sitting there in silence. Job's friends did it for 7 days [Job 2:13]...)
Now process is defined as "a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result" or "a series of actions or operations conducing to an end" (shout out to my fave, Merriam Webster). The process has an end goal, a "finish line," a product, a result (whatever you want to call it). When we know what the goal is and we want it, we have an assurance (a hope... remember last week) that every step helps us reach that goal. But I know that sometimes we can find ourselves in the middle of a process that we didn't sign up for, and we may not even know where the finish line is (*read: God is always doing something in our lives, whether or not we know what it is or understand why it's happening*). I find these processes a bit more challenging because I don't know where I'm going. In these times, I have to remember that my hope is not in the end goal, but in the God who assures me that I've already won because He's already done it (whatever "it" may be).
Let's talk about the process of making oatmeal raisin cookies (for all of the raisin-haters out there, feel free to replace them with chocolate chips, walnuts, whatever. Just don't stop reading because you don't like raisins, which I love btw). Yesterday, I made the cookies from scratch for the first time. And it taught me some valuable lessons about the process.
Lesson #1: Preparation
Now this right here is more important than I had ever realized. I love cooking and baking, but sometimes I don't take the time to prepare everything I need beforehand. Have ya'll ever been in the middle of following a recipe, stopping to look for a certain spice or to check the fridge for some butter and finding out that you ran out or forgot to get it at the store? Now you've gotta improvise because you've already started mixing or cooking. It can't just be me 🤷🏾♀️It's not ideal, but my food has generally come out pretty good afterwards (ask about me... though I'm fairly certain my sister won't admit she enjoys my food 😅🙄). Yet the dish probably would've come out better if I had been diligent about preparing everything ahead of time. Yesterday, I was baking along with others via Zoom, so if I wasn't prepared, they would've had to wait for me to catch up. Preparation included reading the recipe beforehand to get everything I needed (ingredients, utensils, bowls, etc). Preparation included making sure that I had scheduled the right amount of time in order to bake the cookies. I know that sometimes I underestimate how much time I need to cook something, and then I'm running late to the next engagement. I didn't want that yesterday. Preparation also included letting my sister know that I was going to "commandeer" the kitchen. I forgot to do that, so she couldn't use the oven to make her dinner around 5pm when I was jumping onto the call. My lack of preparation affected someone other than myself... [That's a whole word by itself, but not the focus of this chat. We may have to come back to it in part two]. Preparation made the baking process so much easier. I felt organized, and I didn't feel rushed. I mean think about the cooking channel. You normally don't see them rushing to go find one ingredient after the other. Everything is pre-measured, set, and ready to go for the recording.
I know that we're talking about the process, and that preparation technically comes before. But how you prepare determines how you go through the process. Now the word prepare is in the Bible 81 times. One of my favorite uses of the word prepare is that Jesus is preparing a place for us in His Father's house (John 14:2-3). Now I'm pretty sure that getting to heaven is great, but Jesus is preparing a place specifically for each of us. How special is that?! Many of the other references of the word prepare are in the Old Testament, referring to preparing a sacrifice for the Lord. But you couldn't just grab any animal and call it a sacrifice. It had to be your best. Are we preparing the best we can for what God has for us at the end of this process? We also know that John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus (Mark 1:2). If anyone could've shown up without any preparation, it was Jesus, but God made sure there were preparations made for him. Are we allowing those who God has sent ahead of us to prepare? Remember that John didn't feel worthy to baptize Jesus, but that was the way it had to happen (Matthew 3:13-15). Jesus knew that this was part of His preparation and humbled himself. Are we humbling ourselves as necessary as we prepare for the process?
Homework Time: Remember that thing you wrote down last week? What you are hoping in God for! Continue to declare your hope in the Lord. Today, reflect on what you have done to prepare for that thing. Reflect on the places where you may have tried to get ahead of God when He was preparing a way for you through someone else. Repent as needed. If you're not sure how to prepare. Ask God. Write down what He tells you to do, and DO IT! I'll be doing my homework alongside you.
The picture isn't quite showing us the baking process, but it looks like this person is prepared to cook something. Get everything you need for the process! As a note: while I was writing, I realized that it is going to have to be a series of blog posts. I learned A LOT from baking those cookies. Come back throughout the week to find out more about "trusting the process."
Remember that you are GRACED and God loves you so much. Thanks for stopping by.
December 13, 2020