Enjoying the Process

I have been enjoying some much needed vacation time this week and focusing my attention on some important reasons that I have to be thankful.  Part of my time has been invested in catching up on some reading.  I’ve finished one book that I had been working away at and will probably finish another today.  I read something in one of them today that really has me thinking about the process of my Christian life.

We often think about the goal of our Christian life as conformity to the image of Jesus and eventually a home in Heaven.  Those are both true and are important for us to remember because they are what await us at the end of the journey.  But what about the journey itself?  Do we view the journey as part of the excitement in being a Christ-follower?  Let me quote Wayne Jacobsen who writes of a friend who is a wood worker who “loves to work with wood and to make decorations for his home,” and who had a “light dawn” for him “when he noticed how differently he and his wife view his hobby.  She loves the finished product and delights in displaying it in their home.  He, however, enjoys the process of making it far more.  He loves to take a raw piece of wood and fashion it.  Once it’s finished he is already on to what he wants to do next.”  Wayne’s friend came to the realization one day that “God not only wants the product, but he actually enjoys the process.”

I have to admit that I never quite thought of it that way.  I sometimes get frustrated with myself in the process of spiritual growth and forget that God enjoys the process of shaping me into the “workmanship” that He already has planned out for me (Ephesians 2:10).  Paul also writes to the Philippians about God’s pleasure in the process of our growth.  “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Let’s remember that God enjoys the process of making us into the image of his son, Jesus.  He isn’t waiting for you to get to the final goal of complete likeness; he loves you completely and fully right now and is enjoying the process of making his new creation into what he already sees as true.  In theological terms we call it positional and progressive sanctification.  God enjoys the process of making it happen.
I’m really thankful for that today.

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