HAVE AN APPLE WHILE YOU WAIT

You know, sometimes you sit back and ask yourself, out of the blue, How did I get here? What am I doing? What is going on? And 9 times out of 10, we don’t have the answer…

Good morning, or good afternoon, or good whatever time zone you are in. Are you still in bed? Here, this should wake you up.

Wake up!

Still feeling drowsy? What, you don’t feel so good? You know what they say; an apple a day, keeps the doctor away. So, just to be on the safe side…

 This will keep away a whole hospital.

Okay. Good. Here we go.

So, sometimes a question comes up in your mind and you begin to question the universe. Well, I have been there, and I was just there again this past weekend. Okay, not on the scale of me questioning the universe, but…

Over the weekend I was privileged to witness the wedding of a cousin of mine. A beautiful event. Lovely, absolutely lovely. Made me realize that everyone around me was getting married. In fact, I felt like getting marr-

Going nuts. This should keep the doctor away

Ow! That hurt!

Anyway, at the end of the day, while I lay in bed, I made a decision. I was going to-wait what? Oh, no. No, no, no. Haha. You thought I was talking about getting married? Ha! Nope. Not yet. Hold your horses.

No, I made a decision about something, and just as it was sinking in, I found myself questioning the knock-on effects of that decision. Who would be affected? How would it pan out in such a way that it wouldn’t embarrass anyone involved? Was it right?

Phew.

You know you are getting old when you begin to think like that.

Anyway, sometime later, the next day, I went to visit a friend, and we talked. Or rather, I talked. For the first time. I’m usually more of a listener, but this time around I was the one doing the talking. I surprised myself, because I had never really thought about the effects of the things going on around me that much. Too much on my plate, so I had to choose what to focus on. But…

But…

Unknown to me, a weight had been growing. Just out of sight but in my mind, my heart, a weight had been growing. Until God helped me shine a light on it. It was enough to make anyone really, really frustrated. With life, with the world, with everything and everyone. But it was there. And at the end of it all, I remembered something my Pastor once said, and I repeated it. “The Fuel Tanker also needs fuel to do its work.”

After my friend encouraged me, and a few jokes, I went on my way. On my way home, I began to pray a simple prayer.

God, help me. Hold my hand through this storm, cos left to me I might just run away, and I don’t want to. Encourage me. Help me. Guide me. Even though sometimes my will may wrestle with Yours, guide me. I am your son; guide me.

And as I prayed this simple prayer on my way home, the Holy Spirit began to shine His light in my heart, and He began to show me how all that I had been praying for, he had been doing. God had actually been carrying my burden, because if I had carried it alone, it would have crushed me beneath its weight. And that was the greatest encouragement. It left me knowing that God was with me through it all.

Yes, sometimes we might feel like the world is on our shoulders, or even against us. Sometimes we might embark on a dream or a journey and it may seem like there is no end in sight. It’s easy to get frustrated in times like these. What to do?

Say a little prayer. Ask for help. Speak to someone, if you have to: a friend, a brother, your spouse, your Pastor, your Therapist. Just don’t go through it alone. Always remember that Jesus Christ is waiting for you to let Him help, so that at the end, this scripture will be made manifest in your life:

Psalm 126:1-2: “When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them.” KJV.

One other thing though, lest I forget. The process we are going through is for a reason. I once saw the picture of a Rolls Royce with these words, or words to this effect: “It takes about 13 hours to make a Toyota. It takes 6 months to make a Rolls Royce”. Well, you can verify this with the various companies. Okay. Other analogies:

It takes a few months for corn to be planted, grow and be harvested: mangoes take years.

The foundation of a one-bedroom flat is nothing compared to the time, depth and materials spent on the foundation of a mansion, or a castle, or a skyscraper, or an estate.

Bottom line: if you have to wait on God for something, trust that He knows what He is doing for you. Even Jesus Christ had to wait to fulfil His own ministry here on earth.

And now, for the music, today will be a double header. After you TOUCH THE SKY with Hillsong United, you can AMEND with The Overseer (click the song titles to watch the videos).

God bless you.