I HATE THE “P” WORD!
The “P” word?
YES, THE “P” WORD… PROCESS!”
P-R-O-C-E-S-S ..."fact of being carried on" - "journey" - “to yield”
a. series of actions that produce a change or development
b. a method of doing - of producing something
c. a forward movement
d. the course of time
To even whisper the word “PROCESS” evokes a range of emotions. The word makes the stout of heart weak in the knees. We scream, “Oh-h-h No-o-o!” Spin around three times, and swoon with the ‘vapors." We immediately bemoan the fact that we are not getting our supposed needs met NOW! (Stomp foot for emphasis)
Side Note: This term was used by polite 19th century women to mean (ahem) becoming emotionally overcome. Beginning in the 15th century, doctors thought gases from your stomach, called "vapors," could waft up to your brain, causing headaches and ill health. By the 18th century, these vapors had become "the vapors" and referred to a more general class of disorders that could include depression, hypochondria, nervousness, and excitability. Sometimes a person with the vapors had a lasting or chronic condition, but sometimes "getting the vapors" meant just having a brief headache or a fainting spell to be cured with smelling salts.
With my poetic license I could imagine this being a statement from Gone With the Wind. “Oh, Rhett, I am et up with the vapors!”
The word “PROCESS” is synonymous with an extended period of time that we don’t believe we possess, or delays to much needed answers. It is often associated with pain and prolonged distress.
Quote: “So then disappointment is the undoing of any given or hoped upon appointment. In other words our expectations were not met for one reason or another.”
About a year ago, I felt the Lord gave me this word for ‘SOMEONE’ else. “Do not curse the process.” All of nature knows and understands these laws. Without the proper processing time malformation or premature death can occur. It is God’s most willful creation, man, which is unwilling to yield to this code. We kick, scream and try to manipulate or microwave our way out of it.
Don’t you just hate when a well-meaning friend reminds you that you just have to go thru the “PROCESS?" Tell the truth…you feel the overwhelming urge to stuff an argyle sock in their mouth! It is a very different matter indeed to hear these words directly from your heavenly Father.
The duration of "PROCESS"can be a very dangerous, vulnerable time. Our Adamic Nature is quick to believe the lies that God has forgotten us, or worse, forsaken us.
Proverbs 13:12 (New Living Translation) "Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life."
Proverbs 13:12 (The Message) "Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick,
but a sudden good break can turn life around. "
The Word of God is overflowing with the Prophets of old cries for mercy during their times of "PROCESS." None more poignant than from the lips of King David after his long wait for the throne that had been rightfully his for 20 years, and the prolonged battle that ensued for his life.
Psalm 18:4-6 (The Message) The hangman's noose was tight at my throat; devil waters rushed over me. Hell's ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit.
6 A hostile world! I call to GOD, I cry to God to help me. From his palace he hears my call;
my cry brings me right into his presence— a private audience!
Unfortunately, revelation often comes only by way of suffering through the ‘Plan of Process.” Leo Tolstoy, the Russian Author of War and Peace, wrote that “It is by those who have suffered that the world has been advanced.”
Even history’s perfect example, Jesus the Christ, begged for a Plan B more than once.
Matthew 26:40-44: "Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?
41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away[a] unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. 44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again
A precious friend and I are currently sharing a ‘time of process” together. She recently encouraged me with these words, so aptly put; she had successfully made it from the fetal position (place of hopelessness) to her knees (place of faith). It is my prayer that I don’t force my own agenda for myself and those I cherish dearly. Prayerfully, in God’s timing we will all emerge mature and whole once more having survived the "PROCESS."
The Easter Season is the perfect time to reflect on the fact that even out of death, the "PROCESS" works.
t-t-f-n (ta-ta-for-now)
Once again, Mrs. Cathy, truly great blog! I will trust the process, even on THIS side of the ocean! ~Jill
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