"Trust Me in the Process" Lyn Packer, Christchurch, New Zealand

The new year has been underway and life is already throwing surprises at us. Yet, in the midst of that, God is speaking to us, encouraging us, strengthening us, giving us much-needed wisdom, and more.

Recently, I've been hearing the Lord say, "Trust Me in the process." As I thought about what He said to me and prayed into it, I believe that God is saying, "Trust that the plans I have for you are for good and not evil, to give you a future and hope. Trust My goodness, trust My wisdom, trust My nature and character. I am trustworthy. Trust that I can see what you don't and trust that, in My love, I will not abandon you and leave you to face things or go through them alone."

In my life I've discovered that trust is based on knowing a person, and faith in someone is based on that person's trustworthiness. God's character is trustworthy and that's why we can have faith in Him. What a comfort and a hope that is when we are in a year full of unknowns! Because God is trustworthy, we can trust Him in the process. For me this has been a key lesson for life and ministry.

Wanting the Promise without the Process

Process is vital to our personal formation, and the formation of anything we do in life – in business, giving birth naturally or spiritually, raising our families, ministry, gaining victories, or manifesting promises from the Lord. So often, we want the promise without the process; the resurrection without the Cross or death; the provision without the need; the birth without the labor. We want the easy way, the miraculous intervention; yet in life it rarely works that way, and that is on purpose. The process is vital for our development and for the manifestation of dreams and prophetic promises.

Adversity and challenges come in life, and God does not waste them when they do. He promises to make all things work for good in our lives (Romans 8:28). God knows what He aims to birth and establish in and through our lives as He makes use of what life presents to us, and as we trust Him in the process. Your past and present are part of the formation process that has led to now, and your future will be the fruit of what you have allowed to be fashioned within you during the process. That process, and our moving through it successfully, is what produces in us confidence, authority and expertise in an area. (Photo via Unsplash)

If you've had a prophetic word spoken over you, then you will know that prophetic word started a process where God not only worked to see the word come to pass in your life, but He also worked on you. This happened so that you would become the person who could carry the authority that came through the learning process which took place as you waited for the fulfillment.

In Psalm 105:19, we read this of Joseph: "Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him." Joseph's prophetic revelation took him into a process that would eventually manifest in the fulfillment of that word. That process weighed, tested, and proved his trust in God in the adverse circumstances he faced along the way. It also tested and proved his character. It tested who he was in good times and hard times; what internal beliefs would manifest outwardly in his life and character and what would be proved false. It was the process, the testing, that formed and proved who He was and who God was in his life.

Becoming Like Jesus

In all that is happening in the world, many of us have questions regarding what may seem like the delay of a promise, provision, healing, etc. Earlier, I referenced Romans 8:28, where God promises to work all things for our good. In the very next verse, He says that His plan is for us to be conformed to the image of Christ – to become like Jesus!

The Lord is saying, "Trust Me in the time of process, because I am doing a work in you of both earthly and eternal value. My plan is to bring you into all I envisaged for you – to do a renewing, re-forming work in you in the process, making you like Christ; bringing you more and more into manifesting the reality that you are made in My image and likeness."

The process is vital to the promise. Rest in the fact that even though you may not see the whole picture, God does. He knows what He is doing in you, and what He will do through you to bless others during the process. He knows what's on the other side, what will be birthed and established in your life, and in others. In it all, He promises to give you wisdom and to be there with you!

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Lyn Packer Rob and Lyn Packer Ministries