How Much Longer Must I wait?

Of late, I’ve realized I’m so guilty of being impatient. I have probably asked the question, “How long must I wait,” so much that God wants to personally come down and tell me to hush child. I’m like the “naughty kid” on a road trip that asks over and over, “how much longer” or “are we there yet!” Yes, I’m that kid and I still am that adult. Just put me on a plane. I need to get there quick. It’s at that time I’ve learnt how many times I have had to ask, how long must I wait? How long must I wait until I get the job? How long must I wait until I marry? How long must I wait until this storm passes?

Long Term Struggle

I’ve struggled with this area of my life and honestly, I still have my days where I have to get myself together. I have to do a constant self and heart check. I have been guilty of witnessing my friends get married, have children, work in their dream job, etc. to the point where I was so selfish in congratulating them because a part of me longed to be in their shoes. I couldn’t help but wonder, God, how long must I wait? God, when will it be my turn? God, I always receive the wedding invitations in the phone, but what about me? How long must I wait? Times seem my friends are taunting me I need to be quick and times I’m shy to confess, ‘she is not yet there.’ I’ve at times have had to look down and say, “Look, it’s not as you think….” And I have to give a reason why not yet, but who understands me? Matters are made more complex by the many articles I've documented in this blog sphere.

 For me it was that very desire to marry. This however changed when I came across this quote “When did the “I Do” become more important than the “well done”? There I realized that comparing my season in life with someone else’s could actually turn out to be the most stressing and complicated thing in my life. It’s similar to comparing our season of snow with our friend’s season of sand.

Season or Snow and Season of Sand

Just take it simply and ask, what would be the purpose of walking on sand at the beach in a trench coach and snow boots or walking in 12inch snow with a swimsuit and flip flops? None. But how comes I’m guilty of jumping time after time ahead of God’s timing that leads me down a road that just simply does not make sense. Then I’m justified to ask God what’s going on with our lives? I believe no. but what’s my problem, it’s being impatient and despising the word “wait”. The matter is made complex by the fact that I’m often tempted to take the word “wait” and associate it with “no,” never realizing that God has not necessarily said no. Trust me, I know it’s so hard to wait for something that we have a strong desire for. But then why should i not trust all will be well? Should I not keep up my faith? Certainly yes! I will not be making effort to blind my desires, needs or constant fears but I'll be feeding my soul and mind with materials necessary for achieving contentment. This is life, we are not in a competition, but we are here to run our race till the master says "Well done my faithful servant....Enter into my rest" Our rest in this world will be achieved when we learn whats our season.

I battled with this very issue for such a long time especially on committing to a long term relationship. This was until I found myself asking God to figure out the place of contentment in life. And it’s not easy dear friends.  But well I am beyond grateful that I’m making some progress. Contentment is not just a destination but also a lifestyle. I have learned that regardless of what season I face, whatever journey I go through, as long as I have not clearly heard God say it’s a closed door, I need not be anxious, I need not fear and I dare not doubt he certainly will lead me to the most opportune time to hook up with a lady and perhaps marry one day. 

I’ve to let my desires know that waiting time is not wasted time. I’ve to stay the course, stay committed to Christ, and rest in knowing that God has my best interest at heart. And friend remember, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity in heaven and God’s will for your life is far greater than any plan we could ever create. In due time, you shall reap if you do not give up.

#CoffeeTimeWithJeremy

Kindly connect with me on my Twitter handle @Jeremiah_wakamu and Help me connect with you using #CoffeeTimeWithJeremy make it trend. I want to be part of you. I want to have a chat with you over some coffee. Please make it happen.

