Trusting the Process

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

James 1:4

We celebrate God’s promises. We rejoice in His power. But oftentimes, we struggle with His process.

God’s process often feels uncomfortable. It stretches us, makes us wait longer than we wish, or pushes us to endure seasons that feel confusing or unnecessary. Yet it is in the process that our faith is strengthened and our dependence on Him deepens. Trusting God’s process can often feel like navigating a wilderness. But it’s in that very process that we find our true selves and our deepest connections with our sovereign God.

A little girl crawled up into her father’s lap. He was sitting in his easy chair, reading his daily paper. She climbed up in his lap, looked in his eyes, and told him how much she wanted him to build her a dollhouse. She didn’t climb down until Daddy had promised to build her a dollhouse. And although he was somewhat distracted, he agreed, mostly because he just wanted her to get off his lap so that he could keep reading his newspaper.

The father soon forgot his promise. Days later, though, he walked into her room and was stunned. His daughter had packed up all her dolls and doll furniture. She had set them to the side in anticipation of the move to their new dollhouse.

When he asked why she was preparing so soon, her answer cut him to the heart: She said, “Because I know you’re going to be building my dolls our dollhouse. And even though it hasn’t yet begun, I packed them up because you always keep your promises.”

That is the kind of faith God calls us to in the middle of His process. The promise hasn’t materialized. The construction hasn’t even started. Yet we prepare because we know the character of the One who made the promise. We trust not only the end but also the steps that lead there.

This is why we can live with anticipation instead of anxiety, even in seasons of waiting. God may not move at the pace we prefer. He may take us through detours, delays, or deserts. But every step is part of a larger design. My uncertainty, my ambiguity, my lack of confidence, my fear of missing, the struggle of human comparison—all of these are swallowed up when I learn to trust God’s process.