Trust His Process

"What is the first thing you want me to say to you when you hear?" the mother signed the question to her hearing impaired son. The chance that the cochlear implants wouldn't work, wasn't even in the realm of possibility. "My name" her son responded. "It's as though I haven't got a name, because I've never heard it before."

Think about how many times you hear your own name throughout the day. If you are a parent, like me, it's about 250 times more than you'd prefer. Yet, this young boy pleaded to be able to hear his own name. The scene is heartbreaking and from the opening moments of the video, you can't help but root for the boy.

I've seen many other videos like it. The family gathers around in a hospital room, while the doctor turns on the implants for the first time. The patient begins to hear, cue the tears of joy that slowly roll down his or her cheeks, and the room is filled with elation. Video fades to black. I apologize for the spoiler here, but the video I'm describing didn't quite go that way. "What do you hear?" the doctor signed to the boy. The boy's response landed like a dropped rock, "nothing."

In the age of lightning fast information access, we want...no, we expect quick results. Even more, we expect quick results according to our desires, not God's design. Stepping on the scale after one day of dieting, we want to see the number we weighed in high school. Going into the office as a one year veteran of the job, we want that big promotion everyone has been whispering about. Coming home from a great first date, we listen in silence for the phone to ring. The truth is, weight loss takes a lot of persistence, perspiration, and patience...trust me I'm fat. Getting a promotion at work takes a great deal of hard work and ultimately it has to be earned, not bestowed. And as to the quiet cell phone, know there is someone better, someone created especially for you, and while you are waiting, you are going to learn a lot about yourself in the process.

So, back to the video of the boy with the cochlear implants. His were tears of sadness, disappointment, and frustration. His parents looked on in utter disbelief. But his story didn't end there. In the last scene of the video, we hear a recording of birds chirping happily. The noise coming from a recorder held by the boy. We hear the peaceful sounds of the birds, then the boy says, "I'm really happy I can hear it."

His result wasn't prompt, it was a process. Several months of tests and therapy. Time was committed, hard work ensued. I don't personally know the boy, but I can't help but think his result was bigger and better than he could have initially imagined. Your life is the same. Don't mistake God's "not right now" for God's "no." Don't minimize the personal growth and development present in God's process.

Don't you trust the mechanic when your car needs repairs? Don't you trust the chef when you are hungry? Don't you trust the doctor when you are sick? Why then, do you doubt God's goodness and His process? Is God less capable than those? Does He love you less? Trust in the One that created you. Trust in the One that loves you. Trust His process.

Much Love, Adam

Philippians 1:6: "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

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