Don't Rush the Process

Process is a word heard to describe the steps ordered to complete a work or service. This word is applied to everyday dealings from the order process in sales, the preparation process for athletes, the cooking process, the supply chain process in manufacturing process to the creation process in art. Whether baking a cake, ordering shoes online, preparing for a football game or building a rocket, there are specific steps to follow that relate a successful outcome. Taking short cuts, or rushing may impact the end result.

In my art process there is the imagine, design, prepare, sketch, paint and seal process. Each of these takes time and consideration. I tend to want to rush through the sketch part and get to the painting. Some of this is due to self-imposed constraints driving me to hurry through what I should be enjoying. Afterall this is supposed to be relaxing, a gift to be treasured.

Do you ever get in a hurry and skip important steps? Perhaps at times you are like me and overwhelmed with all that has to be done. Your home, family, work obligations are vying for your attention. Even leisure activities can derail your focus. Moving through things with haste may not degrade the end product, but it does increase the risk for something to go wrong.

Rushing not only can affect the quality of the product or service, but it is also a joy robber. You may accomplish the task satisfactorily even exceeding expectations, but your time was spent fretting or anxious. We should examine when this first becomes evident. This world is crazed with wanting more, faster. This rushing through our days has extracted the all-important state of being thankful and joy filled design the Lord intended us to experience in the abundant life.

This morning I started with the intent of completing a commission piece. The person I am painting it for had told me more than once, "No Rush". With a background in Project Management, that word does not compute. Everything revolves around a schedule which is usually compressed with limited resources to accomplish. As an artist, I seldom work on one painting at a time, and my mind is full of things I want to paint. There is not enough time to get it out of my head and down on the canvas. Hence, I feel a pressure to get things accomplished in a timely manner. I truly enjoy the gift the Lord has given me.

Our gifts are not to be a drudgery but a process to be enjoyed in His presence. He is the ultimate creator providing wisdom, knowledge and skill to accomplish every task we perform. Thing about it, He is the cause of every breath we take from our first to our last. He created us for a His purpose and good pleasure, not to run around in a frenzy from one thing to another fretting and anxious. Jesus tells us not to be anxious about anything but to present our request to him. Verse... He is the God of order not chaos. If you are robbed of joy and stressed out, STOP. Immediately get back to the process he designed for your life, call out to Him through prayer. The enemy came to steel, kill, and destroy, HE came to give us abundant life.

Take a breath today and seek Him. I am going to have another cup of coffee and go enjoy painting whatever I accomplish today. Afterall, it is all for His glory.