Don't Despise the Process

I love summer.

Summer means being woken up by sunshine streaming through my window. It means going to sleep to the sounds of frogs and crickets. It means sleeping with my window open and feeling breezes blow through my stuffy, second-story bedroom window.

Summer means BBQ chicken and lemonade at a picnic table with my family. It means camping trips and sleeping in. It means water fights and homemade ice cream.

Summer means working in the sun, refueling my depleted bank account, and getting my tan on.

Summer means no homework, no classes, no school. No papers, no due dates, no finals, no tests.

Wait, did I say no tests? I didn't mean that. But maybe tests isn't the right word. Maybe trial? Or refining? Or maybe process is a better word...

See, for the past three years now (ever since I started college), no school for me means processing time. Refining time. Trial time, test time. Summer means Corinne gets to reflect on the past school year and ask God what needs to change before the next school year.

This summer is no different.

Did you know that asking God to pry you open and shine His light into you is a dangerous thing to ask? It's like asking Him for patience. He grants your request but the process of it is not pleasant at all. When the process starts, you wish it would just get over with and the end result would just happen.

Unfortunately, in my 20 years and 11 months experience of living, I don't think God has ever been like "Hey, you need to fix this! So let's just fix it! Boom! You're fixed!"

Nope. Normally it goes more like this:
"Hey Corinne, we need to fix this. Let's go through this process of discovery and conviction and struggle and surrender, release and healing. It's going to be tough and it's going to hurt. Let's do it."

Ouch.

I heard someone say once that God is not so much interested in giving you what you want as He is in your knowing Him as the Giver. He's more interested in your knowing Him as Healer than He is interested in your healing (sidenote: do not misread this and say God doesn't want to heal. That's not what I'm saying).
I think the same principle applies here. God's primary goal is for us to know Him. The best way to get to know someone is to do life with them. Life is a process and a journey. So God walks us through life. Through the process. Through the journey. Cuz He wants us to know Him. So He uses our imperfections and our failures and our shortcomings and our trials and temptations and all our stuff to help us know Him. Nothing in this life is an end in and of itself. Every event, every relationship, every everything is placed in your life for the purpose of you knowing God more.

So, I guess what I'm saying is this: Don't despise the process by which God shapes your character and molds your heart. He wants you to know Him, so He'll shape you and help you do so. It's uncomfortable, it's painful, it's stretching and it's growing. But it's all those things for a purpose. Be uncomfortable. Hurt. Stretch. Grow. Know that this process is designed for you to run to the One who knows you best and who will not leave you to the process by yourself. Let Him walk you through it. Better yet, walk with Him through it. It's a process, not something to be jumped or skipped. Even though it hurts or is hard, it's ok. It won't last forever. And when we get to the end, the results will be worth the hard work. It'll be worth the process.

Strike a chord with you? I want to hear about it! :) Leave me a comment or shoot me an email! What process has God taken you through or is He taking you through? What did you learn about Him and yourself? Or what are you learning?

A College Student's Application of 1 Corinthians 13

August 30, 2012

If I get all A's and stay on top of all my homework, but don't love those around me, I'm wasting my time.

If I have the right answers and intelligent replies, but don't love those around me, my words are empty.

If I manage all my time well, get all tasks accomplished and all practice hours in, but don't love those around me, I've missed something.

Love means kind words and appropriate responses. Loe means smiling at and talking to anybody, regardless of their major, manners, personality or agreeableness. Love means patience and grace. Love means really listening. Love means helpfulness and sweetness, regardless of circumstances, emotions or personal opinion. Love means honesty without cruelty.

Wisdom will be needed. As will grace and discretion.

Lord, teach me to love You by loving Your people. Teach me how to love those I come into contact with. Teach me how to respond, how to act, how to speak, how to smile, how to look. Ultimately, may I be swallowed up in You. May You consume me so that when people see me, they see You and our relationship.