“Are you that hungry?”… It is two hours past your time to eat. You just got out of work. You remember that there’s an exquisite meal waiting for you at home; warm…tasty…set aside just for you to enjoy. Lobster…crabs…a T-bone steak… you fill-in the blanks. However, as you drive down the highway, you notice that if you take the next exit you will find a fast food restaurant and quickly satisfy your hunger and not have to wait to get home and eat. Quickly, you try to make a decision whether to just settle for the first option at hand or wait a little longer and enjoy a delicious home cooked meal. Sound familiar, hah? I know what you are thinking.
On the other hand, when it comes to choosing a mate, we must never settle for the first thing that comes by. Rather, we should ask ourselves: “Does it meet God’s criteria for what He wants for me and knows that I need the most? Will it compliment the ministry He’s called me for?
See, in the Bible there’s a man called Esau, who had a twin brother named Jacob. One day, when Esau came back from the field – he was a cunning hunter – he came back tired. Most likely he was too hungry. His brother Jacob had prepared a pottage, something like a stew. Since Esau was the firstborn, he was automatically born with birthrights. Knowing this, Jacob took advantage of Esau’s vulnerability. When Esau asked for some of the pottage, Jacob asked him to sell him his birthright. Taking for granted God’s blessing, Jacob acceded for a plate of the stew in return. Later, he procured his blessing with tears but could not get it back.
Like Esau, many times we overlook our blessings because we are too focused on the one thing we feel we need at that specific moment and know that we can’t have. We take for granted what is ours thinking that we must get what we don’t have. WARNING: “It is when we focus on the one thing we can’t have that we fail to see all the things we can enjoy.”
Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? God had commanded Adam, saying: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: ‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it.’ For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) Now the serpent was more subtle. One day while Eve was walking around the garden, the serpent began to make her question God’s commandment. “Yeah, has God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1) As if God was such a cruel God that would purposely prevent us from something that would be a blessing to us. Sadly, the devil kept on playing mind games with Eve, until she finally fell in his trap. The devil was able to achieve its purpose… to tempt, question, confuse and destroy. DANGER! It may look good, but, is it what God wants for us?
“When we are hungry, we are easy prey for the devil… he’ll come to question our identity and challenge us to provide for ourselves.” We will hear him whispering in our ears: Perhaps you’ve waited long enough; why don’t you just get it for yourself? You’ve got to make things happen for yourself; faith without works is dead. What are you waiting for? CAUTION: When we are not in the spiritual position God wants us at, we are easy to be played by the devil. But, the rule of thumb when considering a mate should be: NEVER settle for okay when God wants to give you the best.
“God wants us to be happy and complete.” If he says NO to us is only because he’s preventing us from a miserable, non-successful, and unhappy life that may come along after we have entered into a relationship with that special someone. If he says WAIT, it may be that we are just not ready yet to handle the full blessing He wants to gives us. There may still be some baggage that we are carrying around with us that we need to leave behind before we invite someone to be part of our life. Also, He may just be aligning everything so that when the time comes, nothing prevents us from enjoying His blessing in our life. More so, He may be taking this time of waiting to prepare us for that ministry He wants to put in our hands. Why try to pick the apple on the tree that is not ready to be eaten yet when we can enjoy the one that is red and juicy and has been put in our hands to enjoy? REMEMBER: In the path of the Lord, it’s not about us anymore… It’s about His divine plan for our life and those around us.”
Should we take a look one more time? What do we see around us? Wonderful friends, loving parents, interesting new things to learn, new experiences with God… Let us dare to enjoy what is available to us…”embrace each season with joy, in the full confidence that God knows what’s best for your life today; tomorrow, and forever…” Are we really that hungry that we will settle beneath our calling?
