“If the journey won’t require Faith, then it’s not worth taking”.
I had an interesting experience sometime in May last year. I was desperate for a job, and I got an opportunity to write the screening test for a bank in Abuja.
It was just a test, but it felt like all my prayers were about to be answered. It felt like I would not have to worry about funds again, like I would now be able to take care ALL my needs, I don’t even need to ask God for anything again(huh?). I practically hinged the solution to my challenges and discomfort on passing the test and getting the job.
Interesting.
I didn’t pass the test. My score was 6 marks short the cut off mark.
I was dejected. Sad. Disappointed.
Other things transpired before and during the test (might share that someday). But I remember my attitude as I stepped out of the bank that evening, with tears streaming down my face, I lifted my eyes and said “Father, you have trained me well, I don’t get this, but I trust you”. Throughout that evening, I kept repeating “Father you have raised me well, I choose to be thankful”. I found grace that evening, grace to fight the bitterness that was threatening to overwhelm my soul. I told myself, Papa haven’t trained me all these years for nothing, now that I am faced with this situation, I CHOOSE to be thankful.
June 24th, 2018 , I received an interesting update that almost made my heart stagger, but I remembered that experience last year, and I smiled. I told Papa, “You have raised me well, you have trained me well Papa, against my rational judgement, I choose to trust you”.
That experience encouraged me to pen my thoughts on today’s blog post titled JOURNEY.
I didn’t just “appear” at where I am today. I am a product of the choices and decisions the Lord has helped me to make over the years by His mercies, I am a product of the journey I have taken in God for some years, till now.
And the beauty that would still be revealed in me in the days to come is hidden in the journey of love and unravelling that is before me.
One thought I want you to take from today’s post is this “we are a sum of our journey in God”.
What makes a man is the sum of his sojourn in God.
Man is his journey, and our journey culminates in our choices and decisions. The things we do for His namesake or our sake. They all define us on the journey, our journey.
God in His mercies has His thoughts towards us. He knows those good thoughts (even if you don’t ), and He ultimately wants to give us a future and a hope(Jer 29:11).
But you would only see the reality of that future as you embrace the journey that would bring you to that expected end.
We must see God as a God of journeys. God orchestrates our journeys according to the future He has dreamed for us. Our part in Him defines our unique paths. Yet, God would Never orchestrate evil towards us, He is not mischievous. But we are blessed to have a Father who can work every circumstances for good, who can birth beauty from the depths of darkness.
Every narrative of our lives submitted to the Father is destined for Good. He knows how to weave His beauty into every life surrendered to Him.
Understand this, God is FULL OF GOODNESS. Every part in God is full of goodness and mercies. Ultimately , the journey of every man is defined in the Man Christ, the one who is THE WAY , but the multifaceted beauties in God set us on diverse paths that expresses the beauty of THE ONLY TRUE JOURNEY FOR MANKIND – CHRIST.
Christ ain’t the boring sunday lecture , or the popular fad every Tom and Thompson flippantly associates with. Christ is the essence and sum of all that Man has been ordained to be. The expressions of this One Man is however limitless. Hence, the dynamic paths woven for the expression this beauty in all purity and power.
Back to Journey.
God uses our journey in Him to deposit His unique character and nature into us. This is our inheritance. This is our lot. This is our portion.
When we understand that our journey is part of the process of WORKING of all things for our good, our attitudes would shift. We would learn to embrace every “life culture” being imparted to us in our sojourn with God.
Think about it, if God could give us now, why the process? Abraham could have had Isaac earlier than He did. But He didn’t give birth to just any kind of child, it was ISAAC, the promise. He didn’t get isaac when Sarah put to bed, He got Isaac while He walked before God in obedience(Gen. 17).
We need to know that our promises are received in our journey, not only at the end of our journey. The process (journey) is part of the promise. Your attitude on the journey qualifies or disqualifies you from the promise. With God, there are no short cuts.
I don’t think Abraham became the Father of faith because God said so in the beginning, his journey of obedience in God also had a part to play(Romans 4). The baby in the manger couldn’t have saved mankind from the path of destruction, if He didn’t embrace the thirty and three year journey before the cross.
I wonder, what if his attitude throughout the 33 years had been that of grumbling and complaints? Do you think that would have qualified Him as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world?
Also, do you realize the journey of our Lord was uniquely tailored to fit the desired end that Father had ordained for Him?
I pray your heart is strengthened, to have a better attitude in your journey with Papa.
If you are on a journey ordained by our good Father, and you can see His heart for you on that journey, then rest dear soul. Rest. You can trust Him for that good end He has ordained for you.
There’s a commensurate journey for every dream, and every God ordained path is an invitation to a sojourn in Him and with Him.
Our prophecies don’t drop in our laps, we WALK IT OUT, by the daily choices, obedience and denials, they are gradually shaping US into the dream we conceived with Him at the start of the whole process.
However, not many arrive at the end of their journey. Why? They failed to envision the end on the journey, and they got stuck in cycles. So much they couldn’t see the end staring at them in the face. They couldn’t see the END, even in the Journey. They couldn’t see every movement, every surrender, every obedience, every shift, as a recognition of the End burning bright in them.
What would propel you on the journey is the vision of the end burning bright in you. That’s what influences your attitude on the journey, that’s what encourages your heart in the days of despair.
You are your journey.
Hazards and storms may come on the way, but the vision of the glorious end would help us prevail.
You are not the cracks and the stops on the way, you are not the mistakes you made, you are an embodiment of wonder and beauty, destined to emerge at the end of your sojourn.
How do I know this, you wonder. The glorious beams emanating from the testimony of your life, even now. They tell me so.
Every journey ordained by Him would ultimately end in Him. But we have a part to play through our obedience and surrender to His Good Heart, His good thoughts, and His good plans for us – regardless of what your senses and circumstances say or not.
We are a people of sight, of understanding.
We see the beauty of the Father’s heart revealed in us and through us, in every phase of our journey. We don’t lose sight of the glorious end burning bright in us, we make wise choices as He helps us, and we don’t abort the vision of His high call for our lives, in the “safety” of our comfort zones.
Remember, God would not set you on a journey that doesn’t require faith. If it requires that you trust Him, that you seek His Will ultimately, and you make His Heart your utmost priority, He is there with you.
Fellow sojourner, be encouraged. He is with you on this journey, don’t make the mistake of wishing the journey away, the beautiful bloom of a new day might just be staring at you in the face, don’t miss it in your haste against the night season.
Let patience have her perfect work.
My heart goes out to you.
Omo Oba.