Many of us are familiar with the saying, “God’s ways are not our ways” (it comes from Isaiah 55:8-9). The longer I walk on my journey of faith the more I realize how true this is!
When we first become awake to God’s leading–that is, when we first become aware of His plan for our lives, we usually think we have a pretty good idea of how things will happen. It’s like we have tunnel vision–seeing only the “end” without considering everything we will experience during the process of getting there.
Consider the story of Joseph:
As a young teenager, he received a vision from God about his future. How exciting, right? To know exactly what God had planned! Or so he thought…
Joseph probably felt that since God had spoken to him so clearly, it would not be long before his vision would come to pass. He probably even thought he knew how everything would come about. I doubt Joseph had any idea of the difficulties and heartache he would have to face before God fulfilled his dream.
Before Joseph even had time to fully process what God had been speaking to him, he found himself facing incredible trial: he was rejected by his brothers, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery. If that weren’t devastating enough, a few years later, after he was finally adjusting to his new life, he found himself sitting in a prison cell after being accused of doing something he did not do.
Joseph probably felt he had gotten his “wires crossed” in his communication with God. His dream probably seemed to him not only impossible, but laughable. “What was I thinking?” he must have said to himself. “How could I have been so foolish?”
Like Joseph, we have all been given “dreams.” Whether they stem from our own desires or from our communion with God, we all feel we have at least a small “vision” of what our future holds. We, too, often see only the “end.” We usually don’t consider that there is a process we must go through before receiving or experiencing whatever it is that has been spoken to our hearts.
The process is our preparation. When someone wants to be a teacher, a nurse, a lawyer, a doctor, etc. they must first be prepared for their field. No one expects to graduate from high school and suddenly begin practicing medicine! The process of “getting there,” of becoming who we are meant to be is just as important as the “end.” The things we learn in our “training” are priceless lessons that prepare us to not only walk in our “calling” but to overcome the obstacles we can and will face even when we reach the “end.”
Right now I am in the process of recording a new CD. Each decision is important: how we lay the foundation (arrangements, etc.), each individual track . . . If I skip over or am careless about even one detail of the process, it will affect the outcome. In order to create a beautiful sound, the “layers” must come together properly. It is the same with life.
God has His own way of getting us to our desired “end.” His ways are not our ways, they are wiser. He sees the whole picture. He knows who we need to become in order to be solid and prepared for the “end.” And the process of “becoming” who we need to be takes time.
There will be times that we will feel like Joseph: trapped in our own type of prison cell, far from where we thought we were meant to be. It’s then that we need to look up and remember that the One who gave us our dreams is also the only One who can fulfill them. When we lift our eyes to Him we will discover that our lives are complete already–even in their seemingly “unfinished” state–because we are in His hand.
Wait for His time. He will be with you and will show Himself faithful–all the way to the “end.”
Stephanie
“Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” ~Joshua 21:45
