I love trying a new recipe. It may be a different twist on an old favorite or a new favorite in the making.

My latest attempt was a breakfast casserole. It required placing unbaked crescent rolls (an old favorite) on the bottom of a baking pan. Next, I poured a soufflé mixture (my something new) on top of the crescents.

The rolls were positioned to rise through the soufflé and form a golden flaky layer on top. But before our family’s breakfast became golden goodness, there was a process.

However, I was a skeptical cook.

Occasionally, I’d peer through the oven door waiting for the rolls to rise. It’s my usual response to waiting on a promised outcome. I look for any sign the promise is being fulfilled.

But there is a notable exception.

When it comes to God’s promises, the proof is not limited to what we see. The proof is in the Promise Keeper.

As His plan unfolds, there is more going on behind the scenes than we can fathom.

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT)

Are you waiting for a situation to change or a dream to come true? I am.

But there’s a process.

Circumstances, like my casserole, may look messy at first. In fact, the details may be messy for a while.

But with God, His process for our lives fits snugly into “the whole scope of His work.” It’s the bridge between our heart and the hidden beauty of His plan.

We may want to know more about the details; but patience prepares us to get to know more about God.

Then we assume the posture of willful waiting. We rely on God’s strength to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes, to see the beautiful ending He planned from the beginning.

As I aim to trust Him more, there’s often an awkward phase of learning to face my fears and relearning how to rest in Christ’s redemption. (see James 1:4)

But if I avoid His growth process, I grow weary in my waiting.

I become depleted by the futile effort of trying to figure God out. Anxiety grows as I bend my mind into scenarios of what could go wrong or what I can do on my own to make things right.

Thankfully, the blessed assurance of God’s faithfulness offers me peace. It rises like the crescent rolls pushing through every other “ingredient,” until it surfaces and surrounds my heart.

And yet, I can only abide in His peace to the extent I believe in His promises.

I’d read the recipe’s reviews. Other cooks made the casserole, tasted it and shared it with others. It received consistently high ratings. The proof was written in their testimonies. But God has written a testimony of His own.

And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11 NLT)

Living life through faith in Jesus empowers me to see His truth triumphs, even as I wait or wonder about an outcome.

According to my family and the empty baking dish, the casserole was delicious. The process worked. All my waiting and wondering eventually became hope for the heart and joy to the soul.

For more posts from the Becoming More series click here.

For the Breakfast Crescent Casserole recipe click here.