Faith 101: In God's Time

 

"As long as the world exists,

there will be a time for 
planting and harvest,

there will always be cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night."

GENESIS 8: 22 TEV

We have lots of plans in our lives.

We want to do different things;

to go somewhere for work or leisure;

to be somebody else other than our present and

to be with someone or someone else.

But we never know when is the best time for each of these;

when to prepare and when to celebrate.

Sometimes, everything seems to be like a long wait. As much as we can, we want to pull the hands of clock and get everything done ASAP. And the irony is that the longer we wait, the longer waiting becomes and it tests our patience and faith. And during the process, we either become a better person or our faith just wears off.

As we wait, we feel mixed emotions.

We become half-hearted;

we suddenly form plan A and B;

we bargain even to God.

But God promised, "There is time for everything as long as the world exists and as long as there is life".

There are always two opposing feelings as expected and we tend to weather different emotions but let us learn to face them faithfully.

1. PLANTING AND HARVEST: 

This is the season of life. There is a time for us to invest, to work hard, to sacrifice some important stuff, to plant. Then when the right time comes, we will reap the fruit of what we sowed. If we planted good seed, definitely we will harvest the best fruit of our labour, but if not, then let us accept the consequences.

2. COLD AND HEAT:

While we wait, mixed emotions surge to the point that we become anxious. Mild anxiety is normal, but anything that goes beyond the normal is the problem. As I remembered in one TV series, one of the actors said: "A little doubt is a sign of intelligence but an overwhelming doubt is a problem".

When waiting becomes longer than usual, either of these two things will happen: either our faith and hope turn cold 'til our enthusiasm fades away or our hopes become stronger, and our faith will keep flaming up and burning.

3. SUMMER AND WINTER:

In our lives, we also come to a point when everything flourishes like summer bloom. Everything just comes out naturally and abundantly but there will also be time when everything seems to be so hard to achieve, as hard as the iceberg or as delicate as snowflakes. No fruit becomes ready to pick up. These two opposing weathers will test us- are we going to trust God only when we have everything or even when we are empty?

4. DAY AND NIGHT:

The day marks the beginning for us to face a new life, to work on what we dream about and to take action. The night is for us to re-evaluate everything what we have done during the day, what we've achieved so far, what were the mistakes and shortcomings and what we need to improve. The night marks the opportunity for us to prepare and dream for another tomorrow. The challenge for us is to wake up in the morning and face all of the trials or continuously dwell in the night and just keep on dreaming.

The best way to start the day is to commit everything to God in prayer. All through out the day, our short prayers will fuel us. During the night, our quiet time with God will  reveal to us everything that needs to be.

So, regardless of the current situation we have, no matter the weather is, just keep on dreaming and take an action to achieve them. We have to put all of our trust to God and His perfect timing. Pray to God that He will give you a patient heart that is still willing to praise and glorify Him while waiting.