Author: inhiscourtsblog

Delays in the Waiting Season

Waiting! I don’t think anyone likes waiting. I was recently travelling to work via the train. There was an incident in one of the train stations ahead, so all upcoming trains were delayed due to the incident. I was supposed to arrive at work 13 minutes before my shift starts. However, due to the delay, I arrived very late.
During this period of waiting on the train, you could see the expression on some people’s face. Sitting on the train, I was going really! Delay! Not again please! We waited and waited, but the train wasn’t moving. The train driver announced on the speaker that due to the incident, there’s going to be a detour. De……what? I said to myself. Detour? There were two trains ahead of us waiting to receive a go-ahead signal. So my train was third in the queue. Phone calls started going out while people call their different places of work or wherever they were going advising of the delay. I sat in the train not sure whether I should be angry at the train driver or the Metro train company for not having a plan B and not making enough contingency for unexpected situations like this.
Not today, I said to myself. Why are these trains always late? At least it should have happened the day before when I had my time off work. I sat there quietly not knowing what to do. The train driver’s voice came on the speaker again apologising for the delay but said something before going off. She said ‘there is no way to go about it’. Really? That statement left me wondering. Do we get stuck in our waiting period where there seems to be no way out? Or rather say, does our waiting period looks like there is no other way out? Looking around on the train, everyone was at a standstill in this stranded train. You can’t jump out, can’t open the window or the door, nor was turning back an option, just packaged and locked up in this container train cabin with no exit point.
In some waiting seasons, you can jump out of it, turn back or cancel the ride, especially if your very hands control the journey. But the train ride is in the hands of someone else. You just sit and have faith in the driver to take you to your destination. If we can put our trust in an unknown train driver to take us to our destination, how much more confidence and faith should we place in God in our waiting journey? The One who sees and knows everything.
In your train of waiting, are you at a standstill? Have you been waiting for God knows when? Have you lost hope of ever getting to where you’re set out to go? Or have you been waiting for too long without anyone attending to your needs? Sometimes we get so frustrated when we experience a bit of a delay in our life journey. We murmur and make faces, or even want to give up. Nobody likes delays, especially for an unknown time. We just want to know how long we have to wait and sometimes question why that long.

When my train came to a standstill waiting for signal approval to move on, some people in the train decided to put on a funny face while others used the opportunity to keep themselves busy. The lady sitting next to me had her eyes glued on her smartphone reading. Peeping from my seat, I could see what looks like documents as she flipped through the phone with her finger. Others had their smart gadgets on browsing while some had their headphones. All these people were busy in one way or the other. But the ones who refuse to do anything, just stood there making funny faces not wanting to take advantage of the waiting period while it lasted, just wasted precious time doing nothing.

What am I trying to say? The waiting period can be a very anxious time with hopes and expectations like, when, how and what time is it going to happen, all rushing through your mind. But you need to set a strategy to tackle this waiting period. As children of God, we are waiting on the never changing and never late God of the Universe. The unquestionable and all powerful God. The God who is everywhere at the same time. He’s never missed a moment neither a second of the activities and events in the Universe. The God who sees everything, nothing takes Him unawares. 24/7, He is awake, never sleeps nor slumber. And if this Almighty God is the One we are waiting on for one thing or the other of our expectation, we must believe in His will because He knows the best for us. If God has you and me in mind before He created the Universe, don’t you think He has also made plans for us and put in place everything we will ever need, at the right place, position and time? His promise for you and me as stated in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Tarry in that place of waiting with faith and see God work things out for you.

Comments are welcome!

