God's Leadership Academy

illustration - Joseph interpreting the Butler dream while the Baker looks on

When my sister in law got married, my daughter was chosen as the little bride – a role she was very proud to perform. However, there was one little problem; I had not been able to convince her on why her aunty was getting married especially as this meant that her aunty was going to move out of our house. Eventually, I came up with an answer that yours truly believed was a very good one. She is getting married to become a mommy just like me, after all, how was I to explain the concept that boy meets girl and they fall in love and get married? The last I tried explaining the boy/girl love thing when she was younger, I simply failed. I tried to keep it simple by saying words to the effect that mummy and daddy are husband and wife because they love each other but I did not quite hit it because, she smiled, and then told me she had a great idea “I love my baby brother, so he will be my husband and I will be his wife”L. I guess I still need lessons on explaining concepts to kids, anyway problem solved, aunty is getting married to be a mommy…

We all got carried away by the wedding and I forgot about the conversation until the day after the wedding. My SIL and new husband came visiting my parent in laws. My daughter looked at her aunty for a few seconds –  more like stared at her as thou she suddenly grew horns – and just blotted out “she does not look like a mommy" :-). Don’t you just love the honest, simple and un-complicated nature of a child’s view of life? We realized that in her mind, she had expected her aunty to magically transform into a “mummy” immediately after the wedding without going through the 9 months of pregnancy and having a baby.

If the truth is to be told, children of God can be a lot like her when it comes to expecting the manifestation of God’s promises and purpose for our life. We expect that all changes will be immediate. There are times moving from one stage to another will be immediate e.g. once you exchange marriage vows you are a husband or wife till death do you part. There are other times, it will take some time, e.g. it takes 4 years or longer of study to earn a bachelors degree. 

There is a plan and purpose for every one of us (Jer29:11), getting to that height may take time. We get frustrated that God had made a promise to us, months or even years and contrary experiences later, the promise is not fulfilled. It is not because God has failed on his word (2Cor1:20), it may just be that we are undergoing our training in God’s Leadership Academy and we are not ready just yet to take on that position. The truth remains that getting ready for God’s plan may take some training, preparations, and most times some discomfort as he deals with our flesh. Imagine, if you wanted to be a doctor but refuse to complete the 7years of schooling required or worse still, if you give up half way through, you will never be a qualified doctor, not because you can’t be one, but because you did not go through the training required to be one.

This story was brought to my mind recently when I visited a former home church to attend bible study. The focus of the study was on Joseph and his interpretation of dreams for Pharaoh’s Butler and Chief Baker reading from (Gen40:1-23). We are all familiar with Joseph’s story; he had a dream that his father and brothers will one day bow to him, which meant he was going to be highly placed. However, the next 13years, he was a slave, a prisoner even thou wrongly but eventually he came out as one of the most successful Prime Ministers of Egypt and yes his brothers did eventually bow to him. Back to the study, when Joseph finished interpreting the dreams, he told the Butler not to forget him but the Butler forgot about Joseph (Gen40:23). The biggest lesson I learnt from the bible study was that if the Butler had fulfilled his promise, Joseph may have come out of prison still a slave, however a few years later when the time and opportunity was right for the promise but more importantly Joseph was also ready and prepared for the task ahead of him.

No matter how uncomfortable some of the circumstances are, as long as you still working in the ways of God and in line with His will(Ps1;1-3), don’t be in a hurry to come out of God’s life Leadership academy until you have learnt all that God needs you to learn. Doing otherwise might just mean you will come as a slave and miss the opportunity to be the Prime Minister He wants you to be. That will not be our story in Jesus name.  Amen

Remain blessed

NB: The promises contained in this article are exclusively for the children of God. However acceptance into God’s family is simple. Surrender your life to Jesus today.