The in-between stage of life

I’m usually not the kind of guy who would sit down for hours watching some Hollywood, Nollywood, or BollyWood movie. Nah! Not my kind of thing… I really don’t have that luxury of time. But I recently saw this movie (The ultimate gift) in one of the folders in my laptop and decided to check it out. How it got into my laptop in the first place I don’t know. I guess it has been in that particular folder for months and I didn’t just notice. Well, this particular movie changed my life. This is one of those movies that after watching; you would sit down and think about life in depth. 

The story goes thus;

Jason thought his inheritance was going to be the gift of so much money. Was he ever in for a big surprise? The story sends trust fund baby Jason Stevens on an improbable journey of discovery, having to answer the ultimate question: "What is the relationship between wealth and happiness?" Jason had a very simple relationship with his impossibly wealthy Grandfather, Howard "Red" Stevens. He hated him. No heart-to-heart talks, no warm fuzzies, just cold hard cash. 

He figured that when Red died, the whole "reading of the will" thing would be another simple cash transaction, that his Grandfather's money would allow him to continue living in the lifestyle to which he had become accustomed, which of course was a very luxurious one. But what Red left him was anything but simple. Red instead devised a plan for Jason to experience a crash course on life. Twelve tasks, which Red calls "gifts," each challenging Jason in an improbable way, the accumulation of which would forever change his life.  These tasks were to prep him for what was already his.  It wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience for Jason, but he had no option.

 

Jason was quite immature, and lacked what it took to manage and grow his inheritance.  So, Jason had to go through series of rigorous tests to enable him grow into maturity and instill in him a virtue called patience. This in-between stage of his life transformed his thinking, making him become a better person,

I’m convinced that we live in a society that constantly focuses on immediate reward and instant gratification. We want whatever it is we so desire to happen right away forgetting that life is in stages and nothing worth having comes quick and easy; for we must understand that in between “here” and “there” (Where we are now and where we are headed) is a bridge called “process” and this in-between stage of life is something you must go through if you are to come out fully developed, not lacking anything. This in-between stage of life is what prepares you for your life’s assignment.

We see so many successful actors, singers, athletes and comedians, who burst upon the public scene and seem to be “overnight and micro waved stars”. But what we didn't see was the in-between stage of their lives; the many years of rehearsing and practicing their craft, the sleepless nights and the prolonged period of paying their dues in minor roles and undesirable venues until they eventually emerged as the overnight success that we believe them to be. We sometimes desire to be like them but wouldn’t want to pay the price they paid to get to where they are.

A lot of people desire to become great but don’t want to go through the required process. You must understand that greatness doesn’t come easy; it cost what it cost. For God will make you go “through it” before you get “to it.” He will take you through His “Maturity school” where He gets to break, groom and frame you into the person He wants you to be. This in-between stage of life can be painful and would require patience and perseverance in order for you to come out complete.

The sad thing is, too many people don’t have the patience to go through God’s maturity school. They go through life trying to make things happen by their own efforts forgetting that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. If you are to live your best life, you must allow God break and remold you into the person He wants you to be. You must allow him mature you and prune from your life the things that stand between you and your real destiny. You must endure the pain that comes from being remolded. Knowing that life is a marathon, not a sprint, you go through each day knowing you have something to learn.

Perhaps you are at this in-between stage of life, and you are at the point of giving up because you feel you may never be able to survive the pain that comes from being broken and framed. I want to encourage you to hold on, endure the pain, be patient, raise your heads high and see the finish line of glory ahead.  We are all in this together. God will never make you go through what He knows you can’t survive. The only reason He allows you go through it is because He knows you can come out of it.

Gracias

Huntly Anabs

Twitter: @huntlya