STOPS IN THE TRANSIT ROUTE

The Waiting Period!
The waiting period is a season that requires grace and perseverance for a stress-free experience. It is not a fast-track stage at all. You know sometimes we have some Colleges and Universities that have courses that can be fast-tracked so you finish earlier than expected, or earlier than your original finish date. But the course called ‘Waiting’ cannot be fast-tracked nor can you skip to another level without going through the first level; otherwise you’ll get into a lot of mess and find yourself right back where you started.
At times children get promoted from one class to the other which is perfect for parents because it saves them money for that entire skipped grade. I have seen children who have been promoted two grades ahead of where they should have been. Some because they are fast learners, very intelligent or high-performing students in their classes.
However, the class of ‘waiting in God or waiting for God’ doesn’t care whether one is smart, creative, or a high performing expert in waiting. Its keeps you in that class until, when God is ready. You can scream, jump, get angry, or qualify yourself for promotion, but that isn’t going to get you an ‘okay move forward’ signal. So whatever you do; you’re better off leaning patiently on God. Whatever your decision is in handling that waiting period, you aren’t going anywhere forward according to God’s timetable until He says so.
Sometimes we may force ourselves out of the waiting season to work things our way, but in most cases, we find ourselves right back into the same waiting class not knowing how we got back there, forgetting that God calls the shots.
I’ve asked myself so many times the same question that you may have asked in such situation but got no answer. ‘When God?’ Seriously I don’t know how many times I have repeated this question.
I cried, but my tears didn’t push God to bring it to pass earlier than His schedule timeframe. You know how a child can manipulate his or her parents to get something by crying and shouting even when they initially said no. Well, that isn’t God’s parenting style. If God says not now, you can cry and scream and shed a bucket of tears. But love, it’s not going to happen. So if you’re wise, just stay in that class call waiting and get busy, because at the right time in His way He will make it happen.
Had I known, I would have gently left everything in His hands and waited patiently on Him. I wasted so much precious time in the ‘waiting period’ trying to get myself out of it, but I got nowhere because it wasn’t the right time to graduate from that class. I was waiting for different things at the same time and tried fulfilling them by myself. I did all I can but nothing happened. I just got one promise to another, getting my hopes up from one interview to another. It wasn’t easy. I mean I started looking at myself and thinking ‘what’s wrong with me?’ Why are other people getting it and I am not? I took these frustrating questions to God, but nothing changed.

After all this while when God finally did it, I began to understand why it didn’t happen earlier as I wanted. It wasn’t the right time then. I would have saved myself a lot of trouble and stress if I had only left it all in God’s hands and trusted Him to bring it about in His time.
Some of us have decided to jump out of that waiting period and try to take control but ended up with frustrating and heartbreaking results.
It’s not worth the try people. Leave it in God’s capable hands and trust Him while waiting because there are some prerequisites you’ll learn along the way, which will contribute to building you up and refining your personality for when that promise, prayer request or whatever it is that you’re waiting on God for, will eventually happen.

Don’t let anyone persuade you out of that waiting class if God asked you to hold on because at the end the wait is going to be worth it.

What does your waiting period look like in your transit stop?
Comments are welcome!

The ‘Unfamiliar’ a Transit Stop

I learnt that there are so many stops in life, and the unfamiliar is just another stop. It’s a route in transit. It is not a permanent place; it is a place of exchange. But while you’re there, make yourself familiar with the place and learn new things there, because some of them might be the very essentials needed at the next stop, or sometimes can be the fuel you need to take you and keep you going at the next point. It can be a place of uploading and downloading. However, you need to be very careful with what you’re uploading. What you exchange at that place of transit is crucial.

I am more worried about the uploading process than the downloading, because what you upload goes with you. And if you spend your time uploading what is irrelevant, you are only causing delays to your purpose and destiny at that particular point you find yourself. You need to make sure that whatever you upload, are the prerequisites necessary or that which will contribute to you fulfilling your purpose otherwise drop it. It’s not worth the trouble.

