A Father, A Son And A Pair Of Shoes: A Discourse
First and foremost, I would like to inform you that this story is fictional. Awww, haha… I had a lot of people asking me about that (erm… two only actually). But this story is inspired by real life experiences. Namely, mine.
About a day or two before I penned this story, I was praying and seeking the Lord. I was struggling with questions about life. One question in particular was hard to understand. We know the concept of cause and effect. You work hard, you finish the work, you enjoy good results. But if you are lazy, you’ll miss the dateline, and you’ll suffer the consequences. But I didn’t see that happening. I worked hard, but I was on the losing end. I pushed for good things, I was right (not perfect, but just good enough not to be too wrong), but I suffered a worst fall-out. I chose to honour the Lord, but I was unhappy, whilst I have watch everyone else be happy regardless of their choices.
All this in addition to the fact that I believed that God was a just and loving God. He is also sovereign. Hence, from where I stood that day, my conclusion can only be that God is trying to show me who’s boss by allowing suffering and not answering my prayer and not granting me the desires of my heart. Perhaps He’s trying to punish me for something I’ve done or have not done.
But God met me that day by inspiring this thought:
“You don’t have what you want, because it’s not time.”
And it rang not just a bell, but many bells. It was consistent with His Word, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:” ~ Ecc 3:1. That’s why twelve year olds aren’t allowed to drive on public roads. You can’t squeeze apples out of an apple tree when it isn’t harvest season.
Also, I wasn’t ready, not just in one area of my life. But every area of my life has to be brought up to par before I go further. I can’t be a good son if I’m a lousy student; I can’t be a good student, if I’m a lousy friend; I can’t be a good friend, if I’m a terrible listener. In a way, it’s like building a wall, you can’t make one side super tall and strong while another side has only piles of stones, and expect the wall to be finished and ready to put the roof on!
Not forgetting that this two factors are true not just for me, it means also that my situation is also affected by other people, their choices and the situations that prevail. And all this takes time to resolve. All I can do is stay the course and do the best I can. I just have to keep following Jesus.
In real life, I’m at the part of the story just between where the son still nags the father for the shoes and where the son gives up.
I believe that if I stay the course, I will be able to enjoy my “shoes” one day. Not just because I’ll get it, but because I’ll be a trained “runner”.
In essence, I asked God for an answer so that I know what to do. Only to get an answer that tells me that there’s nothing left to do.
This is not a lesson about cause and effect, this is a lesson about times and seasons. And the fact that a lot of the times, things aren’t all they seem to be.