WHEN GOD? WHEN EXACTLY? WHEN?
If your plans are postponed, or hindered for a time, even if your plans are coming to pass but very slowly, or they get stopped altogether – these can all be classified as delays. Perhaps you have been thinking . . . “I have waited for days; weeks; months and even years . . . it seems as if I have been waiting forever!”
“Where are you Father the maker of heaven and earth? Where are you Abba – while l am searching for you day and night and cannot find you? I am now getting discouraged, disappointed, and growing weary. Where exactly can I find you Jesus so that you can answer my prayers?”
One morning after praying and crying out to God for help, l said these words. “Father, I am weary of living miserably as I have been. I am tired of crying day and night without getting any response from you. My tears have now become my food day and night. I have wrestled constantly with my own thoughts. Help me, oh God!” God spoke to me very clearly that morning, “A delay is not a denial. Things can never happen when you think they should, but in my own time.” I began to feel peace within me. My attitude immediately changed, my way of thinking changed too, and I knew that I had been demanding results from God, instead of asking. I was telling God the time that I wanted things to be done and how they should be done. This was very wrong, but thank God for revealing to me that we should not demand from God – instead we should ask and then wait for his response. We should always wait for his time and not our own.
THE WAITING PERIOD
It is difficult to wait for anything or for something, but if we truly know who we are in Christ and to whom we belong then the struggle becomes easy. Everyone finds themselves in waiting rooms from time to time. It maybe a doctor’s office, dentist’s office, you can wait in a queue in the bank too, or in a grocery store at the cashier’s desk. How about waiting at the airport, at the bus stop, you can even wait at a traffic light or when driving your own car. It is all about waiting, life is about waiting. If we are not patient enough to wait for the issues that we deal with in our every day life, how will it be possible to wait for God? I am not very patient in dealing with the delays in everyday life, and to be very honest, that is why it is difficult for me to wait on God. But God revealed to me that if I can not wait for the things that I see with my own eyes it will be difficult to develop patience when waiting for God’s plan to unfold. I did consider everything to be a delay, whereas now, I know, in Jesus Christ all these circumstances were being used to shape me – even if we don’t get what we want when we want it, if God has promised it – a delay is not a denial.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2,11 teaches us about the different kinds of seasons in a year and that there are also different kinds of seasons in our lives. Jesus Christ died once and for all he will never die again. There are certain things that happen in our lives that will never happen again. Once God opens his door for us then no one can close that door. In other words what we need is a breakthrough to be the people whom God created us to be. Joshua, in the book of 1 Kings 18:43, was promised that it was going to rain, but he was never told when. Joshua waited patiently, because he knew that if God says he can do something he will do it. Our God is a faithful God who will never lie to his children. So during our times of waiting we should always wait with joy, expecting that God will do what he said he will do.
YOUR ENVIROMENT
People around us play a very important role in our lives, especially if things are not going well for us. Being around negative people will make us disappointed, discouraged, and sometimes even cause us to give up on our dreams. Friends, family members, our church family even co-workers can sometimes mislead us – not intentionally, but unknowingly. If God has put a dream inside us we must be very careful to guard it. There is a lot of truth in this, David’s brother tried to mislead him, but he did not listen because he knew whom he was and what God wanted to do with his life. 1 Samuel 17:28 “When Eliab, David’s brother heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked? ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is, you came down only to watch the battle.” People can discourage you. This is a very good lesson for us, there is nothing wrong with people advising us but we should be very careful not to lose our dreams.
NEVER GIVE UP
Our Lord God is the author of everything. He is the beginning and the ending. If he begins something in our lives he will make sure that whatever it is gets finished. Starting something for selfish reasons usually makes people give up before their goals are accomplished. Our true character can only be discovered by not giving up on our dreams. No matter how long it takes to make it, be patient and wait expecting that God will truly do what he said he will do. A delay is not a denial!
Let me encourage you. I have been there, I know what it is like; never ever give up on your dreams no matter how long it takes to get there. God is in control of our lives, so whatever we go through he knows everything about it, he knew us before we were even born. God has great plans for us, wonderful plans for his children to prosper. My dear brothers and sisters whatever delay you are facing in your life, it might be ongoing sickness, you might be searching for a job, you might be looking for a partner, I have good news for you . . . hang in there everything will be alright!
Written by Pasator Sandrah Mashingaidze, Assistant Pastor at Malvern Methodist Church – Toronto, Ontario.
