A GOD WORTH WAITING FOR

It’s morning and you walk out the door at 6:30am to head across town for an important engagement you have at 7:00am. All is going as expected until you turn the corner to see you left the headlights on all night. Your fears are confirmed as you turn the key in the ignition to no avail.

Two choices emerge in your mind. There is a bus stop half a mile from where you live and you would board a vehicle that can get you to your destination. You’d probably be late, but it’s definitely a possibility. Then there is a neighbour who lives next door but is known for her ability to turn every five (5)-minute task into half an hour. You call in the favor and she says she just needs to get dressed and will be there shortly.

By now it’s 6:40am. Do you begin the half mile trek to the bus stop or wait for your friend who continues to claim that she will be there soon? Your choice will reveal what you deem as most reliable to fulfill your need of getting to your meeting because we naturally wait on what we believe to be reliable.

There’s a reason no car is on queue at an empty filling station, hoping for the attendants to magically appear. There’s a reason no one is at the post office on Christmas day waiting to send their order. No one is coming. Waiting is pointless. We only wait on what we believe to be reliable.

To wait on God is to see Him as the greatest and only solution to a problem.  To wait on God is to affirm that He is reliable. To wait on God is to put your hope in Him above all other things.  To wait is to hope. To wait is an expression of faith. And this is not the unsure “I-hope-this-works” kind of faith.  This faith is an affirmation of the certainty and unfailing trust that we have in God.

Do you wait on God?  Do you persist in prayer expectantly before an answer comes? Or do you give up waiting on God after a few days?  Do you wait on God and look to Him throughout your day for your joy?  Or are you waiting on a text, Facebook message, or a certain number of “likes” on your last tweet to bring you a sense of happiness?  A lack of waiting on God reveals that you are not convinced that He is reliable in answering prayers or bringing true joy to His children.

The unfortunate reality is, we are all prone to wait on (and hope in) many other things besides God. We habitually wait on a change in circumstances, money, a person, or an opportunity as solutions to our problems. It does not come naturally to wait on God. Rather, waiting on God is a spiritual discipline that is to be cultivated, not something we can expect will happen automatically. This prayer showcases two important things. First, there is a temptation to wait on something other than God.  So, what are you tempted to wait for? What do you believe is a reliable solution to your current circumstances? A boyfriend, a husband, a change in your boss, a best friend, being in the inner circle, a smaller body, a job, a promotion, a successful ministry, more money, children, more children, nicer clothes?

Waiting is active.  It is a continuous and active looking to God as the answer to all problems and unfulfilled longings.  It is a conscious choice to persist in seeking God, not a subconscious existing between prayer requests. It is a fight to continually refocus the hope of our souls onto God alone. It is the constant reminding of our souls that He is trustworthy, He is reliable, and He will come through.  Though waiting on God is crucial when prayers remain unanswered and God seems distant, it is just as necessary in fruitful seasons when we are prone to complacency and self-reliance.

Only through communion with God do we find fullness of joy, abundant life, and help in every circumstance. Wait on him and thou shall in the end bloom!

STRONG, GIFTED, UNIQUE!

If you are reading this, chances are I don’t actually know you, i.e. we’ve never shaken hands, never talked face-to-face. But still, I feel like I know you. While I may not know you, I do know some things about you. You probably know these things about you, too. It’s just… sometimes, they’re easy to forget.

You are stronger than you think you are. It’s true. When you get tired and run down, it’s easy to lose sight of this. It’s easy to think you’re weak and you don’t have what it takes. But that’s not true. You are stronger than you think you are.

The first time I learned this about myself was when I jogged for two (2) hours straight some few months ago. It was a completely illogical decision. I have barely jogged more than twenty (20) minutes in the last five (5) to seven (7) years. But someone threw out the suggestion, and in the heat of the moment it seemed kind of glamorous and totally fascinating. And of course, I wanted to be glamorous and fascinating.

But instead of making me feel that way, doing that jog made me feel like I was completely unfit for such a task. I would look at the duration of time and length of the route I set out to complete and think, “there is no way I could possibly go that far,” or I’d see people who had come out for their regular exercise fly past me while I was jogging, and I would think to myself; “you’re so fat now, and can barely run. Oyiwodu, you can’t even breath and you’re barely thirty (30) minutes gone”.

My thoughts were everywhere. And as I watched others stream past me like gazelles in the wild, I clomped along like a Clydesdale, wondering whether I was going to make it at all – boy, was I exhausted already!

In less than an hour of jogging, when I was quite certain that the cramping in my legs would prevent me from finishing, all I could do was whisper to myself: “You’re stronger than you think you are”. And you know what? That’s right, cos I did complete the race in two (2) hours without stopping for a break! And if I was right about me then, chances are I’m right about you now.

