As of late, the notion of “process” has been weighing
heavily on my mind. My most recent thoughts of this concept came a few weeks
ago as I was exercising. I began to reflect on a time in my life where
exercising was not so daunting as it is for me now. After having four kids, a
host of injuries, and entering into middle-age-this area has become quite the
challenge. You see, life happened; not as in some chance occurrence, but
through decisions that were orchestrated by me or at the will of someone else. All
of these things took me through a process. Becoming pregnant led me through the
process of nurturing life. Exercising led me through the process of becoming
fit. And well, becoming middle-aged led me through the process of making
decisions to ensure that my life would unfold in a way that would continue to allow me to live. All of these things required me to initiate steps to reach my desired goal-end. Process itself is defined as “a series of actions or steps
taken in order to achieve a particular end.”
When I think of my spiritual journey that too has been
replete with the tell-tell signs of process. I’ve been a believer of Yeshua
Hamashiach (Christ) for as long as I can remember. However, it is only up until
a few years ago that I truly became a follower. And
He *said to them, “Follow
Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19)
You
see, I knew that becoming a true disciple of Christ would cost me dearly,
and if we’re all honest most are unwilling to pay that price. However, the
cost of following Him pales in comparison to the cost of being lost in a world
system that only seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. So, despite not being able to
see what lie ahead and not knowing the full measure of the cost I said yes.
This my friend is the point at which process began.
Immediately, trials came and in some
instances, I thought I would burst under the weight of them all. Initially, I
didn’t understand what these trials represented and thought them to be an
attack of the enemy, which wasn’t the case. In the midst of this adversity, the
enemy wanted to infect my thinking hoping I would surmise that God isn’t good. However,
when you have a true revelation of the LORD God Almighty, nothing
can alter your view of Him. But guess what, even with this awareness those
trials still hurt. So, I did as Deuteronomy 11:18 says,
"You
shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and
you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on
your forehead.”
The more I did this, keeping the promises of God at the forefront of my mind, the
more battles I was able to face and overcome. As I meditated on what the Lord
was doing in me a picture of the children of Israel came into view.
You see, there was a shorter way that the Nation of
Israel could have taken that would have gotten them to the Promised Land
sooner. However, God
did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was
near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and
return to Egypt” (Exodus 13:18). He led them by the way of
the wilderness instead. The wilderness was the process by which the Israelites
would come to be a people who could withstand any foe. The Promised Land,
though a place of rest, being lush and bountiful was also one full of giants.
Having been enslaved for so long, God knew that if they immediately possessed
the promise they would have soon lost it through fear and intimidation, becoming
enslaved yet again.
You see, the process is always about us, and what God wants
to do to us and through us to get us to our Promised Land. Yes, there are
giants there but do you think your loving Father would send you into a
territory powerless? Your ability to defeat the giants is the result of
PROCESS! We must be as Caleb and declare-“We should by all
means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”(Numbers
13:30)
If
you find yourself in the wilderness, the throes of process know that God is
working something through you. There is an end to the process, but if you fail
to hold fast to the Word of God you will delay and even abort your process.
Twelve spies were sent out but only Caleb declared victory in the face of the
enemy. The Israelites still doubted even though Moses’ declared- “do not fear the
people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been
removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not
fear them”(Numbers 14:9). As
a result of disbelief, a generation would die off in the wilderness, their
children receiving the inheritance (Promised Land) in their stead. Know this
and settle it in your mind once and for all, the battle is fixed in your favor
because the enemy is already been defeated!
