Trust the Process

The focal message for this month is TRUST THE PROCESS.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding ” (Proverbs 3:5)

You may be going through a challenging season at this present time or maybe you’ve been going through it for a while now. Ever heard of the saying ‘when it rains, it pours? It can feel like one thing happens after another and we are often left asking God why? Sometimes you get an answer but there are many times that you never find out why things happen to you and this can be unsettling, confusing and, for many people, it can be faith-altering.

Let’s go back to the Word to learn a bit more about how God deals with seasons of challenge. A character in the Bible that we admire greatly is Job. In Job Chapter 1 verses 13-19 we see Job being told back to back that he has lost all his cattle, livelihood, and family. Imagine how Job must have felt. He was a righteous man without blemish, yet he had lost everything. Friends around him told him that he must have done something wrong to suffer such misfortune, but that was not the case. It shows us that ‘bad’ things can happen to good people. It’s not always a checks and balances exercise. Job asks God ‘Why?’, which is a natural reaction to have. The most shocking thing is that God never tells Job why. Instead, He highlights that His wisdom should not be questioned. After all, where was Job when God was creating the universe? Sounds like a response many of our own parents would give us if we were to ever question them!

If you were to go through challenges and God were to tell you why He allowed it to happen to you, no answer would ever ‘feel’ good enough. There isn’t an answer that would satisfy us. His ways are higher than our ways. Our thoughts are not the same as God’s own thoughts. Our understanding is so limited compared to God’s. If He were to explain to us ‘why’, we would always want to know why He didn't do it in another way or if we really had to go through aaaaaaaall we went through. We would prefer an answer, but we don’t actually need one. What we need is trust.

If we say we believe in God and that He TRULY has our best interests at heart, then we must trust that it IS well with us regardless of how things may look to the human eye. We must walk by faith and not by sight, however, all these things are easier said than done. Learning to trust the process can be difficult. Many Christians talk a lot about the end result, the testimony, and the fact that “God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can think or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20) but very few talk about the journey leading up to the testimony and how we process that through our faith. We can see through the story of Job that God did not CAUSE Job’s misfortune but he ALLOWED it to happen. Did you notice that the enemy had to ask permission from God before he acted? That there is a reminder that God is Sovereign and in control of every bit of your life. If He allows something to happen, there must be a greater purpose and it has to be for our good. Imagine you are in a maze. When you are navigating your way around, you have no idea where the exit is or what the best route is, whereas God sees the maze from an aerial view. He can see the best path and so if there is anyone you can trust, it’s Him.

In the end, God restored Job’s life. When God restores, he doesn’t replace what you’ve lost, he gives you MORE than what you had before. He is a loving and faithful God. Whatever you are going through, whatever challenges you are experiencing, please don’t lose faith. The enemy is not after material things, he is after your mind and your relationship with God. If you lose these things, it has a domino effect penetrating all other areas of your life negatively. Through the pain or difficulties, the prayer should be for healing and peace, not to understand ‘why’ for we may never get the answer. Let’s also not forget about giving thanks in ALL things too. If you struggle to pray, put on some praise and worship and fill the atmosphere. Once you have peace about a situation, you can start to take positive steps forward and when that testimony arrives, don’t forget to share it and give God the glory. There is someone out there waiting for you to share your journey and testimony so they can be encouraged and take steps toward hope. The Bible says that “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). You are not the first to go through what you are going through, but the difference is how you respond to the challenge; turning to God first before friends and social media must be the way. God loves you beyond measure. Can you imagine sacrificing your own child for someone? God did that and He did that for YOU. All of it - for you. Now THAT is love. He will never leave nor forsake you. You may be fearful about what the future holds but what sets you apart from the world is that you can never be hopeless. There is always Hope. We know the testimony is coming…it’s just a matter of when. Sometimes that testimony is not packaged how we expect it to be either. What you think you want is not necessarily what you need. God knows what you need and when. The question is, are you going to be controlled your whole life by what you don't know the answer to or are you going to make a decision to lean into what you do know? What you do know is that God takes what the enemy intends for evil and turns it into something for your good.

So, are you willing to go the distance with God and trust in the process?