“For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfilment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day.” Hab 2:3 (Amplified)
Recently, I ran into an old acquaintance I had not seen for along time and we quickly decided to meet up the following weekend. During our frank exchange of views, my friend expressed his disappointment at what he perceived as my lack of progress. He even compared me with those whom he felt were not as talented as I was, but who have since become successes and beside whom I can no longer stand or whose shoe laces I can no longer tie. In other words, my friend was categorically saying that I am a failure. He then offered me what he thought was the solution to my problem, which he perceived was due to my lack of prayer. He enjoined me to pray for breakthrough so that I too can become a success. Not wanting to be contentious, I thanked him and promised to pray more. After all, no one has ever said that praying more hurt him. Nevertheless, the reality was that I did not have much physically to show him that I am no failure or that I consider myself God’s work in progress and that when my time comes, I too will become the success that others have become, and certainly more.
The point I am driving at is that it is imperative that you know what `stage, time or season you are in your life. If I hadn’t known what God had said concerning my life, encounters like these would have caused me to become depressed. However, I knew that while I can listen to other people’s concerned opinions, I am not bound to accept them. While I can gain immensely from what others have to share, and thus profit thereby, I am also comfortable rejecting that which I know goes against what God has already assured me in His word. The reality is that just as wishing for summer in the throes of winter never accelerates the onset of the preferred season, so also will prayer or anything else we do, however commendable, not force God’s hand or coax Him to shift His appointed time for the fulfilment of His promise to us. To reject this fact as some of us ignorantly do and pray for something, which God has not sanctioned is presumptuous at best and insulting to God’s intelligence and can only end in tears.
As human, one of the consequences of being social beings is that we tend to compare ourselves with each other. We expect people should be at a certain level at a particular stage of life. If they fail to live up to our expectations, we start looking down on them. Thankfully, God is not like that. He treats us as individuals and His plan for our lives are just as specific as they are unique. We need to understand that we are not in a race or in competition with each other. If God’s plan for your life requires you to be ahead of your compeers at a particular stage, so be it, but if not, that is still fine. The important fact that we must not lose sight of is that living in the centre of God’s will for our lives must be paramount. We are not all born on the same day and are, barring nuclear annihilation, unlikely to all die on the same day. So, choose to run the race of life, not fulfilling other people’s warped expectations, but to please the one who placed you on earth in the first place. So, if you are presently enjoying the season of fruitfulness, praise God and if not, praise the God of all seasons who will cause your own season of fruitfulness to come. Your appointed day will surely come.
Prayer:
Father, I join David in proclaiming that my times are in your hand. You are the Great Shepherd. Lead this sheep to green pastures so that my life can glorify you. Amen.