THE WAITING SAFARI :: Shared By Pappa

I know each one of us has at some point had to wait! Wait for something, someone, sometime. Even now, wengine wanangoja. Na wamekua wakingoja kwa muda.

We are waiting for healing (for ourselves or for loved ones), we are waiting for new jobs or promotions, we are waiting for that breakthrough in business or that helicopter ride to some mountain lake! Waiting!

What is your earliest memory of a road trip, when's you was a toi? Let’s assume it was to Mombasa!!! Few days to the day, the air is thick with anticipation. Then finally the day. Kulala hata ni shida – asubuhi haifiki!

Donno if your folks were like mine but they never seemed to be in a hurry to set off. Umesha pack, umeshavaa na hamtoki. Hautaki kucheza ndo nguo zisichafuke. It could get frustrating at some point - kwanza watoto wa majirani wakipitia na hamjatoka. So much for that.

Sasa tuanze safari ... this is a trip you aint taken before. Shika Mombasa Road ... by the time mnapita Athi River unauliza swali ya kwanza ---

Tumefika? Answer 'ahh ngoja... bado! utajua tukifika'. Machakos turn off, 'tumefika?'. Answer 'ndakwambia tukikaribia'. Salama, 'tumekaribia?'. You catch the drift, right?

We'll come back to that momentarily.

You see, in our season of waiting we may tend to get irritated and or  impatient. In deed, we have an idea of our destination, we are looking forward to getting there, but we are not getting there soon enough. Or whoever is supposed to get us through does not seem to understand the urgency, so we ask God - 'tuko karibu?'.

Back to our trip: Voi, pit stop! Kid could have several choices:

1. He can believe to himself that that is Mombasa, the bus / car stopped anyway. Depending on his expectations he might end up pretty disappointed.
2. If he has a clear picture of how Mombasa looks, he might as well decide enough is enough and decide to walk til he sees a beach!

How many times do we set out on a journey with the Lord and are irritated and impatient? We get to Voi and instead of releasing and replenishing for the rest of the journey we turn back, turn off or turn away.

You have been seeking a job for soooo long and instead of releasing and replenishing you succumb to lying or bribing! Or, you know of a paradise called honeymoon but have not be patient enough to wait on God til then! Whatever became to the principle of the farmer ...

See what the Lord says:

James 5:7-8 “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

The farmer prepares the land in due time, plants at the right time, goes through the rigors of weeding and through the entire cycle until its time for the harvest. He cannot watch as the rains come and go. Weeding season comes and he does nothing but shows up at harvest time and expect anything!

Back to the trip! Now that you're older and with hindsight, what do you think the kid needed besides knowing that it'll be a pretty long trip? A book to doodle perhaps? A few games to play along? Some few things to bite on?

The more you get to working out your faith in your wait, it ceases to be a wait but an experience in itself. Two kids on the same trip, one writes a beautiful composition not just about sun and sand but also the images and experiences along the way.

Jane shared with us a message on Why Me a fortnight ago, a perfect example of how engaged we need to be during our wait.
Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices.”

Work out your salvation, grow your faith, commune with God, praise Him!! Strengthen your relationship with Him. BUT ALSO ... believe HIM!

Back to the trip! By focusing on the prize the wait will be worth it. If you could just picture how you'll have fun with your cousins and friends when you get there the wait will be nothing compared to that. MORAL? Be certain about the promise of God in eternity and the wait for every other thing on earth will be worth it!

Heb 11:13-16
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Usichoke / jitie nguvu / Bwana akujali

Wakati wako / utakapo fika / hakuna atakae zuia baraka zako

Subiri subiri wewe ... usichoke

THE LORD BLESS HIS WORD!