To be honest, I had gotten tired of hearing that phrase; "Trust the process"...well I've been trusting the process, thank you very much!
Trust is defined as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something, in the english dictionary. This word, is a paradoxical word, as it speaks to trusting a situation, and a person at the same time. I wish I could sit down with you, hold your hand and remind you to trust the process, as I remind myself. I say this because, I personally found trusting the process to be most challenging in my waiting season. Don’t get me wrong, I trust God, I do. However, I had a lot of moments when I doubted His strategy. It wasn’t until my breakthrough that the process made sense.
I wonder if Joseph ever felt this way too (yes the one and only Joseph, with the coat of many colours in the bible), one of my most favorite stories in the bible is joseph’s journey and everything he had to go through to reach his destiny. I wonder if his process made sense to him? Being sold into slavery by your own flesh and blood, being accused of attempted rape after acting in integrity, and ending up in prison. This strategy or the journey leading to his destiny, seems a bit unorthodox, unpresidented, or rather unfair or uncalled for, but seemingly Joseph had a divine revelation about his journey to his breakthrough, it appears that he had found it in himself to trust the process. The divine understanding is seen in a text found in the book of Genesis 50:20, when Joseph says to his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” In the latter passage, it sounds as though Joseph knew the mysteries of God and His sovereignty. He obediently submitted to the process. He trusted in God’s power to make all things work together for good.
It is imperative that we understand and live in the knowledge of God’s might, wisdom and sovereignty. When we imagine our path to success, we think linear and we think things should go from point A- point Z, but God’s systems do not operate according to our limited understanding. Joseph seemingly understood this , which is why he never lost hope, and he accomplished every assignment given to him, in every season he went through. While he waited on God for His breakthrough, he was still fully functional and not stagnant.
When reading his story, one could easily see the challenges and hardships of his process that eventually would lead him to a position in government and in the palace. He learnt to survive in all seasons, which is why he was able to manage the 7 years of abundance and the 7 years of famine. He had experienced high and low places in his process. God does not do things the conventional way as we know it. His way of doing things is beyond our comprehension, he works in the supernatural.
“His ways are higher than mine,'' is a phrase I use occasionally when things don’t go “my way” or the way I expected them to. This is how I remind myself that the rejection or a No, that I experience may seem like defeat to me in that moment but God can use that which is intended to break me to build me, and that which was meant to kill me, to give me life. God has been God a long time and He knows what He is doing. We have to be like Joseph and trust the process. There are qualities, and godly characteristics that are built in the process that we will not acquire anywhere else but through the refining fire of the process.
I have chosen to trust the process, not because of what I will get at the end, but I choose to truth the process because who I know I will be at the end. By staying in the fire, by going through everything and not avoiding it, I become better each day. It is because of my process that I’ve become the woman I am today, the woman God created me to be.
God's transforming power is revealed when we stay in the refining fire of the process. Even if everything seems like it's failing and all may seem chaotic, I know and I trust God. In the beginning of the book of Genesis, God reveals what He can do in a seemingly chaotic and dark situation, He speaks one word and everything changed. Let there be light; God said and till today light has never ceased to exist.
Some days are harder than others, and when those dark days come, I lean in on Jesus more, I press harder in prayer, worship, and praise but I don’t lose hope because I trust the God who is holding my hand in the process. I constantly ask for grace, and strength to go through each day and wisdom to overcome challenges.
Many have gone before us and they trusted the process, Jesus trusted the process of the cross, the Apostle Paul trusted the process of being persecuted, Ruth trusted the process of losing her husband and then having to follow her “poor” mother in law to a place that wasn’t her home, Joseph trusted the process of being enslaved and imprisoned, Lazarus trusted the process of death and grave clothes, Marry trusted the process of being impregnated by the Holy Spirit whilst engaged, Dr. Martin Luther King trusted the process of declaring a dream of something that seemed impossible at the time, Nelson Mandela trusted the process of living his family for 27 years, and spend all those years in prison fighting for equality for South Africans.
Trust your process too my sister and friend. God is faithful, He will fulfill every promise. Your breakthrough is much closer than you think. While in the process;prepare and get ready!