God has not Forgotten you

I was watching a movie called Paddington 2. In the movie, Paddington (a bear) was wrongly convicted and put in prison. He stayed with the Brown family before the unfortunate incident and they loved him so much and believed that he did not commit the crime. While in prison, he made new friends who advised him to join them in plotting an escape from prison in order to find the real criminal and thus prove his innocence. Their argument was that the Brown family would abandon him in prison, as their own families had. He declined the offer and was too sure that their fears were unfounded. As things would play out, the Browns did not show up on the visiting day to check on him and at that moment, he remembered his friends’ advice. He felt heartbroken and thus obliged his friends’ proposition and they all made an escape from prison.

The story is, however, different to the viewer. This is because, from the moment of Paddington’s arrest, I was able to see how the Browns were all about getting him out of prison. Mrs. Brown would not stop until she found the real criminal and in fact, that was the reason they missed the visiting time, but Paddington could not see all that.

While the movie is probably the best comedy I have seen in a while, this part of the story got me thinking about how waiting makes us feel like we are forgotten, not cared for, unloved, by God but it is not true. If only we could see the behind the scenes, we would know that God never abandons us. This is a call to trust. God always shows up, from the Bible stories to the testimonies you have heard around you, His way is perfect; know that He will show up for you.

God is always working out what is best for us, even though we cannot see it. God loves us more than we can imagine and even though sometimes it seems like we are having to wait much longer than we would love to, it seems like He is not showing up when we would expect Him to and we begin to hear voices like “What if He never shows up? What if He does not love me? What if I never get to have it? What if I get stuck in this forever?”. The voices could be in your mind, or of your friend, family, the media, and so on. If we could see how involved and deliberate He is in working out our case, we would trust the outcome and relax rather than allowing the build-up of tension and losing our joy.

God always shows up eventually and it is at that point that we make sense of the wait. Change will always come;

Job 14:14b;

” All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes” (NKJV)

You know what? Change came for the man who made the above statement. Things were not going the way he expected but though he had to wait, change came and what came was worth the wait.

If you are having to wait, then what is cooking is special and fresh. Everyone may be having fast food but God is preparing a custom order for you. Can you remember the story of Joseph in the Bible, how he had to wait in Egypt? He waited in Potipher’s house as a slave and as if that was not enough, he was moved to a prison where he had to keep waiting. Remember, however, that when he was eventually brought out into his dreams and purpose, it was bigger than he had imagined. Now, waiting will not usually be about being in a physical jail, but it will always be a form of limitation from what you would love to have. What are you waiting for? A child, a job, a spouse, financial breakthrough, healing from a health challenge, promotion, vindication, and so on?. Whatever you are waiting for, know that God’s got you.

For thus says the Lord;

“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me”

(Isaiah 49:16, NIV)

You are on God’s mind.

I get loads of inspiration from stories and everyday events. You can also check out Lessons from my hunger story.

So, if you have seen the Paddington 1 or 2 movie, let me know if you remember the part I got the inspiration to write this post from.

Take Care.