Meant to Be

I’ve always thought that when you’re doing something you’re meant to do, it would be easy and that you would bear fruits and results instantaneously. The fruitfulness and sense of ease would be signs that you were doing the right thing. But as I (involuntarily) grow older, I’m realizing that this theory doesn’t always hold true. Experiencing difficulty doesn’t point to wrongness, as much as seasonal barrenness doesn’t mean you’re in the wrong field. In fact, I’m learning how the right thing is always challenged. It is challenged so much that one sometimes begins to even doubt that it’s the right thing. 

Many narratives in the Bible make this clear, but one I have been going through lately is the story found in Judges 20. In this story, the Israelites are trying to do the right thing by holding the wrongdoers within their community accountable. Instead of co-operating, the wrongdoers respond with violence. The Israelites then have to defend themselves. Even before doing so the Israelites inquired of God. With God’s positive response to their inquiry, it was clear that Israel was doing the right thing.

You would think that since they were doing the right thing that they would be victorious in battle. Instead, twenty-two thousand Israelites were slain on the battlefield. Like, how??? How are they losing when they are doing what they’re supposed to do???

I admire their tenacity because they didn’t give up just because they lost their first battle. 

“But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day.” Judges 20:22 

But this doesn’t mean that they weren’t baffled and broken from the loss.

“The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and they inquired of the Lord. They said, ‘Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?” Judges 20:23

They were so sure about going to fight the first time around, but their loss was beginning to instill doubt that they were doing the right thing. So, they asked again. And again, God said they should go fight and so they did.

Oh, remember how they encouraged one another? I’m also learning that you can’t do what you’re meant to do by yourself, no matter how great you think you are. You’ll be stretched and challenged so much that getting back up on your feet when discouraged will take a second person’s doing (see Ecclesiastes 4:10). You will need peers; and you will need mentors. My relationship with my academic supervisor is teaching me to value mentorship. I’m learning that without guidance, the most wonderful ideas remain just that - ideas. They can never develop into a theory which can influence the practice of a particular subject. 

Anyway, they lost again. More soldiers died in battle. Again, they wept. Again, they asked, this time more aggressively because of frustration. “Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?” (Judges 20:23)

They reached that point where you want God to know that you need to know that He is absolutely sure about what he is saying because it’s just not working. This time God made it clear that victory would be guaranteed. 

But why did they have to lose so much before winning if they were right to engage in battle all along? I believe it’s because what is good and right, because it’s effective, it is always opposed by the devil. When God created, He commended all He made as good, and when He created man, He said it was very good. Because all that is good and right has an enemy, we soon see the devil come into the picture with the purposing of stealing, killing and destroying the very thing that was identified as very good.

Because there is an enemy of good, pursuing the right thing always attracts opposition. When Nehemiah sought to do the right thing by restoring Jerusalem after it was destroyed, we immediately learn of the opposition to his plans even before he implemented them.

“When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.” Nehemiah 2:10

Nehemiah went on with rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, facing opposition the entire time. When his enemies failed to intimidate him into quitting, they threatened to harm him. When that didn’t work, they tried to weaken him by discrediting him through lies about his motive behind rebuilding the wall. His enemies attempts didn’t stop right until the wall was completed. 

So, in the face of difficulty and delayed results, I am trying to remind myself that these two things should not cause me to doubt the rightfulness of what I’m doing. Sure, I don’t get it right every day, some days really leave me with more questions than answers. But one thing I refuse is to quit, and from time to time, I’m rewarded with blissful moments that make me so glad I refused to quit. Just the other day I was sharing how one blog post of mine from my other page landed me an interview on a leading national radio station. Neither of my blogs or pages has a high following but there I was, just because I didn't stop writing.

So, if you’re in the same boat, doing what you believe you're meant to do, but your hands are starting to tire because of all the difficulties you’re facing, this is a sign and reminder that you’re still on the right track, don’t stop just yet. Stay close to God, keep inquiring, you’re closer to your next victory than you think.

“They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.’ But I prayed, ‘Now strengthen my hands.’” Nehemiah 6:9