Many of us find ourselves in situations where we wish we were at another level in our lives. We often pray to the Lord our God for our aspirations to be granted at the time we want them. Sometimes we get disillusioned thinking the Creator is not answering to our prayers. Even in difficult times we would wish the burdens afflicting us to be removed as soon as possible. The Lord knows our hopes and has a plan of action set for each of us and at different times. Only He sets the time.
Sundayword BY PROSPER TINGINI
Don’t get discouraged when your prayers seem not to be answered or when things are not happening fast enough. All of us have dreams of different kinds. Some are still dreaming of getting the right partner for marriage, about getting rich, promotion at work, buying a house and many other things people think of. It is good to set targets for ourselves on things to be achieved so as to measure our own progress. Emotional consequences can, however, set in if there is too much focus on the time limit should the target seem to be running away all the time.
We work and walk at our own pace, but God works at His own pace, many a time different from ours. How many times have we read true stories where people missed a bus or failed to catch a plane to get to their destination, only to find later that the same bus or plane got involved in an accident and people perished? While the initial reaction on missing the transport was that of despair, the same people would be thanking God for the delay that caused them to miss it and for having saved their lives. We have numerous testimonies of people who gave their lives to God thereafter. The delay that caused you to miss your target was actually God’s plan to save you from a pending disaster. Maybe you are still searching for the right marriage partner and it’s not happening fast enough. Just relax. If God had given you the partner early enough, maybe the marriage would have been a disaster and ended in divorce, or worse still even death. Your right and better partner is coming.
God’s delays are meant to give you better things than you were hoping for. They could be a blessing in disguise. Of course, there are times when you will lose out if you don’t achieve some desired result within a specified time limit. Maybe God wants it to happen at another time deliberately to give better results. If things don’t happen at your expected times, please don’t despair. Maintain your focus and keep the momentum going. God always has a plan which could be different from ours or at a different time which could yield better results. It is crucial that we at all times maintain our faith. Bringing God into the equation helps in the fulfilment of our dreams even if they come in a different way and at different times.
Many of us have had childhood dreams, but many of us have lived lives different from childhood dreams, sometimes even better and happier. A few have achieved their childhood dreams and are equally happy. Others lost their ways and faith and fell by the wayside. For those who have failed, please rise and walk again to another destination God has prepared for you, an even better destination. The world does not end with our failures or the delays. Life goes on to an otherwise better world. Move with the tide. You will get there, somewhere. Maintain your faith.
The Lord our God rescued the Israelites from over 400 years of slavery and took them out of Egypt to their promised land of milk and honey, Canaan. The journey should have taken just two weeks at most, but it took them 40 years to get to their destination. Many religious theories have been advanced to explain the causes of this big delay. At the end of the day and from the beginning God was himself in charge of this “great trek”. He knew the right time for them to enter into their inheritance. Had they entered within the time-frame we expected, certain things would not have turned out right. Disaster could have awaited them on their arrival in one way or another. God purposefully delayed their journey’s end by a whopping 40 years, yet they persevered and finally arrived at God’s planned time.
We often fall by the wayside by our lack of faith in the Lord, by giving up on things too quickly and easily. Our greed for quick solutions to our issues has corrupted us no wonder corruption has engulfed our society. We now want to manufacture our own times outside of those set by the authorities and outside of God’s times; to push time by force to achieve our desires. If we are impatient with God’s ways and times of doing things, then we might lose out on the better things He had planned for us. Blessings are consecrated favours from the Lord that come at their own anointed times and in various ways.
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Sometimes we make conditional demands telling God to do certain things for us within a specific time-frame in return for worshipping Him. Only when our expectations are met do we promise to honour God, at times. He might have another plan for us which is different from our own expectations, and to be delivered at His own time.
If we just stay focused in achieving things in our own time and plan of action, we might then end up blinded from seeing God’s answer in a different light. We end up missing God’s answer altogether. Accept His answers to your prayers even though they are not what you expected. He knows what He is doing and maybe He has better things in store for you, at His own time not yours. Trust Him unconditionally even if it doesn’t turn out your way in your own time.
For those who want their burdens and afflictions removed, please don’t curse the Lord for not taking action at your expected time. If God is biding His time, it is because it’s not the right time or the right thing to do at that particular time. Quit fighting what He is not changing. Be happy where you are and trust in God by handing over your troubles to Him. Continue to believe, but if it doesn’t change, then continue to trust. It may look like the end, but He has control, and not the devil. He has the final say. God’s ways are bigger and better. He uses his own delayed time and for a purpose. At times doors are closed because it’s a test of our faith. Let’s have a statement of faith even if things don’t happen our way, ie, unconditional faith. That is what God wants.
God’s ways and times are not ours. We often want to lock God in our own boxes for Him to do what we want of Him. Let God out of your own closed boxes. He can use whoever He wants in order to achieve His way at His own time. He can use your enemies or even the devil to fulfil a purpose. There are many such recorded cases in the Holy Bible. Stay open on how God answers your prayers. His methods may be different from the conventional methods we are used to, all coming at different times. God’s plan for your life will not always be logical or reasonable. Maybe what you are looking for is not God’s best plan at that particular time of need. He does things the supernatural way, so that he can get the distinct credit.
God’s ways may not be natural, traditional, conventional or timeous to you because he is an all-powerful God. If you stay connected to God all the time, you will remain in the supply line. He will deliver when the time is ripe. When you trust in God to do it his way, in His own time, then you will always live in a state of rest.
Prosper Tingini is the assembly president of the newly established and registered Children of God Missionary Assembly. As an interdenominational body, I invite all who wish to undertake Bible Studies with a view to be certified as ministers of religion to contact me on 0771 260 195 either by voice, SMS or WhatsApp. Email address: [email protected]
