Trusting the Process
Do you like sausage? Have you ever watched someone make them?
There's an old saying, attributed to everyone from Benjamin Franklin to Otto von Bismarck, that "Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made." It was first used as a reference to the operations of the United States government, and described the process of how legislation is made. The idea is that the end result might be good, but you don't really want to see how the political process works to get you there. And the specific reference to sausages is, it's not a pretty picture how they are made, and if people watched the process then they probably wouldn't want to eat them.
I have found that idiomatic expression applies to more than just politics and law-making. So much of life is like sausage-making. The process is complicated, and messy, and sometimes pretty disgusting, but in the end you are happy with the finished product.
Take for example the work on our campus buildings in recent weeks. From the flooring to the ramp to the lights to the painting to the stage redesign in Building B this week, sometimes you have to tear things down before you can rebuild them the way they need to be. For those of us who are a little on the OCD side, who thrive on order and consistency, that chaos can be frustrating. It is change, it is dis-order...but it is necessary. And the good news is that we are seeing some really nice and long-awaited improvements in our facilities week to week, even though getting there can be a little crazy.
I thought of that this week as I walked the dusty floors of our worship center, with workers all around like busy bees. It is a mess, and completely "out of order" as I write this, with the promise that it will be all cleaned up and looking great by Sunday. For me, I have to focus on what it is all going to look like when they are done instead of watching the sausage-making. And the reality is, that is how much of life is, especially for those of us Christ-followers who are seeking to grow in our relationship with Him.
Life is messy and hard and chaotic and frustrating sometimes, and rarely an orderly experience. Sometimes the Lord uses circumstances to knock the props out from beneath us, so that we have to lean on Him more. Sometimes we have to go through uncomfortable situations so that we can fully experience the comfort that He provides. Sometimes He has to comfort the afflicted, and sometimes He afflicts the comfortable. That's all a part of how the sausage is made that is our walk of discipleship.
Even at that, I don't always like the process, but I am grateful for the finished product. That's the point of passages like James 1 and Romans 5, that I referenced on Sunday and we discussed in our small group this week. They speak of our "counting it all joy" or "rejoicing" when we face trials and suffering, "because we know" that the end result is going to be worth it. Otherwise it would all just be meaningless chaos.
As someone in these parts has been known to say, you just have to "trust the process." More than that, I would say you have to trust the God of the process. He is at work, in us, and the end result will be a masterpiece.
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) I pray that you are walking in the Lord's good works in your life this week, and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
--Pastor Ken
