A statement became popular in soccer circles a while back when the new Arsenal coach, Mikel Arteta, took over the team from Unai Emery. He came on board when the team had suffered much defeat and ridicule from the fan base. Arsenal’s credibility was fading. When he entered the scene, he said he was starting a project with the team, and the people needed to be patient and ‘trust the process’. Things did not look as good in the first several matches–even in the remaining part of the season. One could almost dismiss it as a failed effort. But his clarion call was one–trust the process. Two seasons later, the team has risen to be runners-up in the league title holders. This shows, without a doubt, that anything successful will require time to materialize. This Arsenal story teaches us the value of patience and trust, even when the results tarry.
In the same way, we are like a project in God’s hands. He is taking us through a process until we become who he wants us to be. What are some things we should consider as God takes us through this journey of faith?
Unlearning is Challenging
They say you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. But is this the case with sanctification? As we grow, we get so familiar with what we know that introducing new ideas almost does not make sense. We are naturally very rigid beings. But whatever is impossible with man is possible with God (Luke 18:27). Let us consider the example of Bob (not an actual character), a middle-aged man (42 years) with a successful career so far. He has accomplished much that he had only hoped for a few years past. He is not super wealthy, mostly upper middle-class. He can pay rent, put food on the table, and care for his parents. Being an only child, he never learnt the value of sharing; anything he had was his own. He soon gets into a relationship with Stacy, and they are planning a wedding. The main problem is that Bob can’t get the hang of joint responsibilities. They keep having conflicts because of his independent thinking and lack of consideration. He is used to being a lone ranger, and that’s all he does. It will take Bob some time to unlearn his behaviour if he wants to since he has had it for 42 years.
From the time of our birth in this world, we come with a preset system founded on sin at the core (Ephesians 2:1-3). We are naturally sinful because of Adam’s Fall in the Garden (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). We have had a particular default thought process governed by the world, the flesh and the devil. Our track record goes beyond our mental understanding, making the unlearning journey an uphill task–impossible, in fact, without Christ. Think about Nicodemus in John 3. As a Pharisee, he found it hard to understand what Jesus was talking about because it differed from what he was used to hearing. To connect with Jesus, he had to unlearn what he initially knew. When God starts working on us, we must remind ourselves daily of the challenging process of unlearning our wrong mindsets and behaviours. It will not by any means take a day.
Learning Takes Time
We must also note that patience is not for unlearning alone but even for learning afresh. What has stayed in my system for years will not just vanish in a day. Yes, we have stories of many who have been delivered out of addiction immediately upon salvation–but those are rare incidents. Think of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:3-11). We never hear of her returning to it. What we know for sure is that she continued to follow Jesus. Whether it was smooth sailing or not, we do not know. But we do know that things mostly do not change immediately or in a snap, especially on matters character. The process of learning new ways takes time, and it is also plagued with warfare.
Peter had been a disciple of Jesus for three years as a disciple, yet even on the night of Christ’s arrest, he still had a lot of learning to do individually. In his letter (2 Peter 1:5-7), Peter tells his readers to make every effort to respond to God’s promises by pursuing character transformation. The qualities mentioned there are challenging to come by. They will take time to form within us as we submit to Christ daily. It would be wise to have friends who would help us grow in this journey. We cannot go at it alone.
Returning to Bob and Stacy’s story, Bob needs to start seeing things differently. However, Stacy must also realize it will take time because learning new things is equivalent to swimming upstream. Since you will be going against the tide, you must focus; otherwise, you may miss the mark. Once again, we must be patient to allow the Lord to establish his work in our hearts. Most people give up on themselves quickly because they seem to be taking one step forward and two steps backwards. Indeed, failing to achieve a desired goal does demoralize the soul, but we must remember to trust the process. In this life, it is enough to make baby steps consistently–even when there seems to be no progress. God is surely working behind the curtains.
God Will Bring His Work to Completion
Finally, there is no greater assurance than knowing that the one working on any particular project is diligent and faithful enough to accomplish it eventually. Let us say that you have an ongoing building project, and you have hired an architect to ensure the design on paper is what will be actualized on the ground. However, in your mind, you remember that the architect did a poor job on your friend’s house. Would you still have confidence in the process? I am sure you wouldn’t because the architect’s track record is wanting. But if, on the contrary, your friend’s house was done exceptionally well, then you would rest assured that the work would be delivered with excellence.
Unlike our architects, God has proven throughout history that he never leaves any work incomplete. From the beginning, in Genesis 1, he has shown us that he can do his work to the last bit. Genesis 1:31 says he was delighted with what he had made, that he even rested from his labour, satisfied (Genesis 2:1-3). Consider how God patiently used weak, failing men and women to accomplish his works (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rahab, Bathsheba, David, Ruth, Peter, Paul and others). All these people had weaknesses that God worked on until his purposes were accomplished. Paul wrote that the God who began the good work in us would complete it on the day of Christ (Philippians 1:6). We must first recognize that God delivers on any project he begins. He is the project manager, and you are the project. Trust him to accomplish his work in you perfectly. He will (Ephesians 3:20).
When Paul tells us that the final work shall be presented on the day of Christ Jesus, it’s a crucial reminder that we are works in progress. Therefore, we should be at rest even when we find ourselves seemingly going off the track. Amidst it all, we must always hold on to God because he never sleeps on the job. He is always working, even when we can’t see it. When the trumpet sounds, he shall present us faultless and blameless (Jude 1:24-25) before the Father.
May we, therefore, match onwards steadily, knowing full well that the One in charge of our souls is faithful. Let us fix our eyes on him firmly. The ending will be worth it.