Process

Incremental. Compounding. Slow. 

"Change is the task of the Holy Spirit and this whole change thing is a process, not an event. You know that I'm not a huge fan of process, but lasting change takes time, and I hear you whisper that I'm worth your time." -William P. Young 

Christine Caine launched us into a new thought garden, a new metaphor of life and living and hurting and changing on that January day at Passion 2014. 

In my own words, I will paraphrase key points on what she said that changed my life forever. 

You are camera film. Your circumstances are the tools by which photos are taken and developed. God is the photographer. He impresses an image of your future into your soul that is so unique, so intimate and personal, that you may not be able to articulate it even if you tried. He takes you into the dark room. 

There. In the dark. No more clarity. Only his hands. This is where he does most of the work, developing the image he impressed into you, agitating the film (which is you), with the end goal of seeing his masterpiece created in what was formerly blank film. Systematically cleansing and encouraging the film through chemicals and handy materials (circumstances), he brings out of you what only he could have created in the first place. All the while smiling and looking forward with excited anticipation at his handiwork, he is fully present in the moment and in control of the entire process. 

This process takes years. Only God knows how many. 

"People will always have opinions about you. But you live for God because he's the only one who has intimate knowledge of you." -Ann Voskamp 

If you see your life through the "lens" of what I just described, what would be different about how you live it out? What would be different about how you love people? How you love God? How you see other people and their processes? They are the other 35 exposures on the same roll. We can compare what God is doing in each of our lives no more than each exposure can compare itself to the next. 

I encourage you to take a little time today, sit down and write out the image you currently believe God has or is impressing on your soul and what circumstances he has used recently to develop that image. 

In the dark room. What if when things happen that we don't like, instead of reacting with doubt and frustration, I practiced responding with: "this is more proof that I'm in the dark room. Lord, keep doing your thing, and help me to have a soft heart around changing."

Along the Passion conference journey I've been on for the last four years, many images have been impressed in my soul as a result. One of the most "impressing" songs in that journey has been this one: 

Click here for the song.