We must give ourselves permission to be in process. Too often we allow our failures and shortcomings to define us as if we have already arrived. Paul told the Philippians that he desired to lay hold of the fullness of the faith, but he had not yet obtained it. Look at what Paul said:
10 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [[b]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]
11 That if possible I may attain to the [[c]spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].
12 Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own.
13 I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. (Phil. 3:10-14, AMP)
Paul acknowledged that though his aspirations was the attainment of the fullness of the faith, he had not reached it, but he also gave the formula for attainment of the goal. Paul said he forgot those things that were behind him (both bad and good) and he looked forward to those things which were yet ahead of him. Paul was giving himself permission to be in process. He understood that focusing on the bad things of the past would shoulder him with a guilt complex that would bog him down. He knew that focusing on all of the past successes could easily have pushed him into the pit of arrogance or pinned him against the wall of complacency. His goal was ahead of him, so he learned from each experience and he pressed forward.
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| Dr. Rick Wallace |
Understanding that you are in process also allows you to side step the snares of the enemy as he points his accusatory finger at you. The power of grace, empowered by love, and facilitated by the blood, covers you as you press toward the goal of that higher calling of God. Grace empowers you to overcome your failures and still move forward to the ultimate goal.
It's okay, being in process is a part of obtaining the promise. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace
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