It is not about the end...

​DBC Church Family,

One of my children struggles with perseverance. If they can not grasp, accomplish, master something quickly then they get frustrated and want to quit. It does not matter if it is a concept in school, a choir, a project. It is hard to reinforce or instill in them the importance of striving for, working for, struggling with something until it is accomplished. I remember in high school when I was taking Geometry and we got to learning proofs. I did not do well. It was not because I did not get the right answer, but that I would not show all my work. Well as you can imagine I got graded down. It was hard for me to understand that it was not about the right answer, but the processes that I went through to get the answer. Well, now you know where my child gets it from! Many times I feel that we as Christians, myself included are the same way. I want to have that deep relationship, I want that prayer answered, but yet we do not take the time to struggle through the process. We want to jump to the end, but we forget that the most important part is the process or the journey. Just recently Ivan talked about the leap of Faith. We all want faith that can move mountains, but faith is built or grown. The best explanation that I have heard is that faith is a muscle and you have to exercise it to make it stronger. Sometimes that is a big jump other times it is a series of small jumps to warm up for the big jump. It is persevering through, and asking God to help us understand why the process is important. The process is not always rational or logical. Sometimes it is trusting God to do what you cannot do. Other times is understanding that God has the end goal in sight and we have to do what seems counterintuitive because that is what He is saying to do. Sometimes He says jump and we do not know how far or how high, but it is our willingness and obedience that He wants.

No matter the struggle, trial, process or the goal we can exercise our faith by persevering and trusting God. And through that God will move mountains in our lives. 

Jared