Little by Little
I’ve had to learn something that God
wants all of us to remember through
every leg of our journey: The only way to
obtain the promises of God is through
faith and patience. That applies to
everything, including any words, goals,
plans, dreams, or visions he’s placed in
our hearts. God makes the promises and
our part is to persevere, just as the writer
of Hebrews told us: “We do not want
you to become lazy, but to imitate those
who through faith and patience inherit
what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:12,
emphasis added).
Maybe you have a dream, a goal, a plan
you’ve been working toward for years,
and you feel God has forgotten you.
Maybe you have wanted to:
• Start a business
• Go back to school
• Build a non-governmental
organization (NGO)
• Serve in your community
• Become a foster parent
• Go on a mission trip
• Lead a ministry
Whatever it is, God has not forgotten
you. The dreams, visions, and plans God
places in our hearts take time, lots of
time. And during all that time, God is
working in us so he can work through us.
Again, our part is to exercise faith and
patience in the process. Faith is believing
God, believing that God is who he says
he is, and that he will do what he said
he would do. Patience is our capacity
to tolerate delay—to wait. It’s trusting
that God is good, God does good, and
God knows what he is doing—no matter
how long it takes and no matter what our
purpose may be.
As I have walked this out in my own life—
from those years of traveling around the
countryside of Australia to stepping into
every initiative since—I have found God’s
process to be strategic and tailor-made
for my life. It is the same for your life,
and God’s journey for you. But living our
lives with purpose—walking in faith and
patience—often feels countercultural to
us. We live in a digital world connected
globally by the internet and social media,
so we have instant access to everything
from news to products to real-time videos
of world events. As a culture, we consider
it normal to get everything we want on
demand. Even our reality TV shows give
the illusion of overnight success, but
there are no overnight success stories
really. No one picks up a microphone one
day and rises to stardom the next. There
are years of hard work in between the
beginning of something and whatever
it is we deem as success. There are
significant life lessons to be learned in
the years of working toward a goal. And
for us as believers, there are places God
wants us to go through—that take time—
so he can prepare us for the future he’s
designed for us.
When people ask me how I got to where
I am today—leading Equip & Empower
Ministries, A21, and Propel—I remember
that night on the cot and smile. I don’t
have five steps to destiny or seven keys
to ending global injustice. All I have to
share is the process God has walked
me through, which is same one I’ve
seen him walk everyone through when
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