Don't Despise The Process

The brisk wind brushed past my face and swept my hair over my shoulders.

"Ok, Leela. Is it Leela?"

I smiled. "Liel."

"Oh yes; German, right?"

"Hebrew."

"Hebrew, right. Ok Liel, on action you are going to walk down this path here and just observe what's

going on around. Ok? Don't walk too fast."

I nodded my head. The cameras focused in on me. I closed my eyes as I took in the moment. 

"Action!" 

I began walking down the crowded down-town Savannah street. I can't believe I'm finally in a film. 

My dream come true. My passion. I love this. 

"Slow down a little. Go back to one." I jogged back to my starting point. Get into character. I

breathed. "Action!" I walked down the street, lost in the character I was portraying. 

"Great! Cut!" I smiled. "Ok, we're ready for the real guys. Let's get first team down here." That was

my cue to go. "Ok, thanks Leil." So close. Why was my name so difficult?

I quickly moved out of the focus of the camera, and watched as the professional  took my place. Her

feet rested where mine once stood. 

"Action!" 

My mind spun a little as it settled back into reality. You aren't in a film. You aren't a character. You're 

a stand-in. Just a stand-in.

I closed my eyes as a memory flooded my mind. I was in my Stage Craft class, frowning down at my 

painting. I had been working for what seemed like an eternity on my colorful owl I had chosen to 

paint. As I stared at, it's colors seemed to collide  into one confusing mess. I sighed. My 

paintbrush needed a rinse. I went back dressing room with the big sink. As I walked in, I caught a 

glimpse of myself in the big mirror lining the wall. I sighed again. I'm a bigger mess than that owl is.

 Lord, what are you doing? I've been waiting so long. When will I see your plan? When will all that 

You are doing make sense? I walked back out, to see my professor standing over my painting, his 

brow furrowed. Oh great. He thinks it's a mess too. I cringed. "Hey bud! They said you're worried 

about Owlie. He's looking great!" I was stunned. "Really? He looks kind of--" I did a motion with my 

hands, trying to describe the turmoil my painting was in. "Well, I mean, it's not going to look great 

right now, but in the end I think it will be awesome. Don't despise the process." He walked off. I 

couldn't move. The words he had spoken so care-freely sunk into my very soul. 

"For we are His work of art, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Ephesians 2:10

Now, as I was standing in the midst of bustling movie-set, I allowed the truth of that passage to fill up

my tired soul.  Eventually, I had realized my professor was right. If you look at each step taken to

create a piece of art, you may be disappointed. But if you wait to see the end, you will realize how

 each stroke fit into the other to create a masterpiece. Now, here I was, on the brink of everything my

heart desired. And the phrase that meant so much to me a few days prior was again whispered into

my heart: don't despise the process. I smiled. My teacher had intended those words as encouragement

on my painting, but God had used them to encourage my heart. We are His special masterpiece, and

we are all in the process of becoming what He desires us to be. It's hard sometimes, because we like

to focus in on the here and now. And sometimes  the desire for what we want to see overrides the

importance of the present.

 The tiny little steps. The confusion of how it looks at the moment causes us to forget our Artist sees

the end. 

                   "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have it's perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." 

                                                        James 1:1-4

    My heart leapt. That was it! He is perfecting patience. I might not be where I want to be now, but

God knows all of the small things that must take place before I'm ready to be all that He desires.

I don't know when the struggle I am going through will end. I'm scared to think how long I may have 

to wait for patience to be perfected. But I know that I serve a beautiful Creator, who never makes  

mistakes. And I will not despise the process.