RUNNING MUST BE WITH PATIENCE

We played quite a few board games as children- one of our favourites was the Monopoly game. One day, while playing with my childhood friend, he had acquired the pricey Bond, Regent and Oxford Streets.

In a bid to escape paying hotel bills at his property, I was frantically seeking high numbers in the throw of the dice. Well, I got the high numbers, but I ended up landing right on Bond Street, the most expensive of all the properties. That singular move bankrupted me in the game.

It birthed a popular saying between us, “Be in a hurry. Speed up and end up in Bond”.

Do you know that many in life who are also hurrying and speeding without regard for process also end up in bondage? Men who are in a hurry will end up abandoning the process and end up with issues that could have been avoided.

Gehazi was in a hurry to settle his legitimate desires for a comfortable life. He ended up with some gifts that will not last, and also with leprosy for life. It was not a question of desire; it was a question of timing. The prophet Elisha asked, “Is it time?”

“Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?”

II Kings 5:26 NKJV

Men who are in a hurry always place “Give me” before and sometimes beyond “Make me”. That was the error of the lost son. He first went after things instead of waiting to be shaped. He lost everything.

When you are in a hurry, precious things can slip away from your hands, too.

“Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.”

II Samuel 4:4 NKJV

Do not enter into a competitive spirit. Calm down and live. Walk through the process.

Haste leads to poverty. The scripture even added the word “surely”.

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.”

Proverbs 21:5 NKJV

Finally, we are admonished to run, but it must be with patience:

“…and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”

Hebrews 12:1 KJV

Make sure you run with patience! Patience does not disregard process. Pray for speed but cry for patience too. Run, but with patience.

temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa