Kiara Rabara: Okay, maybe this is not what God wants for me yet. Maybe He has another plan for me
McGill Onate: So knowing all of that, it’s like I have a safety net and I could freely fall. God will catch me
Marco Mangada: That’s extra time for you to become worthy, or at least be prepared to receive such a blessing.
Bernadette Fernandez: And God will show you your way out to a better and happier life. You just got to trust him.
[Show intro]
Marco: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the new season of Heart And Soul podcast, where we have honest conversations that nurture our souls. Today we’re asking about how to have patience. Patience in knowing what major to study. Then fast forward in life so we can finally finish school. Then patience in landing the right job. The list goes on and on.
So how can we be patient? While waiting for answers to our prayers. Let’s talk about it. I’m Marco, your host for today’s episode. Let’s have a Heart And Soul conversation.
[Music]
Marco: And with me today, are co-hosts coming from different parts of the world. Beautiful people coming from Canada, California and Florida. We have McGill, Bernadette and Kiara. Hello, guys!
McGill: What’s up everyone?
Kiara: Hey.
Bernadette: Hi. What’s up?
Marco: Pleasure having you guys right here. Let’s go! Let’s keep this energy going. So, yeah, before we start, I would like for you guys to take a quick moment to breathe in and breathe it out. Can we do it all together, guys? Yeah, let’s do it. Cool. So. Breathe in. Hold it in and breathe out.
So, take it slow. Everything’s going to be okay. We’re here for you. And the reason why we’re saying that is because we know how fast everything is at the moment. And what better way to remind us of the value of patience is having more patience other than to have a conversation with good people. And for spiritual guidance, since this is Heart And Soul, where we always aspire to stay grounded with the teachings from the Bible. We have a Minister of the Gospel, Brother Donald Pinnock. Hi, Brother Donald.
Brother Donald Pinnock: Hey, Brother Marco and everybody else. It’s a great pleasure to be with you in our discussion.
Marco: I am so starstruck at the moment, so let’s keep this going. So there have been a lot of talks about how to achieve certain things in life, be it finding the perfect person to be in a relationship with, getting the perfect job that actually pays well, and maybe graduating in a course that leads you to your ideal career. But the thing that ties all of those together is how you can be patient for all those things to eventually happen. So kind of like an icebreaker to keep the conversation going. What specific event or thing made you be in a situation to be patient or be tested in patience? Let’s start with Kiara.
Kiara: Hello, everyone. So actually very recently, this past year, I found out I was supposed to graduate in December. And, just because of a couple of things, I came up some some issues with school, ended up being pushed to an extra semester, which is like an extra couple, 6, 4 to 6 months and it’s really difficult to try and kind of keep up with that because when you know, you’re super, super close to the goal, like, we’re already in April and I was counting down the months to December. And then another four months got added and it just felt like another year. So like my reaction to having to wait a little bit longer. It was just very, very difficult for me to process.
Marco: A follow up question, though, you think people are more impatient when they know what they want, when it’s closely approaching?
Kiara: 100%. I do think that people are impatient and speaking from personal experience, being really, really close to the finish line, and then if it gets pushed further away, I think it it adds a lot of feelings that it also kind of discourages you from even wanting to reach that goal anymore, because it’s like if it’s going to take this long, it’s going to take longer.
Again, what if this happens again? We’re just extended time. There’s more and more time that’s added to it. And it just kind of built up the impatience.
Marco: And how about you, Bernadette?
Bernadette: I feel like my whole life is patient, randomly, everywhere. I can just. I just can’t even decide what specific situation where my patience was tested. I was looking for a different job; I was originally studying music, and then I switched to media because that was the only way I could graduate on time and not be fined for staying too long in school. And somehow I ended up in the medical field with no background in biology or any health care whatsoever. But there I was, going upstairs to all of these other cancer patients, taking their blood, processing their information, and scurrying down to a fluorescent basement where I just typed all of their results and then sent them off to different companies. And then now I’m at this random job where I somehow ended up in HR, and I’ve never even studied business or anything that has to do with HR. But somehow I ended up there without realising I was applying for that.