ALSO Remember to catch up with my book JOIN THE DOTS IN MY WORDS for more inspiration

We Were Made For Such Moments

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, I was visiting these friends to catch up with. And so after it was done, it was a moment to leave to my place. I boarded a public service vehicle just like I know most of us will especially if you are yet to own a personal car. Not at any time did I think this would turn out to be the most exciting 30 minutes journey along Kenya’s Thika Super Highway. I sat next to a lady whom I did not even say hello but just assumed someone was seated. Like most of us, we think we too busy to even smile to a stranger seated next to us. The lady was busy listening to music from her smartphone and for this reason didn’t care much. She alighted along five minutes later and so I was alone in that row for the next 5 minutes before the next bus station when another lady boarded and sat next to me. The amazing thing was that I did not notice her face actually nothing about her. It’s quite common not to care about who is next to us when traveling. But along the way, the lady must have started calling someone but did not even care to hear a word since I was too busy with my own phone perhaps browsing for the latest news. What caught my attention was that at some point the lady must have become so distressed that she was literally audibly creating the “what-if” questions. It was at that moment I realized how far I had fallen from the reality that a soul next to me was struggling and had not even given her a second to know what was happening to her. Like from a slumber, I realized I had not even cared to say hello or at least give some form of attention.

There I was guilty and ashamed. I had to quickly switch off my data bundles, keep my smart phone away and smiled at the lady, said hello and asked what the problem was. Distressed, the lady gave me the whole story. Apparently she was to pick a relative from upcountry at Kasarani Bus Station but since the relative had no phone, she had all along been conversing with the driver of the Matatu her relative had boarded from Meru County. The driver had promised her he would drop her relative at the stage and she had waited for 3 hours. Later the driver changed his mind and now the lady was to pick her at Nairobi. Her worry then would be that there was a possibility that her relative would be dropped in town and since he did not know how to navigate the city, he would get lost or the driver could choose not to drop him but instead take him back to Meru. It’s at that time that I did calm her down, explained that it would be alright and nothing bad would happen. And sure she was positive, at least she responded positively. She took my words, smiled and was calm. I actually offered to call the driver on her behalf and with assurances that all would be well, for the rest of the journey she was comfortable, composed and confident. Of course I alighted some distance to the city center where she was to pick her relative. Were it not for the fact that I had a meeting to catch up that evening I would have walked with her to offer her a hand in making sure all will be well.

MADE FOR SUCH MOMENTS

The point is we were always made for such moments to offer our shoulders to struggling souls so that they can lean on them. But often we think we are too busy, we are stressed and so we experience burn outs from our own preoccupations. And for this reason, we too busy thinking we will find solace in our social media pages commenting and liking any updates. Times we offer to help when we realize a brother or a sister is struggling only in comments but we know deep within our hearts, it might not happen. And so we miss out the real moments to be of help to our immediate neighbors. It’s even too sad, that we never have the confidence to face our own conscious that constantly reminds us that we are guilty of our own actions. The least we can do to show kindness is to smile and say hello to people sited next to us in a PSV bus, next to our office or our next door neighbor. But what happens? We walk away. This is what Casting Crowns Band in the song “The City on Hill” depicted. That once the city was shining and it would still be shining had not each one walked away. One by one they walked away and the strength, the rhythm and the life in the town dimmed. This happens when we think we do not need other souls and that their struggle is not our struggle, their pain not our pain and their joy not our joy. We cannot afford to have a coffee break just to catch up with a lonely friend and get to know what is happening in their life. Yet we know all of us we have times we are so perplexed we almost giving up.

All around us there are people who are experiencing pain, they feel lonely, are on the verge of giving up or are dissatisfied with life. They are looking for people to share their burden with. Yet for us we think we are not made for such. We think our problems are more than theirs and that when we are happy, we do not need to know if others are. Our happiness always come before their happiness. But instead of hiding in our own business and in our own company, is it not more prudent to enjoy making investments on lives and things that matter most? Sure it pays more when we share in the moment we are in. listening to the stories being told and being in fellowship with others in pain because we are made for such times. We are made to connect with the sorrows and joys of people who are around us. We are made to talk about things going through our lives. We are made to love even people who we think do not need this love. When we lean, we connect with the emotions, we notice the crocked teeth of ours friends but still connect with them and we note the broken hearts and help mend them. And this is the beauty of things, because we are made to support struggling brothers, church and work mates. And because we are made for such times why not take time to have coffee with our neighbors so that we can get to catch up with them.

#CoffeeTimeWithJeremy

For this reason kindly connect with me on my Twitter handle @Jeremiah_wakamu and Help me connect with you using #CoffeeTimeWithJeremy make it trend. I want to be part of you. I want to have a chat with you over some coffee. Please make it happen.

ALSO Remember to catch up with my book JOIN THE DOTS IN MY WORDS for more inspiration