It pays to wait

By Neil Anthony Rusia

Wait!? This word really keeps ringing on my ear since I observed that I’m getting in a hurry on some of my plans. But before I delve in deeply, have we ever asked ourselves where on earth this word “wait” comes from? From the worldly point of view, this means remaining or resting in expectation of something. All of us have been waiting for something to happen in our lives even to the extent of being aggravated which sometimes make us stop on every thing we do. Like in my case, I’m getting too excited of what lies ahead of my life until I get to the point of forgetting some of the simplest things life has offered. Every night, before I close my eyes to get a very deep sleep after a long day’s work, I talk to the Lord and ask Him whether some of the plans I set will be realized. I even find myself funny whenever I imagine all my plans as if I’m watching a movie but in this case, I’m the sole actor. We kept on asking God why we are in these situations where we are expected to wait on something to come.

Yes, we all have numerous plans set by days, weeks, months or even years. Even others could be in short or long term plans. In my case, after I finished my BS degree here in the Philippines, the question I have in my mind is, Where do I go from here? What will happen to my life if I choose to be with this or that? What happens if I take this step or the other way around? There are too many questions that we seek for answers. There are many roads that we need to take in life, but others may be twisted while some are straight as a stick. With this sort-of-confusion ringing in my head, whether to wait or go ahead of God’s plan, I found out that we just need to imbibe in our own minds and hearts these concepts.

  

Remember, life is an even keel. All of us are perfectly created by God. Our eyes, ears, hands, feet and other body parts are placed in their perfect spots. The number of senses and even the intricacy of our entire human body system have its own raison d’être. I remember the explanation of my teacher about the reason why humans have one pair of ears and only one mouth. He emphasized that we need to have this number of senses for a person needs to listen twice as much as he speaks. So better not pray to have two mouths and one ear because time will come gossips and lies will proliferate not just once but twice. Just wait because life is like a balanced weighing scale. We are the only ones outweighing it. Let’s just keep this equilibrium in state whatever happens.

Don’t run ahead of God’s plan. Yes, it’s normal that we sometimes run ahead of time. In this fast paced world of ours, feeble people are well disregarded. We beat deadlines and plan out things in advance. Human as we are, we always do these stuffs. We even put a schedule on the simplest things we do daily. You bathe, eat, and prepare things as fast as you can even to the extent of forgetting that you haven’t worn your underpants. But wait guys! Have we tried halting and pausing for a while and contemplate on the significant things that we did? Are all these things and plans we have are in accordance to our God’s plan? Sometimes, I seek deep silence for a while after being busy with so many things. Sometimes, I reflect whether I’m not losing out of my plans as well as His plans for me. Then, answers just come along the way barely discernible.

Live life to the fullest. We can never turn back time so let’s make it possible to really live life to the fullest. We should keep our loved ones on our side and value the people around us. Let’s not be always in a hurry coz we tend to forget the more significant ones. Sometimes, it is us who creates not just a gap but a chasm between relationships with other people who are so important within our own lives.

Waiting on what lies ahead is so tedious but we should not forget that every second offers tranquility and peace of mind, every thing that happens reminds us to just be patient because there is a greater glory ahead of us and it pays to wait since He knows we are waiting. He sympathizes, for He himself had a very long suffering and patience towards His people. Human as we are, we tend to disregard this reason, but it is on the latter part when we come to realize the importance of this concept, “waiting”.

 

Life is great! Because after I occupied my mind with much life’s worries, destiny offered me blessings worth to be shared and new people meant to be loved. Sooner, my mother will give birth to the third child of our family, and this goes to show that I’ll be having a new person meant to be kept and loved.

With regards to my career, I was tasked to do something I really loved to. This is something that is within my inclination. With this, I get to deal and listen to some ordinary people sharing their simple yet fascinating stories in life.

Indeed, sometimes all of us just need to wait. For I thought back and think that life is an even keel and everything is on God’s control especially if we get to live our life to the fullest.

Do You Want A Life Of Abundance?

by Bo Sanchez

I’m terrible when it comes to picking gifts for my wife. The first gift I gave her was a dress. When I saw it, I thought it was beautiful. But when I gave it to her, I learned again the truth that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Because she said, “Oh Bo, I love you for giving me a dress. Thank you so much. But I suggest you stick to preaching. Your fashion sense is awful.” I pouted, “You mean you won’t wear the dress?” She smiled. “If I become suddenly suicidal, perhaps. In other words, I won’t be caught alive wearing that thing.”

But last month, I hit the jackpot. I finally bought her a birthday gift she really adored. I bought her a book. But it was no ordinary book. It was a gigantic 1000 page book containing beautifully stunning pictures of the most gorgeous places all over the world. She loved the book because I wrote on the first page, “Sweets, when our kids are grown up, I’ll bring you to these places.” She loved the book because it wasn’t just a book. It was a promise. I promised, “I’ll grow old with you. I’ll stay with you forever. I’ll love you forever.” Because I wasn’t really giving a book. I was really giving myself.