Marco: Yeah, that is truly tough. How about you, McGill? You seem to have something in mind.
McGill: I think maybe for this moment right now, I am in a situation where I am going to be patient about something, which is, I’m sure, which is on a lot of other people’s plate is, finding their career job. Currently, I want to look for something in the animation field, in the art field. And right now, I don’t have anything going for me right now. So, constantly, working on my skills in the field and, you know, looking for different places, maybe going on social media, within all of that.
Just got to wait for that one day where something amazing will happen and a career job will show itself. But, yeah, that’s kind of what I could think about for me, being patient for something.
Marco: So the reason for the question was because of this article that I read relating to people’s behaviour when it comes to patience. So this is an Open Access Research. And you can actually access through journals.sagepub.com. It is a research project called “Impatience Over Time”. It’s by Annabelle R. Roberts. And if you boil down the entire research, there are three factors that can contribute to how someone’s patients could be affected. So, before we go into those three factors where we try to digest everything that could contribute to someone’s impatience, let’s ask what the Bible says.
So, Brother Donald Pinnock, what is patience and why is God’s timing something that we should also consider when waiting for the result of a prayer or a full plan?
Brother Donald: Well, if we were to consult the dictionary when it comes to the meaning of patience, we may read the following. The ability to wait or to continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed. We know that the Bible often makes mention of the importance of possessing and developing or nurturing the characteristic of patience. Ultimately, when it comes to attaining salvation and as we make our way through this world, patiently waiting for God to answer our many, many prayers, whether it be our prayers for a new occupation, our prayers when it comes to our studies, the list goes on and on.
And if anyone would ask why a person should wait patiently for God to answer their prayers, well, He states the following here through the prophet Jeremiah in Jer. 29:11. We can read the following:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
[Jeremiah 29:11]
Brother Donald: Please notice that God has the best in mind for His people. Yes, plans for our bright future. Those plans of God are for every aspect of our life. So when it was mentioned earlier about how we were tested, when it comes to patience, let us always remember that the Lord our God does have an answer. All the more we should place our hope and trust in him, and also why we should wait patiently on him for our prayers to be answered”.
Marco: Thank you, Brother Donald. So when we go back to actually writing this episode, it actually came from something that Sister Aliw Pablo from Making Changes, you should go check out that podcast, as well. When we were talking about generational differences, one of the major differences was how it seems like the latest generation seems to be more impatient than ever. They change from one career to another, jumping from one need to another. It seems like with all that is convenient in this world, be it getting anything in an instant, ordering food, ordering stuff online, what movie you want to watch. No one really stands in any lines these days; so maybe except going to the grocery store. So I just want to ask you guys, do you agree that people will allow themselves to do more just to achieve what they want as soon as possible? Or will they submit themselves to this whole waiting, doing what they usually do? What do you think, Bernadette?
Bernadette: I think it’s very split. It really depends on one’s lifestyle. I notice that a lot of people who are really into social media or, into digesting fast content in general; they have a hard time waiting. And you could definitely see that in the Bay Area in California, where people will drive insanely fast or will cut people off just to reach their exit, when they could have just simply waited a little longer, to reach their exit. But then other people who have other hobbies tend to slow down a little bit more when it comes to daily tasks or tasks at work, or if they’re trying to learn a new skill, they take everything step by step. But yeah, that’s what I’ve noticed.
McGill: I actually agree with Bernadette here. But I can say from personal experience, I can tend to be pretty impatient with little sorts of things, like even when driving, like Bernadette says, like if there’s a yellow light, kind of want to go past that, just make it just in the nick of time. Or maybe, I don’t know, learning a skill. I’ve personally been trying to develop skills, getting better at a video game or getting better at my art. And it seems that while I’m trying to do this, it’s a learning process to actually do these things. Like, it’s not going to just happen overnight, right? But I find myself being extremely impatient when I’m trying to learn something and it’s just not going my way.
And I don’t think, maybe I can safely say that, not a lot of people like to wait. Of course, getting something extremely fast would be super awesome. Like, if we’re going to order food, we would love to get that food extremely fast. Like we’re hungry at that moment. I don’t want to wait an hour and a half for my food to get here.
Brother Donald: If I can just jump in and add one. Because listening to all of you, it kind of rings a bell when it comes to how technology is causing so many people to be impatient. Because, for example, you need knowledge or information, depending on the kind of phone that you have, you could speak to Siri or you can type in a question and the answer is there.
So, a lot of people are becoming impatient and I really think it’s because of technology. We’re so used to having those quick responses that when it comes to waiting in line, you know, you go to a fast food restaurant, you want that food fast. Was it you that mentioned earlier, Brother McGill or Brother Marco, who wants to wait an hour and a half at any rate?
Sometimes that overflows into the other aspects of people’s lives, is it not? You know, you want to finish that course. I want to finish it now. I don’t want to wait another six months like Sister Kiara was mentioning. Frustrations also. Right? Sister Bernadette? You’re looking for an answer. You’re looking for success when it comes to a certain endeavour. You don’t get it right away. How do people feel? They feel impatient. And perhaps it’s more, the younger generations, when it comes to, the older, I heard anyway, when it comes to, the elders, more or less, we have more time, so we’re less impatient.
Marco: And something to add with that is that we’re more concerned about the effect. And we’re usually getting negative effects because instead of being more patient when it comes to waiting for something, it usually dies down. Right? They become less enthusiastic about doing the things that they need to do in order to achieve a thing, or maybe even getting, what’s the proper term, not excited anymore. They become loose when it comes to that urge when it comes to achieving that thing. And I think this is a perfect segue to one of the factors that we have gotten from this specific research. And this comes from actually a recent happening or a major event in the entire world, which was the pandemic.
So just a quick background. There was a study made about how people reacted when the vaccine was released or public. And we all know how that vaccine rollout actually got pushed and pushed for months, even years, just for everyone to receive their dose of the vaccine. And basically, when the vaccine got released, people showed enthusiasm in getting that vaccine. They become excited. They cannot wait anymore to get their turn when it comes to a vaccine. And then it got delayed and then it got released, but only limited to older people and especially the medical workers who are the frontliners. And then they have waited for a few months more just to get their turn for the vaccine. So during those times, people have shown to become more impatient once they were made to wait for a prolonged period of time.
Do you actually think people become impatient when they are made to wait for prolonged time? I actually want to direct this question to Kiara. How does that experience affected you in some way? And do you think this factor became true in your life, especially for that certain experience?
Kiara: Definitely. Having to wait a little bit longer versus, when you expected to get something every season? It makes you very impatient because it’s kind of like what Brother Donald is saying, what McGill was saying, what you were saying, and I mean, and Bernadette, that like when you really, really want something, you want it like this already.
But to add on to that and experience it, because I’ve been working towards this for… the past like three years now, and when I was like, okay, yeah, I’m going to graduate in December; it’s going to happen already. Oh no, it’s not going to happen already. Just kidding. It’s happening in another year or another semester. And it’s kind of in a situational stance where because I can’t control the factors that make me need to wait, it’s what makes me impatient. Because it’s things that are uncontrollable.
Kiara: I did everything I could just to see if I could make it, like to just really push it to December. I messaged like the advisors at school. I messaged the department chairs and this. I checked to take these courses at other schools and it was as if I’m just really not meant to graduate in December. And yes, in the beginning it’s very mentally tolling, very sad. I was sad; I was attached for about one month. It was sad because I could not do anything to make it better.
McGill: It doesn’t feel that great even when you get it, because your brain has been so excited for it. But then all of a sudden it flops. And then when you do get it, finally, what you’ve been waiting for? It doesn’t. It doesn’t feel great. So I know that’s kind of how I feel about that sort of situation.
Marco: So do you think that disappointment is just part of it when you’re made to wait for a period of time for a longer one? Or do you think that’s just a choice that you can probably change?
