Trust the Process

A few weeks ago, I had to get a cast on my hand. I was scrimmaging with my 8th grade son’s basketball team, and broke my pinky finger in two places.

It was the first time I’ve had a cast since I tried to climb out of my crib as a baby (apparently I’ve never liked being told I can’t do something), and the whole process was pretty fascinating to me.

It would have been pretty cool had I not been forced to have the thing permanently attached to my hand.

When I went back to the doctor after a couple of weeks, they took new x-rays which showed the gaps between the bones starting to fill in.

The phrase the doctor used was, “the bones are knitting together well.”

And immediately I thought of Psalm 139:13, which says:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I started researching how bones actually heal. I learned that when you break a bone, the first thing that happens is a callous will form around the point where the bone is broken. This acts as a bridge between the two bones.

The next thing that happens is the osteoplasts show up and start putting calcium into the callous, making it hard. These are kind of like the construction workers of the body, and they make it so that within a couple of months you can’t tell where one bone ends and the other begins.

But the whole process takes time (in my case, 6 weeks). And waiting is hard.

It’s frustrating not being able to do certain things. I just want to go back to my regular routine, and have to fight constantly against the urge to do things I know I shouldn’t.

I have to be patient and trust the process.

James 1:4 says:

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The perfect work doesn’t have to be healing a broken bone, by the way. Maybe it’s a career transition, or a new stage of life you’re entering. Whatever season you find yourself in, the principle is the same: don’t get out in front of God.

The challenge is to be content but not complacent. The right thing at the wrong time is often the wrong thing. Be patient and grow where you’re planted. You may not be able to see the work that’s happening, but trust the process. Philippians 1:6 (NLT) says:

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Until next time – keep going, and keep growing!

— Mike Schmitz

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