Delay is not Denial

Delay is not Denial

‘My skin cracks as the heat from the sun scorches with vigor, I thirst for that relief that will come and quench this burning that consumes being. My back is burdened with a load that reduces my pace, my vision has become obscured as they no longer navigate the path in which my feet must travel, I move towards a destination not known, I head for a place that exits in him, but non the less its existence is never a slave to my doubt. I press on even if it claims me’.

Patience is essential for survival in our generation. We are living in world where the art of endurance has been substituted with instability and fluctuation. The very essence of being patient has been lost in a world that demands all that it needs when it wants it. We are in a place that is very delicate, understanding that the road we must travel is one that comes at no easy price, for we all must be tried, tested, afflicted, broken but rest assured we will be revived. Through this will endurance be evident.

As young individuals with Christ in our heart, it comes to mind when Christ says ‘can you drink of the cup from which I must drink?’ the reality is that we will all go through times that will require us to drink from our own cup. This means that we will all go through our own share of affliction and trials. The process of drinking is one which will cause us to go through waters and challenges that leaves us asking, Why me?

I say, ‘Why not you’! if our dreams were to be handed to us so easy, we would have no value for it. We would think it ordinary if Gods promises came and went like the wind. The pains we bear today will enable us to appreciate the taste of sweetness. You can never appreciate victory unless you have failed, you cannot appreciate strength unless you have been subject to weakness before. If all you ever knew was sunshine, then its very essence would elude you because the beauty of light is made relevant by the existence of darkness. Through the think and thin, we must understand that despite all that we encounter, his grace is sufficient for us. Patience and endurance birth strength from within. You never know what you are capable of until you push yourself. God will never leave you nor forsake you, he has counted every strand of hair on you and all is accounted for, your tears, though they were sown in hardship, you will reap the reward of laughter. Bare it in mind that, only the broken will become masters at mending.

Even if we feel like giving up, be like job and say, even though he slays me, yet, I will trust in him. The trick is in not failing, God will cause you to go through the storm but it shall not consume you. Even if the very destination seems obscured, let his voice be your guide. Strength is the reward of endurance; patience is the fruit of faith, even though it tarries, your appointed time is near.

God will never give power to anyone who does not know its value, and even still, this power is not given out of favoritism, this power is earned through endurance and a constant hunger to be in his will. Hold on to his promise in the dark moments for this will be your reward in the light. We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. As long as there is breath in your lungs, there is hope. Hold on and let endurance be your fortress, let patience be your hiding place, the road may seem so long to travel; eventually you will get there. God is on your side. A delay in the vision and promise is not denial of the vision and promise.

And when you reach your destinations, the fighter in you will say like David ‘you brought me into the net; you laid affliction on my back. You have caused men to ride over my head; I went through fire and through water; But You brought me out to a place of rich fulfillment.

Hold on just a little longer, Don’t you let go!

Joshua Ajitena is a member of the writing team for Letters to the Bride, a daily devotional, aimed at people who generally like to have their hearts, minds and souls challenged