McGill: I think that’s just built into the human brain; you want something at this time, but then it gets delayed and then you get sad. I think for someone who anticipates the delay to happen can soften the blow of your emotions getting hurt. But that’s kind of how I see it. I don’t really see a way for someone to not get disappointed because there’s something you want, but then you wait. You wait patiently for it, and then it doesn’t come. I think the majority of people can be quite upset at that.
Marco: Going back to Kiara, did you actually achieve the thing that you want, or how are you right now?
Kiara: I’m not doing okay. I’m not. It’s very mentally challenging. I wanted to go back and kind of, it’s a mentality thing. How can you view the situation? Because having to wait for something, it’s very it’s a mental test. It really is. Especially when it comes to school, I really do think it’s a really big mental test because, I already know what classes I have to take, I know what I have left to do.
I was sad for about a month. I was very late. If maybe this is coming to happen yet and I kind of tried my best to just mentally flip the situation and just think like, okay, maybe this is not what God wants for me yet. Maybe He has another plan for me to stay here for another semester. Maybe something else is going to come along the way. I really had to take a minute; maybe there was a reason. Yes, there’s that initial feeling of disappointment; there was a little bit of sadness. It kind of rolled in a lot of insecurities, because it’s like did I not work hard enough in the beginning?
Kiara: Because maybe if I did this before, I could have made that goal, but then now having to kind of flip that mentality just to see the positive outlook of it. It kind of helps a little bit to that disappointment and then kind of just starts to accept it gradually like, hey, this is what’s going to happen. This is yeah.
McGill: You know, for me, something that helps me overcome that initial hurt, is having like how you said, having that like, mental shift or having, a good mindset. I’m sure all of us have gone through this frustration where we’re driving or maybe we’re on the bus or taking an Uber and then there’s traffic. And then, oh, I’m going to be late now. And, you know, that’s that I hey, be glad I’m happy and safe and I could pull up to work the next day, you know?
So, I think having a good shift in your mindset instead of thinking as something as it’s bad. Oh, no, I was working so hard for something, and I might feel a little bit impatient for this, but seeing it as a good thing, can calm down maybe that initial anger that comes to you.
Brother Donald: I think it’s also an initial feeling that you plan for something and then at the very moment that you know, it’s not going to happen. At the time you anticipated it to happen. That is when you are disheartened. That’s when you feel down. And then perhaps through the passage of time, you kind of mentally make the adjustment. And perhaps just like what you said, brother McGill, when it does come, it’s kind of tainted a little bit…ok it’s here.
Okay, it’s here. Why didn’t it happen earlier? Sort of thing. But, all of again, and the Bible teaches about the importance of patience, you know, especially because we are God’s people, all the more He teaches us in many ways. So when it comes to those prayers of ours that we kind of have to be patient in God’s own time. Those prayers will be answered. And He knows when is the best time for us.
Marco: So to put it simply, I think that a prolonged period of time of wait is actually a time for you to self-reflect, right? To kind of realign yourself on what your goals are, what you want and what are the things that you should do in order to achieve that goal?
I think what we should take away from this factor is that, yeah, there could be an initial negative reaction when it comes to waiting for another period of time. But at the very end, that’s extra time for you to become worthy, or at least be prepared to receive such a blessing. And actually, we could ask the Bible if there’s someone or an example of someone in the Bible who had to wait for the longest time to achieve a promise of a thing for he or she prayed for. So, Brother Donald?
Brother Donald: Well, the answer is yes. In fact, the Bible is replete with many examples of God’s servants who had to wait patiently for God to answer their prayers. And one such servant of God is mentioned here in Romans 4:18-19, or we should say 18 to 21:
“Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”
[Romans 4:18-21 New King James Version]
Brother Donald: We read this declaration of the Holy Scriptures concerning Abraham. Abraham was promised children of the ripe old age of about 75, according to Bible scholars. Now at that age, of course, old people would have laughed at such a promise, but not when it came to Abraham. In fact, as the Bible teaches, he did not waver through unbelief because he was convinced that God would fulfill His promise.
