He makes all things beautiful

A man asked God for a flower and a butterfly because he wanted to be surrounded by beautiful things. Imagine his disappointment when God gave him a cactus and a caterpillar. He was sad. He didn't understand how or why God had misunderstood his request. “Oh well," he thought to himself, “God has too many people to care for so I won’t question Him”. So he accepted the items, put the cactus in a pot and placed the caterpillar where it could feed and forgot about them. After some time, the man went to check up on the cactus and caterpillar. He was stunned to find that from the ugly, thorny cactus, a beautiful flower had emerged, and the unsightly, disgusting caterpillar had transformed into the most beautiful butterfly.

I do not remember where I read this story but it spoke a lot to me then and I kept it. I have had to revisit it and what follows is a little 'finding' about God or rather a reminder that in this life, there are very few short-cuts that lead anywhere great.


Have you ever had a "Lord, I think You misunderstood me. I asked for a beautiful flower, but You have given me a cactus" moment?  I have. I am beginning to appreciate something about God: He rarely hands over things in its mature state. You ask for a child, He places a foetus in a woman's womb. You ask for food, He gives you seed. You ask for a home, He gives you a spouse. You ask for wealth, He gives you a skill or more. Even our Salvation needs to be worked out to its maturity...if you are faithful to the end.

Naturally we like short-cuts and quickies. We are in the era of microwaves where everything is ready in 2 minutes. It is easier to want finished goods and many times our inability to see the flower in a cactus or the butterfly in the caterpillar causes us to 'lose' what we have asked for. We lose when we fail to achieve or reach our goals. The man in the above story was lucky. He was able to go back where he kept his items and ultimately discover that his needs had been met.  Some are not always so lucky however thank goodness God knows how best to work our mistakes for good. That being said, I feel its more profitable to understand His way and pattern to minimise our loses,  heartaches and even time over 'unanswered prayers'.  Remember the Israelites, one act of doubt resulted in 40 years of roaming in the wilderness!

The life He has planned out for us is greater than we can imagine, and we have those little things that He has placed in our hands to help us reach our full potential - people, talents, desires, locations, finance, etc. We only need to open our eyes to see the prospects. Abraham's children as many as the stars in the sky began with one-Isaac. God planned  a beautiful green earth full of people, He began with 2 people and a garden. He asked them to multiply and to tend the garden so man can learn to work with what he has to bring about an increase. We have to learn the same.

This is just a quick note to remind us not to be too quick to throw away or be disgruntled about the little things. Rather, we ought to be thankful and to thankfully work out the big things out of our little. If the man in the little story above had not put the cactus in a pot to grow, the beautiful flower that he longed for never would have come out. I guess the key thing here is to remember that He makes all things beautiful in time, however, before then He needs us to do a little bit of work as well, after-all, we are co-workers and partners with Him. 

Every forest began with a seed. If you throw the seed away, you will lose the forest. Your destiny is already in your hands, but you have got to work it out.

Work it xx

Questions and Answers

This is the video of a song that I thoroughly love. Now I normally do not enjoy rap because the words come out quicker than I can follow but I love this one. I have been listening to this artist's music a lot lately and I thought I'd share. I am becoming very generous these days aren't I? Lol.

You will find more of JayEss's music here. Also, you can also become a fan on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

Enjoy x

I'm Good At It!

Happy Monday! I hope you had a lovely week and weekend.  During the weekend, a friend of mine shared this with me. I found it insightful and I thought I'd share with my friends too :-)

You know that way when you see something new in a bible story you've read dozen of times and you wonder why you've never seen it before?!  Well, check out Mark 6:48 [...He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them...]. When I recently read the verse it seemed to me that Mark may be suggesting that Jesus' intention was to walk past the disciples as they struggled in the boat? The idea that they could be struggling, He knows they're struggling and yet chooses to pass by is quite surprising and "worrying" in a way. But I've often thought that, with many of them being fishermen, a boat was the one place where they felt experienced, confident and self-sufficient. i.e. it was an arena where they were tempted to depend on themselves so maybe Jesus just left them to it? It's quite a scary concept and has been challenging me to pray a bit more, especially in areas in my life I feel proficient, so I don't miss out on Jesus and His support!

After I read this, a status message I read recently came to mind. It read something along this line "I am good at what I do." In some areas of my life I am like this person. Probably even a bit more self-confident than they. I rarely ask for help. I like to figure new things out myself. I like to work things out on my own. I feel I learn and grow stronger that way.  And this attitude has its benefits in a way, I do not have to rely on being shown things to learn new skills or to grow in my work. However, if I already am so self-reliant when I am clueless, imagine what it would be like for something I feel I am already good at!

Perhaps you are like me and these fishermen. Often tempted to rely on ourselves because we feel 'Yes, we can!' do it (Thank you Obama and Bob by the way). This is not limited to work only. Perhaps you already have those who tell you how good a spouse, friend, sibling etc you are. These people already make you feel you are doing a good job with your relationship with them but how often do you ask for help with these relationships? I believe God likes to share all things with us - the good and the bad, the easy and difficult, the areas of strengths and weaknesses. Imagine having a friend who only shares the sad and weak areas of their lives with you. How wearisome they would be! A friend who shares their happy days with you, you will definitely welcome with open arms during their sad days.

