FAITH FOR
ENDURANCE NOT ESCAPE
One of my best definitions of faith is derived
from Hebrews 11:1 which says that Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen. Often times when faced with challenges or
tough times, we are tempted to look for that word, scripture or prophesy that
will give us the strength to quickly jump out of the situation.
Last year 2016 was the worst year of my
working years and this was simply because I had a terrible relationship with my
manager. No matter how hard I worked or how right I was, it just wasn’t cutting it
for her. We clashed every single day and
it was clear that my presence would always give her a bad mood swing. I really
didn’t understand why and all my effort to better the relationship just didn’t
seem to yield much. I delivered on my objectives, I went the extra mile, I
pulled all strings of submission, I prayed, name it. But it just wasn’t
working. I soon started to feel worthless, belittled, demotivated and my self
esteem was starting to get terribly affected. This went on for a while until I
realized that the negative energy was actually starting to affect my mood,
performance and my attitude towards work. I decided to intentionally speak
positively to myself as often as I could and confess all the promises I know
that God has for me. I then started considering resigning my job because surely
God must desire better for me. I needed to find myself again, know my worth but
better still walk a journey of faith. I knew that God had better in store for
me for he says ‘for I know the plans I have for you. Plans to
prosper and not to harm you, plans to bring you hope and a future’
So I thought to myself, I believe this
scripture. I have faith that God will take care of me even without this job, I
had no shadow of doubt that I would find another job but was that what God
wanted me to do? Resign? Leave on a bad note? Definitely not.
So many times we want an escape from a
situation but faith is not meant to give us an escape but rather give us the
courage and strength to go through the challenges with hope.
Hebrews 10:35-36 tells us not to lose courage
because it brings with it a great reward. You need to be patient, in order to
do the will of God and receive what he promises.
Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that
manifests itself in a calm, positive attitude despite our life circumstances. James
1:4 says but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking nothing.
This year kicked off on a miraculously good note. My relationship with my manager is nothing short of a miracle. Whatever it is that you are going through,
remember that the Lord will not give you anything that is more than you can
handle. That situation will not break you, so you need to keep hope alive
knowing that after you come out of the fire. You will be refined like silver,
beautiful and better than before.
