Process to Destination

It’s interesting how life operates. To get what I want I have to work for it. Life is all about process, not destination. It is the process that makes the destination worth it. When we are hungry we have to prepare the food and cook it, then we can enjoy the taste and substance of the food. We have to go through a waiting and preparation period to get what we want and desire. To take it even further with this example of food, in order to prepare the food we need money to purchase the food, which comes when we work 40 hour weeks doing tasks required of us to get the money.  The food I get to eat today is a process that took two weeks to develop, which is the time the income check gets processed from the last pay period.

                If I don’t work, I don’t get paid, resulting in no money, leading to me starving. We see this process or sowing and reaping all throughout our lives. Each day we are sowing or planting something and waiting for it to grow so we can enjoy the fruits of our labor. This process of work is laborious, it is not easy, and it requires hard work, sweat, sometimes tears and blood. Earlier I said that Life is all about the process, the reason for this is, because in the process, our character is being developed. When we wait, work and prepare, it is a time when our character is being refined. We are being shaped into Men and Women. There is something special and powerful when we endure through hard times and struggles. Our hearts are enlarged, our minds become more stable, and our spirits become more alive and free. During this time we have no choice but to rely on something bigger than ourselves. We see that our strength and ability is not enough and we begin to look around us. But everyone else is just like you. Then you hear a voice in your spirit say “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

                For the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross. He had to go through a process of beatings and bloodshed for the destination that he was looking at and working towards. He wanted something passionately that required him to go through bloodshed and the cross. He wanted us to have life and life abundantly; he wanted us to know the Father and his love for us. He wanted a bride, a family of brothers and sisters inheriting His righteousness and Kingdom, sitting with Him in heavenly places. It was done for people to be free and victorious, for friends to be compelled by love. For royal priests to live by the Spirit in all holiness and purity from what He accomplished.

                He went to the cross for the joy set before Him. Keep your eyes on the joy that is set before you, so you can endure your process of life with Jesus guiding and strengthening you.