I remember a man spoke about a journey with his wife someday. It was the easiest of journeys and not one that would cause even the worst of drivers to panic. At the  beginning of their journey, his wife asked that they pray. Mr dismissed it saying it was not necessary seeing this was an easy journey so they did not pray. Basically, he was saying he could do this without any help- he definitely does not need a miracle to reach his destination! He recalled this event saying he has never had a more difficult journey in his life and now relies on God more often.

I am not saying that its wrong to be confident in your areas of strength. Rather, what I am trying to say is this: "Everything is worth committing to God especially those areas of proficiency." Jesus did nothing without His Father. If He - the All-sufficient One needed Him how much more we mortals? Its Monday and you are probably one of the best teachers, photographer, graphics designer, cleaner or even Prime Minister on the block however, I encourage you to stop to commit your work and week to God and see how much further you will go -at your work and with Him.

 Always xx

 

Get your laugh on :D

Happy Monday! I had a very lovely weekend but thank God it's Monday! The beginning of the work week for many - here's another opportunity to be blessed and be a blessing. "She's a little excited isn't she?" I know! Happiness is exceedingly good food for the spirit :-).

I read a book a few years ago by Sabina Wurmbrand (co-founder of the Voice of the Martyrs). There's a portion of it that I remembered this weekend:

..How queer the human mind is. Just before dropping off, there came into my head a joke Richard had told once. A man determined that to complain was futile: he decided that he would in the future make the best of things. Just at that moment a wheel came off his cart. “Never mind” he said. “Cabs have only two wheels. I have three. I’m rich.” Then a second wheel came off. “Why worry,” he said. “A wheel barrow has only one wheel. I have two.” A third wheel came off. “Well, sleighs have no wheels at all, and they still get along,” he said. Then he lost the last wheel. “I’ve always wanted to be a sleigh driver,” he exclaimed joyfully. - Excerpt from The Pastor's Wife - a courageous testimony of persecution and imprisonment in Communist Romania.

You know sometimes, we just need to be happy irrespective of what's happening around us. There are things we go through in life that attempt to kill our joy and rob us of happiness. The past year or two has been challenging for many. Careers, homes, families and more have been lost. I recently had to make some decisions that meant starting all over again in many ways. It was a tough decision and sometimes it's still difficult but I am learning that where I am does not dictate how I feel about myself. I am blessed and a blessing!

I encourage you to face life with a smile. And when things become very difficult, get your laugh on. Why? Because there is light at the end of every tunnel and if you do not lose hope and quit moving, you will see the light. And even if things do not turn out the way you want, why add more to your loss by losing your happiness?

If you have lost your job, money, friends, remember Job. He lost everything he had but God gave him double for all his troubles. Zacharias & Elizabeth waited a very long time for a child but in their old age, they gave birth to John the Baptist who was Christ's Forerunner and according to Jesus - the greatest man that every lived before He brought us the Kingdom of God. For those hurting from relationship that has gone sour, Ruth lost her husband but God replaced him with Boaz a stronger man. This couple became the grandparents of King David. If you've made serious mistakes, there's a second chance for you; David & Bathsheba lost their first son because of a mistake they made but God replaced him with Solomon who became the next king of Israel and builder of Israel’s first and grandest temple. For the persecuted, remember John who was banished to the Island of Patmos but out of that came The Book of Revelations. And if you've lost things because of another man's mistakes, there's still hope. Think about Lotfi Raissi - he was wrongly accused over the 9/11 attacks but he recently won his battle for compensation - 9 years later. He said to BBC: "My life was destroyed. My career was destroyed... It was hell for my life the last nine years". You can read his story here.

We all have disappointments, betrayals and situations to deal with, and you may have been told not to lose your faith during tough times. I also want to encourage you - don't lose your smile. Your story ends with a laugh so why not start now. The following joke I received this recently from a friend may help you:

After getting Pope Benedict’s entire luggage loaded into the limo the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb. “Excuse me, Your Holiness,” says the driver, “Would you please take your seat so we can leave?” ''Well, to tell you the truth,” says the Pope, “they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and I'd really like to drive today”. ''I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! What if something happens?” protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning. “Who’s going to tell?” says the Pope with a smile. Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 205kph (Remember, the Pope is German). “Please slow down, Your Holiness!” pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens. “Oh, dear God, I’m going to lose my license and my job!” moans the driver. The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio. “I need to talk to the Chief” he says to the dispatcher. The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he’s stopped a limo going 205kph. “So bust him,” says the Chief. “I don’t think we want to do that, he’s really important,” said the cop. The Chief exclaimed, “All the more reason!” “No, I mean really important,” said the cop with a bit of persistence. The Chief then asked, “Who do you have there, the mayor?” Cop: “Bigger”. Chief: “A senator?” Cop: “Bigger”. Chief: “The Prime Minister?” Cop: “Bigger”. “Well,” said the Chief, “who is it?” Cop: “I think it’s God!” The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, “What makes you think it’s God?” Cop: “His chauffeur is the Pope!”

So whatever life throws at you this week, count it all joy. Keep the light on. Retain your smile. Remain steadfast in your faith. Don’t lose your hope.

Get your laugh on xx



© 2010 Arielle Ajibade