You’re stronger than you think you are. Even when you’re out of hair. Even when you feel like a mess. Even when it seems like everyone else has it more “together” than you do. And I dare to say; especially in those moments. You’re stronger than you think you are.

You belong. Yes, you do. It might not seem like you have a place to belong or that you belong where you are, but you do. Sometimes we have to uncover our space, or discover it, or carve it out; which can be tricky to do without stepping on the toes of others, without accidentally taking up someone else’s space. When we occupy the space another was designed to occupy, we miss the peace of fitting in our own space, the one that was designed uniquely for us.

It’s a balancing act. But there is room for you. In life, in your career, in your family, in your church, in your community.

You just have to find it. You don’t have to fight for it, you don’t have to be sly about it, you don’t have to compete for it. It’s already yours. You own it. You just have to discover where it is and live into it as you grow into the most beautiful version of yourself. It won’t always be comfortable or easy, but do stop fighting to prove you belong. Infact, there is nothing to prove. You belong.

You are incredibly, uniquely gifted. You’d be amazed the things you can do - sing, write, build, create, draw, act, counsel, serve, love, cultivate, captivate, grow and be kind. What’s even more amazing is that you can do these things in such a way that no one else can, no one. What you do is beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

You are incredibly, uniquely gifted. It is so easy to forget this, isn’t it? It is so easy for our gifts to become an old hat. If I could have any talent in the world, if I were just picking, I wish I were eloquent. In fact, sometimes, when I’m home by myself, I open my mouth and pretend like what happens next is anything remotely resembling eloquence. But it’s not, really (take my word for it).

I know I am gifted in other ways and indeed, we all are. But it’s just so easy to think someone else’s gifts are more glamorous, more useful or even more exciting than ours.

To be clear, I don’t ever plan to stop speaking when I’m alone (I might even keep pretending it sounds good…lol) but I do plan to stop wishing away my gifts and to stop assuming someone else’s gifts are more impressive than mine.

You are uniquely and incredibly gifted. Yes, You. Take every chance to serve people, and to celebrate the gifts of others. Instead of resenting your gifts or wishing you had different ones, invest completely and wholeheartedly in the ones you’ve been given. 

Embrace opportunities. Grow your talent. Master your craft. Bloom!

FIVE THINGS I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE EVERYDAY

I’ll just say it. I’m prone to mood swings.  When I’m happy, I’m really happy. I feel it perfectly and intensely and could almost spill over with the sensation of being totally filled up and satisfied. At the same time, when I’m upset, or angry, I’m completely upset or angry and no matter the logic you use, you’ll be hard pressed to talk me out of feeling that way.

Feeling things is a good thing, it makes one highly empathetic to others. And yet, I must admit there are times this doesn’t always feel like a good thing. There are times I wish I could not empathize with someone because it hurts to feel empathy, and because when you empathize too much with too many people, after awhile you begin to feel the weight of the whole world on your shoulders.

There are also times when my tendency to feel deeply can alienate me from relationships, disconnect me from reality, and prevent me from making calm, clear-headed choices. There are times when my tendency to over-emote can derail my entire day.

Recently, I’ve been focusing on keeping those mood swings in check by reminding myself of a few things I must believe no matter how I feel or what mood I'm in.

§      The world is a good place, with good people where good things happen. No doubt, bad things happen too. But when I start my day with the assumption that good things often happen, my attention tends to be drawn to the good things that happen to me and around me. When an outcome is hanging in the balance, this assumption keeps me from wasting time with needless worry. Either way, focusing on good things keeps me from catastrophizing my life. Even if I’m having a bad day now, chances are the next half hour will be better.

§      People are not out to get you, stop feeling victimised. When I assume that people are not out to get me (that most people, most of the time, are really doing the best they can), it keeps me from overreacting when someone does something I don’t like, that frustrates me or hurts my feelings. Though I may not fully understand the motives behind others’ actions neither will I also be able to control them, I can only assume that their motives weren’t meant to hurt me and I can choose to ignore rather than retaliate when I’m offended.

§      What feels like a “crisis” is rarely as tragic as it seems. Those things that feel like a “crisis” in our daily life; not hearing the alarm, running out of gas, being late for an appointment, etc. will rarely seem as tragic when we look back on it two, five or ten hours from now. I’m learning to remind myself of this fact each day, so that when “crisis” come, I can stay calm.

§      I still have a lot to learn. Having this in mind keeps me from the fruitless task of trying to change the mind of someone who thinks differently than me. It keeps me teachable, and allows me to approach life with my eyes wide open. It also keeps me from getting frustrated with others who have a lot to learn too because in the end, we all do.

§      Life isn’t rigged. Sometimes it feels like the game of life is rigged. Some people are set up to be successful, others aren’t. Some have the resources to be successful, others don’t. Truth be told though, we’re all dealt a different hand in life but the game isn’t rigged. We all get out what we put in (we reap what we sow).

The reward of these choice of thoughts has helped me bloom.