In your best interest.

Growing up, our parents took a lot of decisions that upset us but were ultimately for our good. I recall with interest the times when I was ill and had to be forced to take medication, or times when I was instructed not to go play football with other children in the community, but stubbornly went, got bruised while playing and mum had to message those bruises with a very hot towel causing indescribable pain! Those were times I thought she was just too wicked, however, as an adult, I now know better.

In the words of legendary I.T. entrepreneur; Steve Jobs, “people do not know what they need until you show them”. Similarly there are many times we do not know what we need until God shows us. As a consequence of a life of crime, individuals sometimes spend in prison; some are reformed and meet with God in the process.  But how many people will voluntarily go to prison for reformation? God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. This directive was in their best interest but they didn’t realise this.

God does not plan, think of or do evil to His children (James 1:13). When unpleasant occurences befall us as God’s children, they are usually from the devil; our age-long adversary. Such things happen to us often because we are careless or we refuse to pray. At other times, God permits those tests and trials to build us and prepare us for a greater future. The story of Joseph is apt here. He suffered betrayal from his brothers, was put in a pit, sold to slavery (and entered Egypt naked because his brothers had taken away his coat of many colours and his captors wouldn’t be bothered about clothing their new slaves. In fact, slaves in those days were often inspected naked by prospective buyers to ensure they were free from sickness and physical deficiencies), seduced by Potiphar’s wife and thrown in the death row section of political prisoners. I can imagine that during the 13 year period of his ordeal, Joseph must have been distraught; asking many rhetorical questions and seeing the stark contrast between his childhood dreams of greatness and his current predicament. Eventually he was divinely promoted and became the prime minister in a foreign land, despite the fact that Egyptians hated Israelites. His tortuous journey eventually turned out for his good.

Like Joseph, I believe that you, my Dear Reader also have a lot of questions to answer as you see the wide gap between where you are now and where you know you ought to be. You may be experiencing delay or no fulfilment in your health, marriage, childbirth, career, family, e.t.c., but you must hold on in faith, be confident, maintain the right attitude, keep working, make efforts as you play your part and believe that at the end the day, it will end up for your good. With God, the means justifies the end. God wants us to learn lessons along the way that will build our character and help us manage the success that awaits us in the near future. He is more interested in our character than our comfort. Many have been ruined, not by failure, but by success thrown in their laps that they were poorly prepared for. Many celebrities have been ruined by lack of preparation and destructive habits that they cultivated before or as soon as they became successful. These include but are not limited to drug addiction, poor understanding of business, reckless spending, expensive lifestyles, peer pressure, poor diet/health habits, poor decision making skills, selfishness and arrogance. The children of Israel were loved by God; he parted the Red Sea, and drowned the Egyptians for their sake. Everyone knows that food usually comes from the soil, but God made their food to fall from the sky requiring minimal effort on their part. Water also comes from the softness of the earth, but God went out of His way to supply them with water from a hard place; the rock. This clearly shows that God was ready to do whatever was required for them to be safe and satisfied as He took them to the Promised Land.  In the course of the journey, their clothes did not fade and the soles of their footwears did not wear out, none of them died of hunger or thirst, but many died as a consequence of murmuring and disobedience. This should remind us of the need for discipline and the right attitude. Ex. 13:17 tells us that God took Israel through a longer route to get to the Promised Land when a shorter route was readily available. He did this for two reasons; to try them to see what was in their hearts and to ensure that they do not go back to Egypt when the inhabitants of the area rise to oppose them in war. Some would have  interpreted the longer journey as a waste of time, this was however not the case. Similarly, God caused the Kish’s (Saul’s Father) donkeys to get missing in a grand plan to anoint Saul king of Israel.

One key cause of disillusionment as we wait for things to get better is the fact that we do not realise that God’s perspective is often different from ours in our trying times. At such times, He is often silent, watching our attitude and disposition, even leaving our questions unanswered. Like He did for the Israelites, He looks into our hearts at such times. Persecution arose in the early Church to disperse them to preach the gospel all over the world, but some Christians at that time must have seen it as avoidable suffering. The same way our parents made decisions and took actions that were for our good but we didn’t realise it till a much later time. Jer. 29:11 reminds us that His thoughts for us are good and not evil. We must hold on in faith till the end, for at the end, it shall be well. If it isn’t well, then it is not the end. God is not wicked and won’t let you die without help. A dear Pastor of mine shared the story of how he experienced trying times. He knew lack, and often went for days without food. He wasn’t lazy, as he worked hard and tried his best to make ends meet, all to no avail. Desperate for a change, he fasted often and sought the face of God, but the more he fasted, the more difficult things became! He held on in blind faith in God, and today he is a renown evangelist, blessed by every definition of the word.

Many of us have been conditioned to believe that fasting provides immediate answers to our prayers, this is not always the case. The question I must ask you is that, what will you do when you fast, pray and work hard, but your desired change is not forthcoming? Will you deny the faith? Will you curse God? Will you compromise and seek other means outside of the will of God? DO NOT GIVE UP for you are stronger and more resolute than you even realise! Your attitude determines the duration of your trials. Act right and the pain won’t last for long. God will bring testimonies out of your tests and a message out of your mess. Never give up!