There is a purpose for every stop or place you find yourself in, and it will do you great harm if you stay idling and mingling with the unnecessary, or trying to figure out how you can fit in or be like the people you find there. Remember, no one is born on this earth to sit down idling. Everyone was made for a purpose. God didn’t make purposeless beings! So if you don’t know your purpose, seek Him to find out.
Each stop the Lord places you requires something to be done. Some of the stops may need career building, personality upgrade and character development. These all contribute to building you up in this journey and preparing you for the next stage.
We are not just set at a particular phase to stay loafing around and frivolously consuming time. There is work apportioned for you to do, and it necessitate diligence, as a day of accountability will come when the King requires a report of how we’ve carried out the portion that was set out for each of us. So, patience, faith, trust and endurance might be the best friends to employ during this voyage.

I call the unfamiliar a hands-on waiting place. It’s not a laid-back place at all. Because when we say waiting, the idea that comes to the mind of so many people is to sit down, relax and do nothing while waiting for that ‘whatever’.
Get your hands busy while in that ‘waiting’ place and make use of the time.
Can I encourage you to begin to dig deep into that assignment, that gift or talent given to you? Trade it, nourish it, nurture it, prune it and work it out, and be like the wise servants in Matthew chapter 25 that traded with their talents, reproduce and got an increase.

Test the soil you want to trade in, make sure it’s the right ground for your gifting to grow, breath and multiply. Remember, time is not in your hands, so handle the transit stop wisely.
Life is a transit that involves series of events and everyday activities. Live it wisely and godly.
How are you making use of that transit place?

Comments are welcome!

The Fear of the Adapting Process

How do you fit in?
I decided to take on a course in that unfamiliar place. It didn’t sound right that someone like me will venture into such challenge. I got mocked and criticised for taking on such a big challenge. The worst thing about the mockery was that it was in a language I couldn’t understand. Got ridiculed at times and was too ashamed and scared to make any contribution.
The people in the unfamiliar surroundings weren’t helping my adapting process. If anything, they made it hard. I wasn’t accepted the way I was. It was hard to meet the expectations, and there was no way I could meet the demands either. They were too much and way overwhelming for me. I cried, I prayed, I asked so many ‘whys’ and the ‘when will it end’ questions.
The process was fierce, too intense that it leaves my heart beating so fast anytime I face the expectations laid before me.
I couldn’t understand why God took me through that process. Nor did I had a clue that the unfamiliar place was going to be that intense. I got called names all because of the expectations I wasn’t meeting. At a point, it started changing my personality. Nothing I did was ever enough to receive encouragement.
Fear and intimidation gripped my heart. I was so naïve and scared of the comments I would receive if I dared ask a question! Sometimes I didn’t even know if I should sit or stand. The expectations were too much for me. The adapting process was painful. The harsh whispers were too much to bear. All I wanted was to belong. I tried so hard to feel accepted and appreciated, that I got weighed down by the pain of rejection. I later realised that I had two choices, to either stay at that rejection place or shake it off my shoulders and move forward.
So one thing I did was to close my ears from the whispers, wash the humiliations off my face, and the mockery off my mind, and then push through having my eyes on the finish line.
The story that came to my mind is the woman with the alabaster box in the book of Luke chapter 7. She knew that her type wasn’t accepted where she found herself looking for Jesus. She may have been ridiculed, mocked and almost pushed out of the way when she decided to make her way to Jesus. The pain of rejection, the whispers of mockery and the painful names didn’t discourage her. She kept pushing her way forward, and she dared to step out in the open even when she knew it was a risk for humiliation. She refused to look at the faces of her mockers, nor did she allow them to block her way. She looked on straight ahead, having one mission, ‘to get to the Master’s feet’. She finally got there, fulfilled her purpose and made history. At the end of the day, she got more than she pushed for in that place. It was a worthy cause! The push became worth it; the humiliation becomes a story of the past, the mockery were stepping stones that propelled her to push forward into her destiny.
Sometimes we give up at the verge of breaking through. No one says it’s going to be smooth and laid-back, remember it wasn’t easy for Jesus either. He prayed hard at the garden of Gethsemane, pushed through the critics and humiliations, taking on the weight of the Cross. But it was worth it when He rose again in Glory. The fight at Calvary gave us Victory.
Looking back, I now realise that all I went through were workouts that built my courage and determination to continue pushing until what I pressed for was achieved. The ‘Open’ is wide, it’s windy, it’s cold, and it can be risky. But it takes a determined heart and a purpose-filled mind to break through, seeing the ‘Open’ as a step to see beyond your current location and into the future you are meant to fulfil.
How are you adapting in the unfamiliar?
Comments are welcome.

