I Want it Now!
by Lindsey Hanekom
There`s great excitement in our house whenever we prepare to go to visit Nana and Grandee`s house for the school holidays. Kyle, aged 6, knows the days of the week and is able to count how many days we have to go and understand that a lot needs to happen before we reach Saturday morning, when we leave. On the other hand Zoe, aged 2½, can`t understand why it doesn’t just happen now...for her there`s no reason at all why we just can’t go immediately and enjoy ourselves. Zoe’s way of handling her frustration is one of a typical two year old... stamping her feet and demanding (in a very loud voice) to know why it can’t be her way!
I`m fairly convinced that most of us can relate to Zoe`s attitude. We all want our desires met and met, “Now!” It takes a more mature outlook to be able to see that many other things need to happen before we reach the goal, and an even more mature attitude to recognise that we don`t know all of the things that have to happen ... but trust that someone will make them happen by doing one job after another.
When I consider life, I could very happily list all the things I would like God to resolve and resolve them, “Now!” However, I must allow myself to take a step back and recognise that a lot needs to happen before then, and also that some of those things are not for me to understand or worry about, but to trust God to do His work in His time.
We need to make our daily walk one of step-by-step obedience. Of course, we can look forward to what we would like to see as our future, but there`s no use in living our lives thinking it`s going to happen `now` if we just stamp our feet and make demands. We need to live knowing that the way to the desires of our heart is to just take the next step of obedience, however trivial or inconsequential that step may seem to be.
Prayer: Father God, You have a perfect plan for my life; You have a time for everything and a path for me to walk. Help me to take life one step at a time, being obedient to Your voice, even in the small things. Help me find the desires of my heart, and Yours, this way. Amen.
Lindsey Hanekom Lindsey has worked at all of our UK centres over the years and has settled at Ellel Scotland with her husband, Johann and their two young children, Kyle and Zoe. As part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Scotland, Lindsey has a heart for the deeply broken as she oversees the prayer ministry and is an established and passionate teacher with Ellel. In her spare time, Lindsey enjoys the natural world, particularly the ocean, and is trained as a specialist medic to assist stranded and injured marine mammals.
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