the process

I was listening to this great podcast that Jamie had sent me a couple of weeks ago. I wrote down a few things that stuck out to me, and haven't looked back at my notes until tonight...a night when I've been finding everything possible to keep me from my Accounting homework that happens to be due tomorrow.

One phrase that this pastor said was, "God is as interested in the process as he is in the destination."

I've been reading this sentence for the past five minutes, trying to dig deeper and see what complexity lies behind the simplicity of the phrase. I mean it is really a take on a popular quote used far too often, "life is a journey, not a destiation." I think there are a dozen or so versions of this same quote.

Sometimes when we hear those same cliches our entire life, we neglect to take a moment to think about the Truth that lies behind it. In the case of, "God is as interested in the process as he is in the destination," it seems too simple and too cliche to speak Truth, but tonight it is indeed speaking to my heart.

How many times have I prayed, "Lord, please just help me get this masters degree done." "Father, I know it's only Monday morning, but let Friday be here now." "God, being single is fine, but will you please introduce me to my husband tomorrow?" "Lord, I want to lose 15 pounds, and I'd like you to help me do it by next week!"

It seems, for me anyway, that I am always praying for the product of the journey. I want the end result and I want it now, full-well knowing that there is a process to getting from here to there. Having not considered that God may be just as interested in my Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as he is about my last day of the week. That even though he may hate Accounting as much as I, he'd still like to help me through each week, and every class until he allows me to accept my diploma. You know...maybe he really enjoys me being single - maybe he'd like a little more of me to himself before he brings an amazing man to walk by me for the rest of my life. And, he could be just as interested in seeing me step on the treadmill or choose an apple today as he is in seeing me a healthy 15 pounds lighter.

Hmmm...what if, I asked him to join me for the ride just as I constantly ask him to make the celebration happen?

As chaotic as my life is, could I be making it harder on myself as I constantly try to make each day come together by myself?

I was catching up on one of my new obsessions, One Tree Hill (thanks, AJ), earlier today. This one character, Brooke, was talking to her shrink. The woman said to her, "Brooke, all you ever talk about is your business, yet when you refer to your friends you describe them successful because of the relationships they have in their lives...why do you insist on going through life alone?"

I think this question can be posed to many of us. We accept Christ as our Savior, and praise God for allowing us a relationship with his son, and know that we are guaranteed a seat at his right hand at the end of our life. But what about the stuff in between? Why do we so often insist on going through life alone when his promise affirms that he is right there every step of the way?

In the spirit of the TC Marathon that took place this morning, God is not just a parent or friend waiting to pick us up off the ground at the end of those 26.2 miles. He's the one that did/does the months of training with us before the race begins, and wants to run beside us for each of those 26 miles, enduring the same blisters, thirst, and aches and pains as we do. He may not fix each one, but he'll be there to feel it along with us.

I'm just sitting here thinking about how much greater that destination could be if I allowed him to be with me thoughout the process? Think about it, I won't just be staring some beautiful stranger in the face. Instead I'll be looking at the same guy who took each step of that journey with me, and didn't simply create my destination, but carried me to it.