God leads, it is up to you to agree to be led

Itai Chapunza

I HATE being late, be it a social event, or a more formal business or work meeting. Being late is the worst thing I imagine could happen. I also cannot stand people that are always late. I ask myself why they are late because it almost feels like they did not want to come. Maybe it’s a weakness, maybe it a strength, which is up for debate. Fortunately for me, I serve a God who is time conscious. God is very time conscious. God is not random. He is an orderly God, that order is created by his insistence on time. For God, everything is timed. 

Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build up . . . 

Unfortunately we have been so obsessed with gaining things we want in this life that this somehow skips our minds. Sometimes we think God is holding back blessing in our lives because we sinned or because we are non-conformant to some rule the church insists on. This is far from the truth. 

How can God hold back anything from you when He gave you the best He had. God has innumerable blessings to give out. But He only has one son. He already gave you that. What could He not give you? People say they have been praying for particular things and they are not coming. The reason is simple. Either it is not yet time or God simply said no. Remember He is a father. He does not give us all things we ask for. If it is bad for you, He will not give it to you. For example, your child would like to eat ice cream and sweets for breakfast, lunch and supper. But would you give it to them because they cried. The answer is no, they must eat good food, it may not be as nice as ice cream, but it is good for them. God does the exact same thing because we are His children. So you must understand the timing of God. It either He has said, wait, or no.  

As unbelievable as it may sound. God has time based plans for you.

Jeremiah 29 verse 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. 

This means, at each stage of your life, God has something that He has in store for you. But God’s time is not age-based, a good number of us worry about getting to a certain age without achieving different things. But with God, it does not matter the age. If you get to His appointed time, His plans take effect regardless of your age. Jehoash was seven years old when he became king and he was king for 40 years, kings are normally older in age. On the other side of things Abraham had a child at an advanced age, yet we know that normally young couples have kids because our bodies age and ability to have kids is reduced. God is not bound by laws of nature. Nature obeys God.  For example I have noticed that in my life, God waits for me to complete a particular task before He makes a way to obtain the next task. But this is not always so, sometimes God forces you to do a particular thing because we tend to be comfortable in particular states in our lives. God wants us to be all kinds of things because we have different things to achieve in this life. God never violets your will to choose because God does not violate the element of free will. So even if God intended you to be in children’s ministry, if you run away from church, He will not force you. Remember, God does not need you to worship Him in order to exist. Regardless of whether you choose to worship Him or not, He remains God. But it benefits me and you to worship Him.

God leads, it is up to you to agree to be led. For me when I trace back to how I came to know Christ, I’m able to see each stage. I knew Christ because of my parents. Going to church was not up for debate, you went to church regardless of your feelings towards it. This was the policy my parents led by. They too went to church every Sunday. This led me to know Christ. At this stage to me He was a fictional character from thousands of years ago and His word was more of a story book than Him talking to me. With time I moved from this to knowing Him as a person that loves us, who is both Lord and friend to us. It’s really an odd mix. He is God, yet He is our friend. Today I still know Him as my Lord, my God and my friend also. But now I have an understanding of the kingdom of Heaven, that of darkness and earth. How each of these interact with one another. For me Christ and Heaven are a totally different world that got in contact with ours because He loved us.

 John 3 verse 16

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

So the only reason your Jesus died on the cross is because He loves you. When you receive Him, he comes into your life and empowers you to achieve great things for the kingdom of Heaven. He empowers you because as soon as you receive Christ, you become a citizen of heaven and all rights and privileges of that kingdom become yours. Everything you are and you can ever be is fuelled by Christ in you. 

Philippians 4 verse 13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Give yourself time to understand the timing of God, it will take away anxiety from your life because you learn not to worry but instead you begin to trust in the Lord and know that all things that happen around you are for a purpose that God will make known to you when the time is right. Continue to work hard and pray because Jesus loves you and you are an important part of his master plan for this world.

Be blessed.

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