The battle of the ‘Unfamiliar‘

How do you find purpose in a place where you’re not accepted?

Still trying to find my purpose in this unfamiliar place, I decided to make use of the environment. My, my, my..it was hard. It was heated, and it was unbearable. Communication became a barrier, attitude and character became obstacles.

How do I adapt to the communication system in this unfamiliar environment? How do I update my attitude and character to avoid being misunderstood? Why do I look like an intruder? Everyone seems different, can’t find no one to understand the language of my heart. Why would God bring me to this place where I can’t find anyone from my clique? Everything was different, so very different that it scared me to take a step.

The unfamiliar threatens your ability to speak and interact with people. It limits you from networking with people. It pulls you back anytime you want to take the step forward in meeting new people. It restricts you from socialising with the unknown environment. It holds you back and keeps you in a cabin called ‘fear and insecurity’. It goes like this, ‘will I be accepted? Will they understand my accent? What if I get rejected? But I don’t look like them. What if they don’t like me?’ Whether they like you or not, is not a reason for you to worry. It’s how do I make use of this season and fulfil God’s purpose for my life. How do I maximise myself to impact this environment? How do I break off the limitations that surround me, and pull down every barrier that seems to lock me up in this place call fear and insecurity?

So I had to push myself out in the open, force my entire being to break off the shell of fear and pierce into the very depth of this unfamiliarity. I figured out that my situation was not going to change unless I get up, step out and take action. It doesn’t matter what people say or think. Whether people understand you or not, you are there already, and there’s no turning back. You’ve come too far to turn back and give up. That’s not part of God’s plan for you. You’ve gone through a lot of sacrifice in the process of getting there, so it’s not the time to call it quit.

Can I tell you something? God brought you to that place for a reason, and He surely will make a way. You don’t have to worry about what people say or how they’ll react to you. Whether you’re accepted or not, that’s irrelevant, because you are in a place to fulfil your purpose for that season. Therefore, don’t let anything move or distract you. You are in line with destiny.

So can I challenge you to arise out of fear and insecurity, and take-off into the wings of your destiny and fulfil that God-ordained purpose in that unfamiliar place.

See with the eyes of faith and let that rejection be an opportunity to thrust you to greater accomplishment. You are a child of purpose!

How do you see yourself?

Comments are welcome.

The Fear of the Unfamiliar

At times the fear of the unknown can knock you off your feet. It doesn’t make sense to lay everything down in a comfortable place and move to a different setting.  The demands of why, what for and where to, are just some of the few you’ll have to battle with, during the transition period between the familiar and the unfamiliar.

Like I said in my previous post, sometimes God doesn’t move until we take a step of faith into the unknown. It may seem bizarre trying to understand why you need to move when God says move. It doesn’t make any sense when you tell people and friends, that you are moving to an unfamiliar place where you believe God is leading you. Some may think that something is wrong with you. But you have to be so in-tuned with God, that you don’t allow questions and doubts to withhold you from moving.

When I had to travel to Australia to study, it wasn’t a happy experience. I decided to pray about it, and I remember complaining seriously about it. I said to my mum, ‘I am just going for two years, and after my studies, I am coming back home’. I was not happy about travelling to a far-off country and so unfamiliar and distant away from where friends and family members were going.