And sure enough, when Abraham was 100 years old, he was granted a son by the name of Isaac. This is why we should also practise patience in our lives, dear brethren, most especially patiently waiting for God to answer our prayers. God knows what is best for us, and He also knows the best time to answer our prayers. And just like what was mentioned by Brother McGill when he comes to the servants of God, sometimes situations may arise that we didn’t expect. But God had a reason why we did not go to that place, why we didn’t go to that place at that certain time.
And it could be because He wanted to save us from harm or danger. It could be because God knows what we need instead of what we want. And He wants to grant unto us what we need, so that we may continue to place our hope or trust in Him, and continue on the path that leads eventually to our greatest hope, and that is none other than our salvation.
Marco: Thank you, Brother Donald. Actually, I just want to ask Kiara, McGill, even Bernadette, what are you guy’s way to build up trust and patience over God’s plan?
Kiara: Aside from devotional prayers, I definitely consult and ask for advice from the ministers, and I will tell a lot. They see me in the office like all the time, just so that I could ask them for some inspirational Bible verses. I do think one of the biggest things that kind of helped me to learn to practise patience and to be more confident in God is biblical reminders. And aside from getting that from the worship service, I like to kind of go out of my way and also ask for extra biblical reminders from our minister, because sometimes there’s a specific verse that you just need to hear.
And a lot of the time if you go, you could find it in the worship service. But there’s also those other ones that might not be mentioned in the worship service. I’ll go and ask our resident minister, is there something that you can read to me? Is there something that kind of refers to this in the Bible that maybe helped me in my situation?
Marco: How about you, Bernadette?
Bernadette: For me, it’s definitely the worship service. When I come into the chapel with my problems, I do, examine, I meditate on them. I pray on them. But when I hear the lesson, I take the lesson as my reminder for the week that that’s what I should be focusing on and implementing as a priority in my spiritual life, rather than the problem that I brought up at that very moment. Because I know God will help me in whatever I ask for. But when it comes to the worship service lesson, that’s what He wants all of His people to focus on in that moment. And that’s how I build trust and patience.
Marco: I mean, personally, setting up devotional prayers, especially if I am trying to set up a goal or a plan that I always want to achieve, whether it be through my career. Setting up devotional prayers actually works. Maybe setting every 6 p.m. every single night. I will try to meditate and then pray and then just wait for an answer from God, especially when it comes to achieving such thing. And McGill?
McGill: God is always watching what I’m doing, is always protecting me from something that happens, or there’s a mishap that happens, or there’s something that upsets me. It’s because he’s trying to build me to be the best person I could possibly be. And then of course, like how, Brother Donald has mentioned, the ultimate goal is to receive our salvation. Maybe a setback happens or something. Really, all of my trust is in God and why is there something to fret about? Why is there something to be discouraged or sad when God has your back at all times?
He will definitely give us what we need in these certain situations. So knowing all of that, it’s like I have a safety net and I could freely fall. God will catch me and then just follow His will, follow His commands. Everything will lead us to the path to salvation.
Marco: Gotcha. And I mean, just to sum it up, whether it’s that patience is inherent to you, or you need constant reminders; whether it’s through devotional prayers for worship, service or even seeking for advice. That patience is something that we should use, or how to build up and actually constantly remind us of that hey, everything will be okay and everything will go according to His plans, which is for our betterment. And just to kind of like segue, one of the other things that always remind me to be patient or just in general, just to be positive are Verse of The Week [episodes] coming from INC Media.
McGill: Those are very timely, by the way.
Marco: Exactly.
McGill: Very timely.
Marco: It always appears when you need it.
McGill: Yeah, exactly, I feel that.
Marco: And it always starts at the beginning of the week. Right? Right before you go to school, right before you start work like you will always have a Verse of the Week. And midway through you’ll have like Wallpaper Wednesdays, right? And by Fridays you’ll have INC Media Live; you’ll just end your week on a positive note with shows and prizes. So, moving forward, we discussed the first factor, which is almost out of our control because it’s freeing our time and other factors that can prolong our week, making us impatient.
So, related to the second point that we’re going to discuss, there’s this word mentioned in the article – Closure. So, according to Annabelle Roberts,
Marco: “The need for goal closure helps explain the counterintuitive preference for working more sooner or paying more sooner,” Roberts says. “We find that impatience isn’t just about [this] myopic desire for the reward. It’s [also] about crossing goals off their list, not having the goal hanging over them.”
