Whenever you see a truly fruitful life, rest assured that this is not the result of luck or chance. What they make look effortless took them years to master.

Something dear to them has been sacrificed in private. They have endured the valley of the shadow, walked through fire and flood and emerged stronger and more beautiful for the scars.

Fruitfulness is never the result of instant anything. It is always the result of a process … even if others were not privy to the journey.

He’s a God of process. The daily choosing–exercising free will–to submit to the process of being perfected, grows glory. The choosing is in private. The rhythm between wrestling the old nature and resting in Him. Between giving up and giving in. Between yell and yield. Between whine and win. This all happens out of public view, under the shadow.

It is in the valleys, not atop the mountains where most growth happens. It is there where beauty is exchanged for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

The prayer for more of His glory is an invitation into process.