It’s All About the Process

I stood before a large wooden table covered in scrolls. An older man dressed in robes sat at the table. He had a quill pen in his hand and was busily writing something on a parchment. He stopped abruptly and looked me straight in the eye, “It’s all about the process,” he said with such force and conviction that I woke up with a start. In the midst of a dark and silent room, I was sorely tempted to fall back asleep, but an inner voice spoke with that same force and conviction, “Write it down, or you won’t remember it in the morning!” I stumbled out of bed, turned on the light, and found a pen and some kind of receipt on top of my dresser. I scribbled out ‘it’s all about the process,’ and returned to the comfort of my covers. I was asleep in an instant. When I woke the next morning, I had a vague recollection that I had had a dream, but I couldn’t recall anything about it. Suddenly I remembered that I had written something down. As soon as I had read the scribbled words, it all came flooding back to me. But what did it mean? I wrote the sentence on a 3x5 card and taped it to the side of my computer box, but it wasn’t until six months later that I understood its implications. My Bible reading for that day included Exodus 33. Verse thirteen leapt out at me: “Now therefore I pray, if I have found favor in your sight, show me now Your ways that I may know You, that I may find favor in Your sight.” I immediately understood that the ‘process’ of my dream referred to the ‘ways’ of God and that understanding His ways was the key to actually growing in my relationship with Him. This was a significant insight for me. My initial ‘conversion experience’ included a vow to seek out and to know God. This was later strengthened when I discovered Jesus’ definition of eternal life. “Now this is the eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One whom You have sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). It took fifty years, but the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fit together. I could come to know Him as I discovered His ways, His processes. It truly is ‘all about the process!’ So? What is the process? A large part of that answer, for me, has been uncovering the process of spiritual warfare, which is foundational to the process of spiritual growth. I have learned that if I truly desire to deepen my relationship with my heavenly Father, then I need to demolish any fortress raised up against knowing Him (2 Corinthians 10:1-6). But first, I needed to learn how to stand and withstand so that I could receive my marching orders and my battle plans. Incorporated into that training process has been a greater understanding of the New Covenant, which is God’s declaration of His way, His process in our lives. I needed to understand His overarching work, His ultimate process in order to partner with Him in working out my deliverance from the schemes of the devil. Furthermore, I needed to experience my true identity as a citizen of a heavenly kingdom and as a member of a divine household. I needed to know that these blessings, along with every single other heavenly blessing, was mine to experience through faith in Christ. That is a significant part of His way. Some swimming pools have what they call a ‘lazy river.’ It is essentially a part of the pool with a man-made current that allows you to float through a channel. I used to picture myself floating down the River of Life in much the same way. I would not claim to understand the fullness of the process, but with the knowledge that I now have, I can picture myself paddling in the current of God’s will, in partnership with His process, working out my deliverance. It’s all about the process!