Marco: So this will be your second question related to the second factor: Do people tend to be impatient when they already know or envision what they want?
So I just want to ask Bernadette – was there a time where you were put off by what you’re doing now, seeing how it can affect the longer you need to wait for something to happen again, especially for something different that you want.
Bernadette: I think the most patient thing. I wouldn’t even say patient. I would say persistent thing that I tried to accomplish was becoming an opera singer. I spent eight years consecutively studying music and vocal performance and, like, different choral singing that I really thought that I was going to make it, even though, along the way, different professors that I studied under told me that I wasn’t meant for it, that I couldn’t do it, I was a slow learner, and I couldn’t develop relative pitch. I couldn’t do a lot of things. But in my mind, at the time when I was that young, I was like, no, you know, if people are going to tell me, I can’t do it, I’m going to do it anyway. But I think in that persistence, God gave me patience in another way to become more malleable to His plans.
Bernadette: Because in the end, God freed me in that moment because I realized that I didn’t actually love singing opera. I didn’t actually love singing classical music. I just liked being competitive. I just liked trying my best at whatever I needed to do in that moment. Whatever feels challenging, I just like to tackle it. Which is why at the same time I was studying music, I was also practicing martial arts: Muay Thai, Thai boxing, and that became my love over music. And yeah, so, so a lot of people may think, may look at me and be like, and I heard this a lot, “Bernadette Fernandez is such a loser. She can never. She can never do anything.She can’t, she can’t do music. She couldn’t figure out her media classes, X, Y, Z.” Well, that didn’t matter to me. Once, once I failed, or once God showed me that. Like, once God showed me who I really was. And it just opened the doors for me. Yeah.
Brother Donald: Sister Bernadette, if I can jump in. Yeah. We did. We are all proud of you. Okay? In spite of the naysayers, you went for it. You know that. You. You placed your hope and trust in God, correct?
Bernadette: Yes I did.
Brother Donald Pinnock: It’s like, okay, I don’t care if they rule or say no. What was most important is that God gave you the confidence and the courage to try.
Brother Donald: Kudos! We’re all giving you a round of applause. Truly.
Bernadette: Thanks y’all.
Brother Donald: Great job.
Marco: So it seems like right now, it is not only a test of patience, but also it’s a test of faith. So we should probably ask the Bible what should be our mindset when it comes to the season of waiting? And how should one practice being patient?
Brother Donald: Good question. Really good question. And of course the Bible is going to let us know from its stand, from a biblical stand. There is something that we should continue to do that will help us to patiently wait. And especially because, being God’s servants, all of us, we are prayerful. Yes or no?
Hosts:
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Brother Donald: We find the time during every day to pray to God; sometimes multiple times. You know there are those who are praying in the morning, before they leave their abode. When it comes to facing situations during the day and at the end of the day, you know, we pray once again to God. But while waiting patiently for God to hear and answer those prayers, there is something that we should do and in fact that will help us immensely. And we can read that in Revelation 14:12 to 13:
This means that God’s holy people must be patient. They must obey God’s commands and keep their faith in Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven. It said, “Write this: From now on there are great blessings for those who belong to the Lord when they die.” The Spirit says, “Yes, that is true. They will rest from their hard work. What they have done will stay with them.”
[Revelation 14:12 to 13 Easy-to-Read Version]
Brother Donald: We know that when it comes to the epoch or the epitome of God’s promises to His people, it’s none other than salvation and eternal life. And while awaiting the fulfilment of that last great promise, we are expected to patiently obey His commands and to also keep our faith in Him and the Lord Jesus Christ. Until when? Well, until we die, or until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ on Judgment Day.
Well, this is also what Church Of Christ members are counseled to do, even when it comes to once hope in life, when it comes to again one’s career aspiration, when it comes to their educational aspirations or goals, when it comes to finding that significant other, the list goes on and on. And while waiting for those prayers to be answered. We should patiently work towards them. And how can we do that? We continue to obey the commandments of God. We are devoted to worshipping him. We try to help to invite people to listen to His words. Many times we are officers. We have duties inside the Church. When we do all of that, coupled with our strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, well, all the more our prayers eventually will be answered.
