Gradually

Gradually!

Psalm 37:23”The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way..”

God takes you through from one level to another gradually! Did you hear me say gradually? Yes……gradually! He is in no hurry!

God prepares you for the higher level while you are on the way……God had to keep Joshua behind Moses , so that he closely watched this great leader Moses speak to God, perform miracles and walk with dignity, poise and calmness. With maturity comes dignity! Anybody hearing me? God does not want puffed-up head with facts and figures but He loves a broken heart filled with nothing but God!

Moses preparation for the iconic job of leading a gigantic team of 6 lakh people started while he was three months old! Baby Moses had to be abandoned in a basket by his own mom and left to float in the Nile river; nevertheless, the moment the mom put him in the river, the Arms of God took over! Never abandoned even for a sec! So are you! Moses had to learn the art of endurance, long suffering, persistence, patience, kindness, confidence and administration during the different stages of his life; eventually he was able to stand tall and strong in front of a pagan king Pharaoh and plead and advocate for the people of Israel. Trust God to sculpt you and make you perfectly whole!

All the time while Moses was in the ‘making’ of a super-duper leader, God had kept Moses safe in the palm of His Hands. As I write this portion, I would like to share an article that I read in the newspaper that was very interesting and certainly relevant to our subject today. Scientists have discovered a deep-sea octopus that protected and tended her eggs until they hatched 4/5 years later: the longest egg-brooding period ever. In the year 2007, the mom Octopus was sighted up on the rock and guarding a clutch of attached eggs. The scientists returned to the site 18 times over 53 months and each time the researchers found the mom Octopus clinging to the vertical rock face arms covering her eggs. Stunning! The scientists concluded thus:” Parental care is important in producing well-developed offspring that can cope with the rigours of the deep-set habitat.”

Hasty and premature delivery leads to weak, puny, stunted, feeble, timid, spineless, ineffective, namby-pamby offspring! If you need strong, go-getters then we got to wait for God to bring us to fulfilment gradually! Gradually! Are you listening?

Some of us want to start church without training, you got to be well-equipped both in Word and deed!

Some want to hastily jump into marriage without being developed both physically and mentally. Happy marriage is not a ready-made commodity, it takes two mature people to make it; the ingredients of which are: patience, forgiveness, endurance, kindness, humility, harmony and most important selfless love.

Swift foray into business endeavours without gradual training for the job leads to failure, loss and disillusionment! Training, trusting, praying, fasting, meditating of His Word and most important waiting are indispensable for gradual growth to perfection!

After the inauguration ceremony of our Abide School on September 11, 2011, we had to wait for nearly three years to erect a board with the name of our school. Patience! Until then I had to endure remarks such as: ‘school or tuition centre?’, ‘ school and no board?’, ‘what kind of school is this?’, ‘what are you doing with a bunch of street kids?’ and much more. Once the board was erected and the Government sanctioned the project, the same people now say: ‘God is in this!’

God gradually takes you across stages so that you don’t forget His goodness and mercy!