The Process

Those two little words have been the story of my life. I feel like I go from one process to the next. And to tell you the truth, many times it has gotten frustrating, overwhelming, discouraging, depressing, and exhausting. “The Process” ugh! But I have learned this one thing through all my years living on this earth…… “The Process” is necessary, it is essential. But still, UGH!

Every process has ups and downs, valleys, and mountain tops. I don’t know about you, but I prefer those beautiful mountain top views where I feel I can finally breathe deep and take in all of the beautiful sites. But mountain tops do not come without climbs. The climb is always the UGH!!

One of my favorite places on earth are the Great Smoky Mountains in the state of Tennessee in the United States. It has been one of my family’s favorite places to visit throughout the years. One of the earlier years of us visiting, which has been many throughout the years, we decided as a family to hike up the tallest point of the mountain range open for visitors. This glorious mountain top stop is called Clingmans Dome. Not only is it the highest point in the Smoky Mountains National Park, but it is also the highest point in Tennessee. Our family prepped with water bottles, and we headed off to the starting point of a half-mile hike to the top. This hike was not through any rugged terrain but through a paved path that the park had created for visitors like us. I mean, a paved path, come on now, this was going to be a piece of cake (of which unfortunately we did not take any with us) and only a half mile…. easy, so we thought. Although a paved path guided us, we encountered quickly that this half-mile uphill, up a mountain path was nothing like the cake walk we had imagined. It was hard and exhausting. Nothing like the expectations we had set on or created in our minds. The scenario we had dreamt of in our heads of scaling up this hill quickly, effortlessly, and with smiles on our faces rapidly faded within the first two minutes. The mountain hiking process took us to quickly become exasperated and fatigued. By the time we got to the top there were no smiles, just a sweaty family with upset faces. Nothing of that process was great, except….. the arrival at Clingmans Dome. As soon as we stepped onto the top of that mountain, we quickly began taking in the beauty of the spectacular views we fought so hard to get to and completely put behind us the torture of that hike.

The processes that we face in our lives are just like our family’s hike up that mountain. We wanted, and thought, we could get there how we expected. Quickly and easily! That has been one of my major struggles in every process that I have faced, the waiting. My caliber on patience is pretty thin (I’m working on this with Jesus, no judgements please). I want to race to the finish line of every process. I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to struggle through it. The “I don’t want” is me wanting to control the process. It’s me wanting to take the wheel and zoom through it all because I want the answers now! Don’t we all? Isn’t this why we struggle with the process? We struggle because we don’t trust God with our lives. We are the ones who know better, so we need the control. We love God and say we trust Him but then put Him on a timeline. We create our own schedules and agendas and expect for Him to work out our process as we see fit. We forget that God’s plans for us are better than ones we could orchestrate for ourselves. And so, we want to rush things, which at the end leaves us exhausted, frustrated, angry, and all the things that our hormones throw at us. Simply because we want it our way.

God is more concerned about our trust in Him than the things we can do for Him. He is more concerned about our commitment and character to Him in each process He allows us to experience than in our jobs, titles, or positions. More than our hard work, speed in doing things, and all the efforts we put out, He wants our trust. Total reliance on Him and His timing for everything in our lives. Simply put, we don’t know what’s best for us, but He absolutely does.

To trust God with our process we need to believe that we can rely in Him to carry us to the mountain top. Stop trying to rush the process. Stop trying to take control. Surrender yourself completely to Him. And simply trust! He’s got you, and He knows what He is doing. Rely on Him, seek Him, worship Him, live a lifestyle that shows Him off to the world and He will take you through the process and to the top of that mountain where you can breathe in deep and take in the amazing views.

God is never late. He is always on time. Fearless woman, yes you; rise, surrender, and trust your creator. You were created by Him and for Him. I wasted too much time trying to take control of the process and it left me feeling empty. Don’t waste any more of your life doing God’s job. Let go of the wheel and let God take control of your process and your life. As soon as I gave up my control and surrendered my all to Him, every area of my life, He began to accelerate my process. If He did it with me, then He will certainly do it with you.

With Love,

Mimi