Written by Evi Idoghor
I woke up one morning and realized that it was the seven-year anniversary of my deportation. Throughout this journey of returning home, God has used that single life experience to shape me into the woman that I am becoming. He used it to refine me, correct my faulty theology, and put me on the path that I now walk. Most times, when we are dealing with difficult life experiences, we often pray for God to take those things away, or to provide some form of relief. While God isn’t against lessening our burdens, he most times allows us to go through those challenges to refine us.
We just finished studying the book of Daniel in my bible study group. When we got to Daniel 11, some prophecies which would take place were revealed. These were difficult and terrifying things. In my mind, I thought, “God abeg…” and most times, “which kind wahala be this?” When I got to verse 35, I came across something profound. It says, “…and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.”
Refining, Purifying, Making White
If I did not experience God’s “no” to the things I wanted badly seven years ago, my theology would have remained faulty. I used to believe that whatever I wanted, God was obligated to provide, because I am a Christian. I came from the Christian background, which believes that if you have enough faith, then whatever you asked God, he was going to give it to you. As such, I believed firmly that I was meant to remain in America, have a great job, get married, and raise my family there. Just as many of my friends - so, I prayed, named, claimed, believed, and finally, when I came face-to-face, with deportation, I thought, “God has failed me.”
However, what I failed to realize was that there were far more critical things that he sought to teach me. While I desired the white picket fence dream, living my best Christian life, God found it more rewarding to refine me, and set me on a different path. How many people do we know who now have a crisis of faith, because they were taught that “whatever they wanted, God was obligated to do,” so when their loved one died after much praying and fasting, when they lost their job, in the middle of great difficulty, or when they didn’t have children, or get married “on time,” then they began to wonder if this God thing, was all worth it. And then, they strayed from him. Faulty theology equals a faulty belief system, and eventually a deviation from the true God.
But thank God that he doesn’t leave us to wallow in our ignorance for too long. He always finds a way to get our attention and set us on the straight path. So, if you have fallen on some type of hard times, or whatever is happening in your life doesn’t make any sense, perhaps God wants to take you down a path that you may not even want to go. However, this is necessary for your refinement and purification. He will send you helpers along the way; those who will strengthen and encourage you as you go through your refining process, and when all is said and done, you will better off for it – if you yield yourself.
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