Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Matthew 6:33 (MSG)
A few days ago, I found myself scrolling through old photo albums, lost in the memories of different seasons of my life. I eventually landed on pictures from my NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) days in Adamawa State.
One photo stood out: a group of us standing by a massive dump site in front of the local hospital and market. We were mid-project, working to clear the waste as part of our Community Development Service (CDS).
Looking at that photo, I was reminded of a profound lesson I learned back then—one about the difference between our “good ideas” and God’s specific provision.
The Struggle of the “Wrong” Destination
NYSC is a mandatory year of service for Nigerian graduates, and when my posting letter arrived, my heart sank. I was headed to Adamawa, in the far North-East. At the time, security concerns were high, and honestly, I had been dreaming of a posting to the South-East or South-South regions.
Despite my fear and disappointment, I had a nagging internal certainty: God was leading me there.
The disappointments didn’t stop at the state line, though. I expected to be posted to the state capital, but instead, I was sent to a remote Local Government Area.
Devastated is an understatement!
Like Jesus in the garden, I had to reach a point of surrender: “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
The Trap of the “Good Idea”
When I arrived at my Primary Place of Assignment (PPA)—a General Hospital—it was a culture shock. It was a far cry from the modern facilities where I had trained as a Physiotherapist.
The first thing I noticed was a massive, unsightly dump site right in front of the hospital.
Immediately, my brain started whirring. “Maybe this is it,” I thought. “Maybe this is why God brought me here. I’m supposed to restore order and cleanliness to this environment.” I was ready to make the dump site my “Special Project”. It felt noble. It felt “God-led”.
However, as time went on, I realized something startling: That wasn’t my primary assignment. Cleaning the dump was a good thing, but it wasn’t the God thing for that season.
If I had obsessed over that project, I would have been so distracted by my own initiative that I would have missed the spiritual growth and the specific “manna” God had prepared for me in that wilderness.
Responding to the Giver
Interestingly, the dump site did eventually get cleaned. Later in the year, the NYSC authorities mandated a community project, and we cleared the site together without me having to force it. God took care of the problem in His own timing.
In every situation—especially the ones that feel like “wilderness” experiences—we must ask: What is God actually providing here?
What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works.
Matthew 6:31-32 (MSG)
In Matthew 6:31, we are admonished not to be preoccupied with “getting”; whether that’s getting the “right” posting, the “right” project, or the “right” outcome. Instead, we are called to respond to God’s giving.
We often approach God with a grocery list of what we think we need to be successful or happy. But God, as a loving Father, is often providing something deeper: character, patience, or a revelation of His presence that we often fail to see because we are too busy staring at the “dump sites” of our lives.
Don’t let a “good” idea distract you from God’s best provision. Steep yourself in His reality today. He knows exactly what you need.
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