Trusting the Process by Chris Reed
Identity Network Aug. 9, 2019
Trusting the process isn't ever easy, as a general rule. As humans, we are naturally wired, and even socially conditioned, to try to take matters into our own hands. We desperately cling to the notion that if we can control every input, then we can control the output. Fortunately for us, life doesn't happen in a vacuum. Things are dynamic, circumstances are fluid, and change is the only constant. This can be unnerving as we are striving to control our own journey.
Today, I'd like to encourage you to take a different perspective: Instead of trying to control every step of the journey, what if we just tried ENJOYING each step? Instead of scratching and clawing to hold onto any semblance of control we can find, what if we just made the CHOICE to surrender? The very Spirit of God that gives us life is also beautifully keeping this universe of existence in a very delicate balance. If we trust that God is Love, then it only makes sense that as we trust, the outcome will flow from love. Our mantra should be that "everything is working out for my highest good." Everything though? YES, quite literally, EVERYTHING. Sometimes the thing we perceive as "bad" at first glance ends up being the catalyst for our biggest transformation or our greatest breakthrough.
I once read a story on the notion of "good" or "bad." Let's use an example of a fictional person named Steve. Steve is riding his bicycle and falls, breaking his leg. Our initial response is that this is definitely BAD. So, Steve goes to the hospital, and while having his broken leg examined, doctors discover a cancer in the marrow that is in very early stages, and easily treated before it is a life-threatening problem. Steve wouldn't have discovered this until the cancer had spread much further if not for breaking his leg. At this point, was breaking his leg really a "bad" thing?
Seeing From a Different Perspective
I feel it is important to point out that these things don't always or even predominantly come from calamity. This time, I'll use a more personal example, but nothing too juicy. When I was a small child, my parents were looking to buy a new home. They found one they just loved, and immediately put in an offer. The offer was rejected, so they went up a little bit. In the time between acceptance and closing, something went "wrong," and the deal fell through. My parents were pretty disappointed for about a week. It was exactly one week later when my parents were visiting my mom's parents (in the next neighborhood over), and a neighbor stopped to talk to them outside and told them about a house that was about to go up for sale due to the couple relocating out of state. The home was just under double the size, in a better neighborhood, with a much larger lot, and my parents got it for $10,000 less than the home they THOUGHT they had to have.
My point in all of this is that sometimes, what LOOKS to be one way is actually something totally different when a different perspective is presented. Trusting in the process is an acknowledgement that we don't see the entire picture; but rather, only one piece of the puzzle. Maybe the years you've spent pushing against that brick wall was never about moving the wall. Instead, maybe it was about strengthening you for what was to come next. Especially lately, my life has gone anything but according to plan, and I'm okay with that. I'll share in another post just how drastically things have changed with me just trusting the process.
If you don't see or hear this anywhere else today, YOU MATTER! YOU ARE IMPORTANT! YOU'VE GOT THIS!
With love.
Chris Reed
A Sure Foundation