So may it be that when it comes to members of the Church who are listening to this podcast, we will also continue to perform our spiritual duties and obligation when it comes to, again, helping our fellow men through INC Giving, through inviting them to Church activities. Because when it comes to this formula, it has been proven successful time and time again in the lives of Church Of Christ members all throughout the world. Isn’t that right, brethren?
Kiara: Yes.
Marco: That is true.
Bernadette: Yes.
McGill: I agree.
Marco: Actually, if I were to share, like a similar experience, or at least something related to that formula that has been successful, proven time and time and again. It’s actually just waiting for the right opportunity when it comes to finding a job. Like on my end, there was a time during the pandemic that I was stuck between deciding whether I would take the exam to get a licensure examination, or getting a job just so that I could help my family, basically. But after consistent devotional prayer and asking for whatever it is that would be helpful for my situation, it has been…at least the answer that I got was to get a job. And, a part of me might become disappointed that, oh wait, why am I not given a sign to take the licensure examination? Maybe that would have been better.
But when I think about it, and now that I’m always thinking about it, maybe I was not part of- Or at least maybe that’s not meant for me. What’s meant for me is to have this other career that I could nurture to something else. And as I see it, it’s helping my family. It’s making me achieve the things that I’ve always wanted as a kid. And right now, I can also do my duties at Church, that you know, from fulfilling my duties in finance, doing my duties here INC Media and recently and this is something that we’re continuously doing, which is the INC Giving project and that has been a worldwide project that even I am so proud to be a part of. So, I hope everyone is also doing their part for the INC Giving project.
So continuing with our topic, and as mentioned earlier, one of the examples which is the recent pandemic did and did have an effect on people’s patience. If you were to, read the same article.
Marco: “When you expect the wait to be ending soon, you become more impatient closer to that expectation.”
Marco: But as we’re continuing with this discussion, it seems like waiting actually works in our favour. And we should think of it that way, because that realigns ourselves and, reconnecting with our roots, realigning ourselves with the goals and the plans that we have, and most importantly, reconnecting ourselves with our Lord God; because more importantly He knows what’s better for us, and what His plans are, most importantly what’s better for us. So this time of waiting, surely there is something that is a real blessing; and that is something that we should be aiming for.
Bernadette: For me, it’s really all about prayer, I think and now people might not agree with me. I think that I am fortunate enough that God really leads the way when I see people who have two different job opportunities in front of them, when they’re applying, like two offers, I think that’s that’s a much harder decision because, now you have to ask God, which one is the best one for you in that moment.
But I feel blessed to have so many different rejections at a time, and then receiving an offer to escape my current situation. And as long as what I offer is better for my faith, I can move on to that career. But that is my experience. But if you’re in a situation right now, in a career or even a major that you absolutely adore, definitely bring that to God.
And God will show you your way out to a better and happier life. You just got to trust him.
Marco: Actually, when I do ask, like the elders in the Church, what they could probably recommend or advice when you’re getting a job; it’s when you can freely do all the things to serve God, still, while having that job. I think when you can still attend worship service, continue to fulfil your duties. I think that will be or that then, is a perfect opportunity for you. Because not only you can serve God, but also sustain whatever you need in this life and actually if you—
McGill: Woah, that’s actually good advice.
Marco: Yeah. And actually, there’s one—another personal one is that when you can give more for the Church, whether it’s through doing Church duties, accepting another office duty, I think that is more of a sign for you to get that opportunity.
Because if you have more time to do more for the Church, well, again, sustain whatever it is that you need for your life. I think that will be the perfect opportunity. And actually, this question is actually really close to me because one of the things that I struggled with was to look at the blessings that I have currently, because I just wanted to do more. And there’s nothing wrong with doing more, right? But I think what was instilled in me was the process of grinding just to achieve better things in life, especially now, where people have that grind culture, where you sacrifice so many things right now just for you to, quote unquote, live a better life in the future. But that led to me having anxiety.
