Life is in times and seasons. There is a time to plant and there is a time to harvest. There is also a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them back. In Ecclesiastes 3, you’ll find the different seasons of life but one thing that strikes me in that portion of Scripture is the factor of patience.
There is a time for everything. If you begin a journey right now by road or by air, you have to give yourself time to get to your destination. Sometimes that journey could take you just 30 minutes. Other times, factors like traffic and unforeseen circumstances can cause the journey to take over four hours. It is at such times that you really need to exercise patience.
I remember a few years ago when I was planning to attend a friend’s wedding in Abuja. My flight was scheduled for 6 p.m so I left my office at 3 p.m. to give myself enough time to get to the airport – factoring in the fact that there could be traffic. I arrived at the airport 8.30 p.m. that day. The traffic was unbelievable: it was a complete standstill. I remember how anxious I was. I didn’t want to miss my flight. At a point, I was frustrated but there was nothing I could do. It was during the time when okadas had been banned from plying the expressway. I called the airline to find out if I could reschedule my flight but I didn’t get any positive response from them. I contemplated going home but I just decided to hold on to the little flicker of hope that I had. I arrived at the airport only to discover that the flight had been delayed for three hours. To me, that was a miracle. I was convinced that I had missed my flight. I began to wish I hadn’t spent all that time in the taxi worrying and fretting.
Many of us have experienced the same kind of thing in our journey in life. You have a vision of where you want to get to but where you are currently makes you think your expected end is impossible. You begin to worry and sometimes you lose patience in the process. God doesn’t exactly tell you when your big break will come so even though you start out with a lot of hope in the beginning, soon that hope will begin to wane. Even the Bible says it: hope deferred makes the heart sick. There are times I have asked myself, “When will my big break come?” I lose patience too. I want it to happen right now. I want the high paying clients to come this minute. I don’t want to ever worry about money again. Even though I ask myself these questions, I know that I have to wait for God’s perfect timing. Experience has taught me that when I wait for God, I will have no regrets.
Don’t get too caught up worrying about when your big break will finally happen. Just be patient. God is taking you through this season for a reason. If you lose patience, you may decide to do it your own way and I can assure you that it will end up being disastrous. Wait for God and endure the pain. Don’t jump out of the boat simply because the waters are stormy. That storm is only going to make you better. If you jump out now, you may drown. There are certain things that were delayed in my life and right now, I understand why they were delayed. I just wasn’t ready for them. Looking back, I am happy that they were delayed.
Believe that God has the best in store for you and hold on to His word. Don’t let the progress of others make you feel anxious. You have a different destiny from them. Go all the way with God and He will turn that painful experience into a joyful one for you. I want my big break but I want it in God’s time and on His terms.
What about you?
About the Writer: Adedoyin Jaiyesimi is a Writer, Media Content Creator and Brand Manager. The various publications she has written for include Y! Magazine (now Y! Africa), Discovery, Pride Magazine Nigeria, Butterscotch magazine amongst others. She currently holds the position of Brand Communications Manager at Victor Adeyemi Ministries and she is also the founder of LRouge Media, an editorial and brand consultancy company which provides content writing and editing services for business websites, magazines and blogs. When she is not creating content, you can find her in church doing the work of her Father. She tweets @msdoyeen and blogs at
www.adedoyinjaiyesimi.wordpress.com
