From my short stint on this earth , I have realized that life definitely doesn’t go in a straight line. It’s a maze.
Growing up, the last thing my siblings and I would want to hear from our parents was the third chapter of Ecclesiastes being quoted back at us. We’d roll our eyes, never while they were looking of course, but it was the last thing any of us wanted to hear at that time. Why? Well, because in our limited, childlike understanding, we saw it as a control over our time and a killjoy which, let’s face it, one doesn’t see the value in when you’re young and carefree.
And then life happens…
You begin to realise that life doesn’t happen the way you envisaged it. You know that blueprint that’s set out for what life should look like? Go to school, graduate from varsity, get a job, buy a car, a house, get married, have kids, grandkids; and finally, if you’re blessed enough, you leave this earth at the ripe old age of 80. Who came up with all this anyway?
From my short stint on this earth , I have realized that life definitely doesn’t go in a straight line. It’s a maze. That blueprint is brought into question at different stages of your life; you’re not able to afford varsity so you don’t go, your parents die early, you get into crazy debt and have to start over, you’re unemployed for years after getting that degree you fought so hard for. Sounding familiar? What then ensues is an inner battle of what you thought life would turn out like and the reality you face.
Conversations with God start to get interesting.
Life comes with the constant juggling act of balancing God’s ideal for your life, society’s expectations, being concerned for your loved ones and somewhere in there you fit in. Funny thing is within that crew, only God gives us and helps us walk through life – the rest of the world tends to make demands without living through what it has subscribed for us.
Ecclesiastes 3 starts poignantly; “ To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”. This gives the notion that things will not happen at the same time. Almost like each life event needs its own time, like it has a purpose? Further down its states there’s a time to be born, to die, to heal, to break down, to build up, to weep, to laugh; it goes on. It’s like God knew that we would need this and to be constantly reminded of it.
Verse 11 further states that; “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end”. So, there’s a perfectly plausible reason for getting confused at times with what’s happening in your life. To our naked human eye, things you experience may not ever make sense until we’re face to face with God asking Him in person. At times we are arrogantly demanding and dictating how our lives should pan out…and yet if you’ve made the decision to follow God, you’ve given Him authority over your life right?
God never said everything would happen in a straight line. In fact, we are alerted – you will face tribulation (John 16:33). There’ll be different times for different things in your life – there’ll be years when things are horrible and then after 2 months everything turns around. Perhaps our confusion is that we may have bought into something that has nothing to do with God. That blueprint mentioned earlier? Where did God say that all His children would experience life in the same uniform way. Instead He continually calls us to lean on Him, to allow Him into our lives so that He can guide us. Think about it, you have no part in how you were brought onto this earth, only God really knows what your life is meant to be, He is all knowing.
Finally, I have learnt that through each life experience, God walks you through a lesson you needed to learn. PS: It’s not always a fun experience but it is a necessary experience as there’s growth and maturity on the other side of that.
