The book of Genesis rightly starts with the words “In the beginning God…”, the same goes with the book of John which starts with “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. These books help us understand from the get-go that everything started with God, that God was there all along and really, everything that happened and happens begins with Him. God is the point of everything! This is a typical statement in Christians circles. It is the basis of our faith and it is not a statement that gets to be debated often. You probably wonder why it even has to be said because, you know it’s all about God. But is it really? Sadly, we say many things that we do not believe and what is worse is that we do not realize it. I wonder, does your life really show what your words declare? A case could be made of us like in the book of James that out of the same mouth comes praise and curse (James 3:10) but instead of praise and curse for us it would be truth and lie because we say the right thing yet do the opposite. In this post, I want to remind us of this truth we know but seldom think much of. My goal is simply for us to remember that we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) therefore we can’t live like we are the centre.
As you might be able to tell, I am going through the old testament now and I am in the book of Exodus. In the book of Exodus, when God summons Moses to get him on the mission to tell Pharoah to let His people go, He tells Moses something that is extraordinary, and He does not tell him that one time but twice (maybe even more than twice but I have not gotten that far along in the book). God tells Moses that He will deliver the people of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians and will get glory out of it, He also says He has seen their suffering and He has come down to save them. However, when Moses goes and tells Pharaoh along with his brother Aaron to let God’s people go, Pharaoh is adamantly against it and makes the condition of the Israelites even worse by ensuring they do double work (Exodus 5). Moses in his frustration asks God what this is all about, he says, “why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?”. God’s response reveals one truth that we easily forget: it’s all about Him. God tells Moses that “now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country (Exodus 6:1).” God is the one who decides when it is time to act, He is the one who decides how He will display His glory, He is the one who decides how He will get the glory. Much of what we go through in life has nothing to do with us, yet we make everything about us. We need to remember that God is sovereign over all things, and He is doing things we cannot even understand. God essentially tells Moses that the suffering the Israelites are going through is not about the Israelites rather it is about how He will get the glory, how He will showcase His power and might to the world, how He will do acts never done before. He is the first in everything, when He does something it has to be “out-of-this world”, He is not common, indeed there is none like Him. It’s hard to swallow but God enjoys bringing a mighty salvation and for that to happen, He usually lets sin gets to its apex before He comes to act so that when He does act, you remember it for generations, and you stand speechless. I see the same parallelism with other biblical stories such as the stories of Abraham, Joseph, the salvation of Israel, and the coming of Jesus. In all these stories, the protagonists had to suffer and endure many hardships, but the way God brought about salvation in their lives is most beautiful. Joseph did not think his suffering would lead him to the place where he was while he was being thrown in jail, he probably wondered like Moses “is this why you sent me here?” yet God used that to save Israel mightily. Similarly, in his waiting period, Abraham probably wondered why God was not giving him a child as He had promised, yet God was waiting for the right time to manifest His glory which ironically was when Abraham was 100 years old (when all your options are exhausted). What about the son of God who endured pain, scorn, crucifixion, and everything horrible that one can think of, yet God raised him from the dead and brought salvation to the entire world! I cannot imagine how much glory was brought to God by Jesus’ obedience to his Father.
I hope you are seeing my point, your life, your suffering, your waiting, your pain, your discomfort, whatever it is that you might be going through that is not enjoyable, is not about you. There is a bigger purpose to it which is the glory of God, therefore, wait for His salvation because it will certainly come. It always does and when that happens, you will be mind-blown! I have not yet seen or heard stories of people who waited on God and were disappointed. God is a God of salvation and He enjoys showing off His might. I personally love it when God calls Himself the Lord of Hosts because then He means business. My encouragement is simple, in your difficult season, remember God sees you and He has a plan that you have no idea of, it is a good plan and He will enact it. So, work with God, let Him do what He has in mind and you will not be disappointed. Just like David says in the Psalms, I have grown old, but I have never seen the righteous forsaken or the children of the righteous begging for bread (Psalm 37:25). This is the heritage of those who trust in the Lord and know that their lives are not about them. May we seek to decrease so that He can increase. Amen!
A Word Aptly Spoken 