It's all about the process!

Do you ever sit and just think about who God is? I mean, He is the great I AM so he can be all things to all people but do you ever think about who He is to you. He has been different things to me at different times in my life. He’s been a keeper, a deliverer, a healer. He’s been a provider and a redeemer and the best kind of comforter and friend. He’s quite simply God. He’s whatever you need Him to be. I think one of the greatest aspects of God that often goes unnoticed is that of teacher which He exhibited beautifully through Jesus. If we can catch on to what He's trying to teach us in life, the journey will become much smoother.

Sometimes I think we get so caught up in the emotions of our life that we fail to see the lessons. It’s hard when you’re in a valley situation to see the set of stairs that will lead you out. Sometimes all you can see are the walls. God has been showing me a lot lately about recognizing the process in the midst of the circumstance. Think about this…maybe you’ve been praying and praying for a job and you can’t seem to get one. However, you’ve been on lots of interviews and your resume is tight. You’ve networked and made lots of contacts. Then after a year of searching, the perfect job comes your way with everything that you’ve been looking for and you get it after what seems to be the best interview of your life. Is it possible that all of those interviews that you went on,  the many hours of finetuning your resume, and meeting all of those contacts were preparation for the blessing? It's all about the process!

When we read 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17, it’s usually when someone asks us what scripture is. But when I looked at it this morning in the NLT, it spoke to me about using the Word of God to recognize the process in the valley. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” If that isn’t a process, I don’t know what is. Instead of getting stuck in your hard place, use the Word to start climbing out of it. Look at the situation that you might be in and see what God could be trying to teach you and search the Word for your next step. It's all about the process!

We’ve all read or heard of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8…”For everything there is a season…” They are beautiful and meaningful verses that remind us that there is a time and place for everything. One of the verses probably applies to just about any situation that we can ever face. However,  I encourage you to read the entire chapter. There is one verse that stood out to me when thinking about this journey that we are on. “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” (Ecc. 3:11, NLT)  Don’t get caught up in where you are, trying to figure out why you are there. You can’t see God’s entire thought process for your life. The Bible says in more than one place that His thoughts are higher than ours.  God has a plan and it’s for your good.  Instead of worrying about what’s next, look for the good in the present. Instead of crying about the past, rejoice that God has given you a future. Instead of seeing the dry bones in your valley, ask God to breathe new life into them.  Instead of seeing the pain, I encourage you to look for the lesson. There’s gold at the end of the fire!

Be blessed.