when the process IS the purpose ...

sunday night at lifegroup we were having a discussion about the interaction between Jesus and philip before He fed the 5,000. “Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. turning to philip, he asked, ‘where can we buy bread to feed all these people?’ he was testing philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.’ philip replied, ‘even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” (john 6:5-7)

not that He’s trying to trick us, but God will often put us in situations to test our faith. He wants to know if we will turn to Him, trusting that He can come through, or if we will rely on our own strength. the observation made that night was how God isn’t as worried about how we ‘perform’ on a specific task, but what we will learn through the process. the next morning on the radio, one of the dj’s was quoted as saying, “God is more interested in what we are becoming than in where we are going.” that sounded familiar. then, i got to school and saw this posted on one of the teacher’s walls -


apparently God is trying to get something across.

how often, when faced with trials, do we automatically hope for deliverance. it goes against everything in our nature to just be okay with staying where we are - to just sit in our pain and submit to what God wants us to learn instead of jumping to the end of the journey and missing the lesson.

it’s like the song ‘right now’ written by christy burnham of undue favor.

would it be ok, if I asked you to stay - right where you are?
would you say yes to me, if all I wanted you to be, was right where you are?

never promised easy street, got to bend down and meet people, right where they are
i'd give you humble grace if you'd meet them in that place - right where they are
to follow through
when it's hard to do
and die to you
the higher call
to remain small - don't move at all

even though philip didn’t exactly ‘pass’ the test, Jesus was more concerned about what philip and the other disciples would learn by watching Him perform the miracle. and it was a lesson He was willing to teach over and over until they truly believed. the same is true for us. God asks that we be willing to stay right where He has placed us, for as long as it takes, to learn whatever it is He is trying to teach us.

we all want to arrive, like, yesterday. but what if enduring the pain is greater than anything we could ever accomplish? what if the process is actually the purpose?