Trust The Process

Off and on for the past year, I've been reading a little book about architecture written by Matthew Frederick. 

The other day I read a line that resonated with me, but (per usual) I had to sit with it for a while before I began to understand why.  

Frederick wrote about the design process and how frustrating it can be when the solutions to problems aren't immediately evident, or when the ideas aren't flowing well.  This is what he had to say:  

Engage the design process with patience...  Accept uncertainty.  Recognize as normal the feeling of lostness that attends too much of the process.  Don't seek to relieve your anxiety by marrying yourself prematurely to a design solution; design divorces are never pretty.  

Today I found myself reflecting on Frederick's words---especially in light of the many challenges swirling around me at the moment.  I  have tasks that need doing, problems to solve, feelings of uncertainty to deal with, things to write...  

And the place I often go to when I encounter "the feeling of lostness" that Frederick mentions isn't a healthy place by any stretch of the imagination.  

I have to confess that in this unhealthy place, I too-quickly begin to see myself as inadequate and lacking.  I beat myself up, and start making lists of all of the ways I have failed... or will fail.  

And I long for certainty.  

Frederick's words are both an inspiration and a challenge.  Because in the midst of lostness, most of us grasp at whatever feels solid, certain and will relieve us from our discomfort and anxiety.  

But when we do, we can deny ourselves the possibility of creating something beautiful, of designing something amazing.  We can also miss the possibility of becoming the people that God dreams for us to be when we settle for whatever takes away our pain.  

The Apostle Paul's words in Romans 8:25 speak to me this morning:  

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Sometimes the waiting, the design process... it takes time, and it requires more from us.  It requires that we live loosely in the act of creation, willing to let the Spirit move, guide and lead us to our truest selves... our truest purpose.  

May you find peace in the waiting... serenity in the uncertainty and lostness of your journey.  May you discover new levels of Spirit-filled creativity and passion as you trust the Process, who loves and cherishes you.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.