"Take your jacket off! Put it back on!"
© image from The Karate Kid.
Now, some of us might be quite familiar with this line from the movie, "The Karate Kid" (the one played by Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan). For those of us who aren't, the movie was primarily about a child who was new in a particular town and was being bullied. For this reason, he wanted to learn karate to be able to physically defend himself. He meets a master Karate fighter (or was it Kung-fu?), and somehow gets him to mentor him.
Well, these particular words were some of the few words said teacher ever said during their earlier training sessions, and it involved the boy (named Dre) taking off his jacket in a particular way, and putting it back on repeatedly.
I remember feeling Dre's frustration as I watched every early training scene unfold. It was monotonous, and I wondered what purpose it had to serve. Seeing it being used later on though, was thrilling beyond words.
So, some days ago, I was sharing on how God handles us through processes, and how sometimes they might not make sense and might even feel completely unrelated or unnecessary, and yet somehow, at the "final stages", we see that each process had its role to play in our story.
Just like Dre in The Karate Kid, sometimes we go through processes that seem so out of place and never ending. Sometimes, we have a picture from God in mind: He shows us where he wants to take us. But then, once we begin the journey, it might feel like he's taking detours, and we're left wondering, "What in God's name is actually going on?!"
"Greatness is that way, God! Why are you taking the other bend?"
"1+1 is 2! No need to buy apples just to explain that!"
The above expressions give a bit of insight into how our journey towards becoming all that God already sees us as might be at times. Things might be "needlessly" slow or a bit too detailed than we'd prefer. Some seasons might seem to occur over and over again, without clear purpose, such that the paths He's taking us through right now look like they have completely nothing to do with where we're headed.
But truthfully, I think that's the beauty of walking with God. He leads us up till that final point, and yet does so in a way that gives our journey depth and context.
He's not just focused on where we're headed, but also on the texture of our journey—the lessons we learn, people we meet, and the beauty along the way.
And so today, I want it to be the same for you reading this.
Your journey with God isn't making sense? Well, how about you trust him anyways. I honestly believe that this phase you're in has its role to play in your story, whether it seems unrelated right now or not.
Trust the God of the process. Lean into him. His plans for you are beautiful and sure, and in the end, it'll all make sense.
Just like it did in the Karate kid. Actually, even better!
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