My marriage is abundant because these past 11 years, I’ve been giving my time, effort, attention, and energy to my marriage.

Here’s what I learned: Life is not one bucket.

Life Is A Collection Of Buckets

You can’t expect abundance in one bucket when you’re giving into another bucket.

Some religious people think that if they give their time to their religious bucket, their family life will be abundant too. That won’t happen.

I’ve met a lot of religious people who are always in church, attending their religious activities, but they don’t give their time, attention, and energy to their family life. Thus, their family life is empty. They complain to God, “Lord, I gave my time to you! Why is my marriage suffering? Why is my relationship with my kids suffering?”

Simple. Because life is not one bucket but a collection of buckets. If you want to harvest abundance in a particular area of your life, you have to plant in that specific bucket.

Remember: Jesus said “Seek first the Kingdom of God…” If God is first, then there must be a second, a third, a fourth…

Some people think God wants them to give all their time to Him and be in church all the time and serve in ministries—neglecting their jobs, businesses, and families. They reason that “because if I put God first, God will take care of all these anyway.”

Not really.

Even Money

I met a woman recently who said, “Bo, for the past 22 years, I was serving the church fulltime. Without a salary. Today, I’m my 54, and I just realized I have no money for my old age. So I’m catching up, starting a small business and investing for the future.”

In between the lines, I could tell that she was asking, “Lord, why didn’t you take care of me financially? I gave my life to you.”

Many preachers I know simply tell people to give 10% to God. I’m one of the few preachers who tell people to give 10% to God (as a guide, not as a law) and also give 20% to their future in the form of paper assets, businesses, real estate, etc. Why? So that they can keep giving to God in their old age.

Let me state this again: I believe that God blesses us when we are generous to Him.

But because we lack financial wisdom, many spiritual people simply consume all of His financial blessings. They spend it all. Instead of setting aside a portion and investing it for their future.

If you want abundance in your finances, you need to give more time, effort, and energy into your financial bucket. Grow in financial wisdom, learn new skills, read financial books, attend financial seminars, and get financial mentors.

So you see, financial abundance is much more than giving to your spiritual bucket. If you want to grow your money, you also need to give to your financial bucket as well.    

Where Do You Want To Have Abundance?

Here’s my question.

What bucket of life do you want to experience God’s blessings and abundance? Another way of asking this question: Which bucket in your life is empty or lacking today?

Give to that specific bucket!

If you want abundance in your “marriage bucket”, give time and attention and love to your spouse.

If you want abundance in your “family bucket”, give more time and energy and patience to your children.

If you want abundance in your “financial bucket”, give time to learn and invest in your financial future

If you want abundance in your “spiritual bucket”, give your time, your service, and your tithes to God.               

Season of Delay        

Here’s my belief: When you give, you receive.

This is a law in our universe. You’ll even receive much more than what you gave. This is as sure as the sun rising tomorrow. This is 100% guaranteed.

Here’s the great mystery of life: When you give, you don’t lose. You gain.

People don’t see this.

Why? Because between our giving and our receiving, there is a delay. If you want to receive the blessings of your giving, you need to be patient during the season of delay.

People expect instant returns.

But the greatest things in life—a great marriage, a strong family, a happy friendship, financial freedom, and godly character—doesn’t happen instantly.

When you plant, you don’t harvest right away. You have to enter into a season of delay.

So what do you do while you wait?

Keep on giving.

Why Giving To God Is Crucial

Giving to God will train you to give in the other areas of your life. Personally, I don’t believe that tithing is a law for Christians. (Sorry, too long to explain.) But tithing is a great guideline and a fantastic training tool for greater giving. Because the first blessing of giving to God is not abundance but an abundance mentality. Without an abundance mentality, it’ll be difficult to receive abundance in every area of life.

I have a conspiracy theory.

I believe that the entire physical and spiritual universe around you is conspiring, plotting, and conniving to give you massive abundance.

One of the most difficult things to overcome is a scarcity mentality. That there’s a limited amount of blessings in the world.

God is an abundant God, not a God of scarcity.

Today, I meet many people trapped in mediocrity and stagnation today because of their scarcity mentality. They think that God wants them to stay small, live small, and be small.

I’ve met spiritual people who believe they should be poor.

I’ve met good people who believe they should always remain in hardship because they are good people. 

I was like this for almost 20 years of my life.

But when I was 30 years old, I changed my thinking. I decided I wanted to become a millionaire missionary. It was crazy but I believed it was possible.

Today, I’m still a missionary. I run 9 non-profit organizations, doing beautiful work in the world. Only one pays me a salary. I can do that because I earn through my small businesses and other investments.

I’ve broken out of that scarcity mentality.

I believe God wants abundance for my life.

And I believe God wants abundance for your life too.

Have you ever met a parent who has a secret desire that their children suffer? Who prays, “Lord, please make my kids poor?”

I doubt it. There are a few deranged parents out there, but a normal father and mother would want the best for their children.

God wants abundance for your life.

No, it’s not primarily money. Abundance is primarily about love. But I believe it includes money—but only so that we can love!