by Nothile Majola
Lately, I’ve had some difficult conversations, with not just myself but with God. I don’t think I’ve ever been at a point in my life where I’ve struggled with the idea and the concept behind patience until now. I think that I’m at a point in life where things should start to make sense, in most aspects – when it comes to manoeuvring about on this earth. My frustrations have largely stemmed from a lot of those things not making sense, for the first time in my life, I’m faced with uncertainty about quite a few things concerning my life, more specifically my future. I’ve been struggling to get my mind around the thoughts of ‘what’s next?’, ‘where to from here?’ and I think what’s made it worse is how I’ve allowed what I’m seeing happening around me, drive the conversations in my head. This experience, however, isn’t something that is unique to me but something that quite a few people go through.
I hope that I can share some of the things that I’ve learned over the past few months with you. Patience is an essential part of life as it helps us in the process of waiting and trusting. It’s also inevitable that sometimes our patience can run thin in different seasons of this journey. However, a very special kind of love enables us to trust God especially in areas of our lives where things don’t usually work out the way which we would have wanted them to. This love drives our willingness to trust God and His Will for our lives, and I have learned that the patience and willingness to trust God really is a virtue and sometimes good qualities such as these take time to be instilled within us. This is okay. I have also learned that patience and hope go hand in hand on this journey that we’re all on as Romans says; “… hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” – Romans 8: 24 -25. We wait patiently in the hope that things will eventually happen.
But what does that look like? The waiting? What do I do in the meantime, as I wait for God to show me the right path to take and the right decisions to make? It took me so long to get to this simple, yet profound answer – but I learn to trust and I have faith that things WILL work out. That they will work out not only the way that God wants them to but for my good. As I “hold tightly without wavering to the hope I affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise” – Hebrews 10:23. I won’t lie, it can get frustrating, especially when we live in a day and age where accolades and achievements are things we constantly see whenever we log onto our social pages – either from strangers or even people we know. This is also cool. It’s easy to feel like you’re “behind”. I think it becomes an issue when we don’t become inspired by these milestones, but instead, these observed successes leave us envious and may be inadequate. No one else’s achievements should leave us feeling less than, but what they should do is encourage us to work hard in our different and unique journeys so that one day, when the time comes, you can celebrate the same way. An illustration that I always make use of in conversations with my friends is that of a racehorse – how they place eye covers on them called ‘blinkers’ and what this cover does is prevent the horse from seeing what is happening on its side and it’s rearview which helps it focus on the race ahead trying to run as fast as it can to get to the finish line. Frankly, this is the same approach I think one should take in this thing called life. That, in as much as we’re all running the race we need to remain focused on our own journey’s and working towards progressing in our own lanes – you can’t run to your goal properly if you’re still looking at what the next person is doing, that will only slow you down.
Instead, practice gratitude and thankfulness. I’ve found this to help me the most; it’s become part of my morning routine as well. As soon as I get up in the morning, I mention 10 things that I am grateful for and what that’s taught me is that there’s a blessing in every season. When things are going the way you want them to and when they’re not, there’s always something to be grateful for, be it a roof over your head, your health during this pandemic and I can list so much more. Practising this habit has helped open my eyes to how faithful God is, even in the most minute things. This creates a sense of understanding – understanding that I may not be where I want to, or planned to be, but I’m not where I used to be and because of that, there’s something to look forward to in the future. And that future will be beautiful because He has promised that it will be, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11 NIV.
So be encouraged in this; when we purpose our hearts to live thankfully and cultivate gratitude in our lives, it is a worthy response to the faithfulness of our loving Father.
Until next time,
A Black Woman Who Laughs Without Fear of Future
