The Process

Fellow travelers,

A good friend of mine shared this with me, and I thought it was well worth passing along. (Thanks Billy)

Graham Cooke pointed out in a teaching that God takes us through a process:

1. Declaration:  He declares what he will do in our lives. (Abraham:  a great nation/a son, Jospeh:  the dreams, Moses: deliver Israel, etc.)
2. Distress:  He makes it look like the declaration will never happen.  (Abraham: barrenness, Joseph:  sold into slavery, Moses:  40yrs in the desert/Pharaoh's hard heart, etc.)
3. Development:  He build's character and grows our faith when we trust despite the circumstances, so that we are in it for him and not the promise.  (Abraham:  great faith, Joseph: integrity/forgiveness, Moses: boldness/confidence, etc.)
4. Display:  He fulfills his promise and does what he said he would do in a way that we least expect.  (Abraham:  child in old age, Jospeh:  2nd in command of Egypt, Moses:  the plagues and red sea, etc.)

What is so cool about this, is that we have totally seen God doing this in us over the years, even before we started this journey to moving overseas 2 years ago. 

I think that we are currently in step 3, hopefully moving on to step 4...but I have a feeling that this is not the kind of thing you go through only once. God has so many promises and dreams He wants to fulfill in us, I don't want to get comfortable where I am, and not let God take me further. 

Where are you in this process? I know how hard steps 2 and 3 can be...but take heart that the Display is on the way. Habakkuk 2:2-3 says:

² Then the LORD replied:

   “Write down the revelation 

   and make it plain on tablets 

   so that a herald^[a] may run with it. 

³ For the revelation awaits an appointed time; 

   it speaks of the end 

   and will not prove false. 

Though it linger, wait for it; 

   it^[b] will certainly come 

   and will not delay

God does not ever let His promise come back void...and that includes human error. He knows us, and He knows that we will have set backs, but God is not in a hurry. Our salvation is being worked out, our faith has to be tended like a garden, and He is he gardener. He knows when to prune, and when to leave the ground fallow. He also knows when to water, and how much sunlight we need. 

I hope this was as encouraging for you as it was for me. 

Happy Trails,

Luke