So my anxiety wasn’t particularly being worried about something or worried about the future. It’s more of my dissatisfaction, or at least my mistake in not looking at what I have on what I have now and basically ruining what is I could be because I’m pushing myself way past my limit.
So it’s recognizing that you’re already come so far in life. You’re already achieved a lot of things. But it’s also knowing that there’s still a lot of things out there that you can do. But being positive that, hey, no matter how or what I achieve in life, there’s already these things that I’ve already achieved that should make me all these happy on what I am right now and what I could be knowing that I’ve already come so far in life.
So that’s probably one of the few things that I would want to share in this episode, or at least on this topic. But how do we then react in situations where God wants you to be patient and why is God’s timing the most important timing we should trust? Brother Donald?
Brother Donald: When it comes to life, it happens. Life happens. And when it does, sometimes you may suddenly find ourselves in a very difficult situation. But in God’s people, instead of panicking or losing hope, our response should be just like how, the servant of God react is is written here in Micah 7:7-8:
But as for me, I will look expectantly for the Lord and with confidence in Him I will keep watch; I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me [amid my tragedies], O my enemy! Though I fall, I will rise; Though I sit in the darkness [of distress], the Lord is a light for me.
[Micah 7:7-8 Amplified]
Brother Donald: We can glean from this declaration, this proclamation of the prophet Micah, that faith and trust in God is of imperative importance. And those endearing qualities can only be proven when faced with adverse situations. I want to repeat that, those endearing qualities can only be proven when faced with adverse situations, because it’s easy for an individual to say, “oh, I have faith, I trust in God.” But when you are in the midst of that very, very difficult circumstance, that is when we can really prove that our faith and our trust in God is solid. Whether they be the trials that we go through, the hardships or different kinds of troubles, even though one may say that it is human nature to not only feel down, but also impatient, to escape one’s predicament, God’s people will not resort to evil in an attempt to do so.
We’re not going to be desperate. We’re not going to look for a means out of our predicament that we know is displeasing before the sight of God, but instead we will continue to do good. In Romans 7:12, that good is none other than God’s teachings or commandments, and we will patiently wait for God to answer our prayers, most especially our devotional prayers, and for us to be delivered from our plight.
And you mentioned earlier, when it comes to God’s timing to come to our aid or assistance, it couldn’t be more perfect. As we can glean from I Peter 5:6:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
[1 Peter 5:6 New International Version]
Brother Donald: And the reason why we should patiently wait for God to answer our prayers, since He will lift us up either to deliver us from our troubles or to bless us with advancement in life, in due time, because God knows the perfect time to come to the aid, the rescue, to respond to the cries of His people. So, yes, all of you in our discussion, you’ve mentioned those difficult times in life, but we have to profess that it really was God who came to our aid and our rescue. And even though we felt as if we couldn’t go on any longer because of our faith and trust in him, God eventually came to our assistance. And in the future, no matter what we encounter, we are going to do the same. We are going to continue to place our hope, our trust in God. We’re going to continue to be prayerful. We’re going to continue to be devoted when it comes to serving and worshipping him.
Marco: Thank you for the wonderful advice, Brother Donald. This is the second episode of Heart And Soul. We also have the first episode, for this first season; topic about “Self Care”. Go check that out. Thank you for listening to this serious episode of Heart And Soul. Thank you Kiara, McGill, and Bernadette for joining us today.
And again, thanks everyone for joining us! Now if you want more content, there is so much more to explore, watch, and listen on INCMedia.org or on the INC Media App, which you can find in app stores. You can also follow us on our Instagram account @heartandsoulconversations for future updates and inspiration or if you want to DM us and let us know how this helped you – we’d love to hear from you!
Thank you for listening to the Heart And Soul Podcast brought to you by INC Media audio, where we have honest conversations that nurture our souls. And whatever you’re going through today, remember that you’re not alone and we hope that today’s conversation brought you peace and brought you closer to God. See you next time!
Hosts:
Bye everyone!
