In Process of Time

There's this interesting phrase: in process of time. It's used a couple of times in scripture.

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And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
 -Genesis 4:1-3 (emphasis added)

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Eve had a baby: Cain. And as babies do, he grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he became a man. And once he was a man, he took up farming, and the land produced. In process of time; not all at once. Not in a hurry.


Here's another one, from Exodus:

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And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 
-Exodus 2:23 (emphasis added)

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It doesn't sound like anything happened to hasten the king's end, just he came to the end of his days. In process of time. Like happens to most of us. We grow old a little at a time, slowly, almost imperceptibly, not all at once.

Righteousness grows, bit by bit, little by little, line upon line as well. You can see that in the City of Enoch:

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And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven.
-Moses 7:21 (emphasis added)

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Lately, I've been pondering how "all things testify of Christ", and watching for it, trying to see how it happens. It's so easy to walk past so many good things, to not see the forest for the trees. I want to be able to see. So I've been watching. I've been thinking about this idea of "in process of time" -- not in the process of time, it never says that in the scriptures. It's always, "in process of time".

I read an article a while back (sadly, I've lost the link and can't find it) about how hard it is for city people - people like myself - to understand how things can improve over time. The author pointed out how cities degrade, properties devalue. The old television doesn't gain, it loses over time. The couch, the television, the car, all the trappings of urban and suburban life are like that. They age, they wear out, they get thrown away. The process of time is a process of degradation and decay, at least in the urban environment.

But in nature, it's not like that. Nature is different, and suggests different lessons.

The sapling grows up into an apple tree, and, in process of time, it starts bearing. It becomes more beautiful, more useful as it ages.

The chick grows to a Robin and fledges, and then the cycle renews with another generation of songbirds.

Seeds go into the ground, and in process of time, we have tomatoes, peas, and other delicious things.

Green apples will ripen in time.

Good things come to those who wait.

Time leads to growth, to maturity, to ripeness.

It's an interesting thing to ponder.