Momentum For Monday, October 4th 2021

 "…nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Normally, I don't like to do a post that starts with negativity, but stick with me. Everyday, I dread the process of getting ready. The shower, bushing my teeth, doing my hair and make-up, getting dressed…I hate the whole thing. I just love a day off where I can either be lazy and take my time getting ready or just go somewhere on the drop of a dime looking like a scrub. I'm great as long as I don't have to do the whole getting ready thing in a hurry. Just me?

Hating processes is really common to us all though. You may love to travel and explore new places, but hate long flights or packing (also me). You may enjoy cooking, but hate grocery shopping or doing the dishes after the mess is made. Or you may love Christmas, but the shopping, cooking, and present wrapping is definitely a pain to handle.  

We normally dislike processes because they take time and often feel pointless. They require patience, diligence, and discipline that can often be misunderstood as boring. However, the areas of our lives where we consistently tend to processes are usually the areas that manifest with greatest strength (in good or bad instances). Healthy processes will be the journey of success, but unhealthy processes can be recognized as patterns of addiction or destructive cycles.  

Sticking with the positive here though, if any person longs to see some promises of God unfold in their life, then embracing seasons of processes will be required of us. The time and repetition it may take us from one season to another may seem dull, but there is a purpose that unfolds in going from one place to another. In the process we learn, we become, and we change. The end result is just the dangling carrot that God uses to shift us into more and more like Jesus, which is really the point in all processes that God requires of us.

So, if you find yourself in season of boring repetition, don't waste your opportunity. Be faithful with what you have now and don't quit. Be intentional and embrace the process. As a mentor has often said, "Discipline weighs in ounces, but regret in tons."

 "…And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like."
(2 Corinthians 3:18)