It just seems so right now with all
the pain expressed by believers; pain from disappointment. Never in my entire
life have I met disappointed believers like I do today; and all because of
unmet expectations? So many people complaining against God because they have
waited too long for the manifestation of His promises to them, yet nothing is
happening and their hearts are getting weary. It almost seems like God wickedly
withholds, just to inflict pain on all waiting. It is time to remind ourselves that
our God is good and working all the time we are complaining and/or worrying. I heard Bishop Jakes say "God orders
steps and not elevators", based on the scripture that says “the steps of a
righteous man are ordered by God”. He further explains that God is a God of
process and as such would often not be in a hurry. I couldn’t agree more. I
believe God takes all the time needed to ensure that whatever He does is
beautiful. Painfully slow as He may sometimes appear to be, it is all for our
good. God would not take so much time just to cause us pain. I won’t pretend like
I don’t often wish He could be much faster, but I have learnt over time, that
His ways are very different from ours and His thoughts far from ours. For our
God loves process; He also works to improve us through the process. We must learn
to take solace in the fact that His thoughts toward us are thoughts of good. No
wonder His blessings make rich. They are carefully crafted by God who would
look it over again to ensure that it is well suited to be a blessing in our
lives at the right time. Whatever God does in a life, He ensures that it is
truly beautiful and permanent.
Ecclesiastes 3: 14
"And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or
taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him."
There is no doubt that God has a purpose to the way He works. In
the way God worked during creation, He reaffirmed His love for process and
excellence. He definitely pays attention to details. God is Almighty Creator
and He could have spoken everything into existence in one day. He is the
biggest boss and has all the materials required for the work yet He crafted
everything so carefully it took Him one week to put it all together and then He
rested on the seventh day after working really hard. One of the most
interesting things for me was how God always checked His work Himself to see if
it could have been done better. He did not assume that it was perfect because
He made it. All we see is the end product (manifestation of promise), we often
don’t get to see all the work that goes into making the promise because God
hides it from us. After we have long received the promise, God would then
sometimes, let us see a glimpse of what went into the making of the promise.
The wait is always for good. Our God is not a time waster neither would He
steal our time; He came that we may have abundant life.
Genesis 1: 31
"And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
To work in the fullness of that which God ordained for us,
patience is required. The decision as to the timing is His. I wish patience was
a course or lesson in school, something learnt through study; but it isn’t, it
is learnt in the school of life. Even people naturally gifted with patience
find themselves in pain when they have to wait on the Lord. Our God does as He
please; but, He will surely “do”. I
often wonder why God took so long to dry the waters so Noah and his family
could come out. My very human mind tells me that He could have done it much
faster. I imagine Noah and his family must have been very glad when the waters
stopped pouring hoping to get out of the ark shortly but it didn’t happen. Noah
kept sending out birds and they kept returning until after a while when the
dove no longer returned home signifying to Noah that the water had dried. With
God, it is not unusual to wait for the next level so long one gets tired of
waiting and can't help but wonder if God has forgotten that He left someone in
the middle of a process He started. One thing I can say for certain at this
point in my life is that God never starts something He does not intend to
finish; will you let Him?
Luke 21: 19KJV “In
your patience possess your souls.
Hebrews 6: 12KJV
"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherit the promises."
Of course, process takes time and waiting can be painful. I really
don't know which one is worse, whether it is the waiting and not seeing any
signs or waiting even after one has started seeing signs of God working to
fulfill the promise. The second scenario can be really tricky because it’s easy
for people like that to fall into the temptation of wanting to help God. It
almost feels like God must be stuck, having set the process in motion, He is
needing some help completing it alone. He is at work and is just ensuring that
it is as it should be. We indeed have need of patience that we may enjoy the
fullness of that which He has ordained for us. Though patience may not be one
of the easiest things, it is a virtue which we ought to cultivate. As you wait,
everything may seem contrary, please wait and that includes when you don’t
understand where He is going or you think He is wrong. Times like these are the
times when the accuser of the brethren gets really busy trying different
options all geared at taking us away from God. Ignore him, and fill yourself
with the word of God. Remember that God is definitely working out something. He
always has a purpose to all that He does.
Remember how He took the Israelites
through the longer route on their way to the Promised Land. Though He did not
tell them that there was a shorter route nor did He explain why He did that but
He had a good reason. He knew Israel would not be in that Promised ever if they
went through the shorter route because the battles they would have faced would
have been too fierce for them. Even in the matter of taking over the land when
they got there, in His usual way, He gave them the land piece by piece. He
drove out the enemy systematically. The more land they took, they more land He
made available for them to take. He could have just driven out all their
enemies as they approached the Promised but He did not. He did it procedurally.
Do not give up on God. If your eyes are on Him, you will not be ashamed. The
ultimate victory will be yours.
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