This week has been eventful and good things are coming…so stay tuned!
This week it was so funny. I get off the train and head to the post office. I’m not that far into my walk that I notice the guy in front of me who got off at the same stop, begin to look back at me and run up ahead. He does this a few times…
And after a while it occurs to me that he probs thinks I’m following him.
But it was only once I stopped at the lights and he ran ahead over the hill, that I lost sight of him. Keep in mind, for a while once I figured he probs thinks I’m following, I did try to keep close distance – for fun and to test the waters.
For us it’s like following God. We cannot be slow at what He is doing, or we will miss it. If we are not following in His timing or following Him daily, we will lose track of what He is doing. If we delay, looking left or right, God will continue ahead, and we will fall behind. As He is always working [John 5:17].
Similarly, I missed the delivery of my parcel that day I went to see if it was still there. The story goes, I noticed the following Thursday (keep in mind it’s Monday now), that it’s been about 3 weeks and I have not received updates since I purchased it, so I checked the very first tracking I received, and it said it came 2 weeks ago. Turns out when I checked online (Thursday) that was the last day I could have gotten it, before it was sent back to the sender the next day. So that Monday, when I was following that poor suspicious guy, I was too late. See in this case, as I Googled how long the Post will hold a parcel once not collected, it said about 10-18 days. But rather than getting it ASAP and with urgency, seeing the parcel was a gift for a friend, I waited the next few days. And the day I went, the parcel was no longer there.
The moral of the story is to not delay. As simple as knowing when to grab your parcel, but even more in our relationship with God. We must move quickly!
Also, another story this week. I was doing a new way of getting groceries – and it’s helping me realise the value of time and money – which I know I need to appreciate more, and we all can. To describe my experience would be like the IG reel I recently watched about stress. I experienced this first hand… well not stress but how they explained it. They explained it like holding a water bottle. At first it doesn’t hurt because it’s light. But the longer you hold this bottle of water, the heavier it will feel.
See, I was thinking I was smart, so I did my shopping near the city, and took the train. Since I don’t have a car, it made sense to save my legs the on-foot travels from mine to the closest shop and take the journey where it’s mostly a train ride.
But what I experienced taught me that it’s not about whether you walk or not, but it’s about how long you are carrying the baggage – it’s not about whether you’re constantly carrying it, but the key thing is how long you’re with your baggage. Because though I wasn’t walking miles with the 2 bags… it felt like a long time on the train because I was with the Woollies bags the longest. Well, trains were partially down, so train and bus did make time feel even longer. Because walking would be a shorter time overall, compared to train.
It’s like our walk with God. There’s no easy way and we are all carrying something. But it says to give God our burdens [Matthew 11:28-30]. For it is light for Him and pick up our cross and follow Him [Luke 9:23].
Take me indirectly following the guy off the train. But imagine this time I was carrying my Woolies bags. This time I am running after him as well, like you would do to follow someone. It wouldn’t be easy. In fact, in a worldly sense, I’m sure he would have run away faster. But if it was conveying us following God, we cannot walk the path He wants us to or the pace, if we have other things in our hands – burdens, pride, materialist things etc. you name it. Realistically, we cannot carry our cross if we are consumed by other things we’re still holding onto. It doesn’t make sense.
But you will pick up and carry what you find valuable. Even for myself I need to think about this. Are the things that I’m stressed about, things that’s on my mind, thing’s I invest my time, things I’m holding onto – does it glorify God? Or is it just weighing me down, from putting energy into what I truly need to pick up and carry?
God never said following Him will be easy, but have we made it “impossible” in our own eyes, because we take hold of other things, that we look at those things in our hands and struggle to let go, to take a hold of the things of greater importance…
Today let’s give God our burdens and worries, and lay them down, and pick up our cross so we can truly follow Him where He is leading us. Let’s not delay where He guides.
God, you amaze me!
E
John 5:17 NIV
In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Luke 9:23 NIV
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Follow God
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