I just saw a post from a friend about her birthday and how she is thankful for all that God has done for her. Knowing that her heart always wanted a child, I prayed for her that day that this new year she would get her blessing of a child. As I prayed that prayer for her, the Holy spirit asked me a question, “Do you know the consequences that come with certain blessings?” As I listened, I was shocked.

He says “you ask for a child for her but do you know if she will survive the process? Will she enjoy the process? Will she lose the child and go into severe depression? You do not know the consequence of what you are praying for because you do not see as I see”. It took me a minute to understand this. I really didn’t know what the consequence will be or what the outcome for having her go through such an experience will do to her mind, body, or spirit.

Do you realize that God only gives you what is best? Not what you asked for but the best version of what is good for you. We might not see it when we are going through it but the end is always beautiful. I have asked God for things in the past and He gives me some and others not. The ones He gives me always have a learning point.

Jerimiah 29:11 says:

“I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for”. (GNT).

The CEV Version puts it differently, it says:

“I will bless you with a future filled with hope - a future of success, not of suffering.”

You may be going through the wilderness but you know that it’s only for a little while because your future is filled with hope and success. I sit back and think about this; going through 8 months of fighting for my daughter’s life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was very tough but if only I knew that 2 years later she would be giving us a run for our money and very energetic I would have spent more of the time praising God for the outcome of success instead of continually praying for success. I would have spent the time thanking God for my future hope and success because I was living a successful life not trying to attain success.

As Christ died on the cross His last words were, “It is finished.” Not it will be finished, present continuous but past tense finished! Meaning, He already planned our success and we just need to start walking towards it. Imagine knowing at 18 years that when you get to 21 you would inherit a whole island. Even if you had to stay in a shared apartment for the next 3 years, you knew without a doubt that in the future you will have an island. So irrespective of what happens, your outlook doesn’t change because you know what is coming is better, bigger and greater than where you are now.

How about we live our lives constantly like that. Knowing that our future is indeed bright and what we are going through now is the process to get to where God has planned for us to be which is a place of prosperity, hope and success.

I decided right there in the kitchen to take each situation I go through as a process that will bring me to my future; it is not the ending but the path to the bright future that God already planned for me.

Talk to God about your heart’s desires and believe that He will give you the best version of your blessing.