In those days, people I know go to UK, USA or other parts of Europe which were closer to the part of Africa I was. In fact, when I said I was travelling to Australia, most people didn’t know where that was, and why not the nearby countries where everyone was going. But sometimes when God wants to work with you, He separates and takes you away from all familiar setting, to a place where you’ll have no choice but to depend wholly on Him.

It was hard adapting to the new environment I found myself. It was one of those experiences that dawdle for so long that you think you’re never going to make it out. I cried, complained, relapsed in my faith and got angry, but they never got me out of the situation. It was until I was ready to surrender to God, and in His timing, He made a way. I’ve learnt that throwing tantrums in such situation, won’t solve anything, for the most part, it gets you all worked up and the potential of prolonging your already lengthy unfamiliar setting.

Are you afraid of your unknown place? Why not take that step of faith and surrender it to God, knowing if He brought you into that situation, He will for sure get you out of it. But in the meantime try to make use of that situation by getting busy with what you can lay your hands on and do it well. It could be a new-found talent, skill or that career you’ve been longing to have. Whatever it is, make sure you’re making good use of that ‘unfamiliar’ situation, and that it’s something God is leading you to do.

How are you responding to your ‘unfamiliar‘ situation? Is faith or fear in play?

Comments are welcome!

The Valley of the Unfamiliar

What do you do when you find yourself in an unfamiliar situation or place in your life? Do you try to pull out of that situation, look for familiar people around, or just sit down and wait for someone or something to come rescue you? Sometimes when God gives you a word, a promise or a command, He doesn’t give you all the details.

When God called Abraham out of his father’s house, out of his country and people, to a land He will show him, Abraham had to exercise faith by ‘stepping out’. He didn’t tell Abraham that the land was 2,000 miles away, and that he will need to transit from one country to another before getting there. He didn’t tell him how long it will take for the promise to manifest, nor the cost of the waiting period. He said to him ‘a land I will show you’. So all you need to do is step out and I’ll lead you. But you and I today, want every detail of that promise or command before we take a step. God said to him, ‘get out of your country’. In other words, get out of your comfort zone, out of the familiar situation and surrounding, to an unfamiliar place that I will show you.

Sometimes to discover your purpose in the seasons of life, requires a step of faith into the unfamiliar.  No one likes the unfamiliar. I am going to be honest with you, I don’t either. But I recently find myself in that spot and it looks like I am in a valley of decisions. I don’t know how I got there, nor what am doing there. All I know is this, it is an uncomfortable place, and I really need God’s help to get out. I’ve asked myself so many times, when and how am I going to get out of this. It looks like the more I asked, the less answers I receive. Could it be that I am so busy figuring out ‘how am I going to get out of it’, and therefore missing God’s purpose for that situation? Could it also be the fear of stepping out into what I believe God is leading me to?

The fear of stepping out into the unfamiliar, or making use of the situation, has the potential to cripple the vision, and the purpose you are meant to fulfil in that ‘unfamiliar’ situation at a given time.

How are you responding to your ‘unfamiliar’ situation?

I mentioned in my last post about finding purpose in the different seasons of life.  Knowing the core essence of your existence will assist in finding your purpose, and ultimately, lead you to the type of race you’re meant to run in each season of your life. However, many live in the errors of procastinating their seasons. Sometimes because we are waiting for ‘everything’ to line up, whatever that means. And often, we ‘appear‘ stuck in a particular space searching for answers.

It goes like this, ‘I’ll wait until I get that promotion, that new contract deal, that new car or start that new business’, then I can do ….! (You can fill in the blanks if you’ve been there). I’ve been there too. So what we now do, is put everything at a standstill, get stuck in a waiting period because we want everything to line up first, before we can jump into the vehicle of our destination.

I’ve realized along the way, that procastination is one of the greatest hindrances to discovering and fulfilling one’s purpose.

Finding Purpose in the Seasons of Life!

I started this blog to stir up discussions on how to find purpose in the different seasons of life, and to share some life experiences faced along the way….