Why You Are NOT Behind: Trusting GOD’S Pace for Your Life 🛡️ My 14-Year Struggle | John Giftah

0:01 Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist, and founder of John Gifta International.

0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

0:45 Speaker 2: Do you feel like you're in a place in your life where you see everybody else racing before you and you feel like, oh my gosh, what is happening with my life? I feel like I'm either stuck or I feel like I'm going at a very slow pace. Well, if that describes you, I want you to stay tuned because all through this week on the podcast, we're looking at various aspects to remind you and to inculcate this into your spirit that you're not behind, you're right on schedule and God still has the plan to take you to your final destination.

1:16 Speaker 2: In line with this, today, we're going to look at an important passage that really catches my attention every time when we talk about the incident in Mark chapter six. Now, a lot of times we read these passages just from a very superficial level, but I love to go deep to understand things in a deeper fashion. So to give you context, Jesus, if you see, Jesus had just fed the multitudes, and he just asked the people to He was just trying to disperse the crowd. And I'm going to read a few passages verses from this passage from verse spotify to get the context for you.

1:53 Speaker 2: Right immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across to the late to Beth saida while he sent the people home. After telling everyone goodbye, he went to the hills by himself to pray. Okay, Now, just to give you a context, this is just after he fed the five thousand, which is only the men, so it could have been even fifteen thousand people when you count the men, the women, the children, and all of that. So you have to remember something that I like to analyze a bit so the Bible goes on to say that right before this could happen right late in the afternoon, okay, verse thirty five.

2:36 Speaker 2: Late in the afternoon is when the disciples told Jesus this is a remote place. You need to ask the people to go get some food, and then Jesus that's the miracle to feed the multitudes. So possibly, I mean, if you say the whole thing would have happened around for three hours, let's say late in the afternoon, could be around maybe three o'clock in the afternoon, let's say, right, so three thirty in the afternoon or whatever. So even if the whole thing of feeding the five thousand and everything would have taken maybe three hours, so by the end of it, it would be around six thirty or seven, and then Jesus is dispersing the crowd.

3:17 Speaker 2: That could have been for up to seven seven thirty, right, I want you to understand, so that you will understand the pace I want to talk about, very very important here. So immediately after this, Jesus told the disciples to leave, and then he starts dispersing the crowd. So that could be around seven o'clock. Okay, So maybe by the time the disciples got into the you know, the shore of the lake, and God started. It could have been maybe eight, eight thirty or nine, let's say nine o'clock, right. Why am I specifying the timing, because this is something very important.

3:52 Speaker 2: Most people don't check all of this. So late in the late at night. Verse forty seven says the disciples were in the boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on the land, and he saw that David in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and the waves. Okay, And at about three o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on water. Okay. Now I wanted to pay attention to this. So when you understand, the lake is also the Sea of Galilee. It's known by different names, and it is the same thing.

4:28 Speaker 2: So when you look at the dimensions of this lake or the Sea of Galilee, the length is twenty one kilometers, which is around thirteen miles from north to south, and the width is thirteen kilometers, which is around eight miles across its widest point. Why am I sharing that? So depending on from where to where they're going by the lake, the ideal time it should take to cross the lake would be somewhere between one and half fast to three of max. That's it, one and a half to three hours max for them to cross the lake.

5:06 Speaker 2: Okay, now I wanted to picture this right, It would ideally take them one and a half to three hours to cross the lake. And you'll see that if they started setting sail at around nine pm. Okay, ideally, by on a maximum scale, they should have reached the other side. Even if they were going through the widest or the longest route possible, they should reach by twelve right, But when Jesus meets them at about three o'clock, which is literally double the time which you have taken them to actually reach the other side, they've still not reached the other side.

5:46 Speaker 2: Are you getting what I'm saying? Because of the storm, because of whatever has happened. I hope you're able to get the context of this. Somebody else is able to cross the same lake in just three hours, whereas our six hours, they have still hardly made any headways towards the destination. Are you able to understand in some of the passages it talks about how they have only crossed about five kilometers or which is basically not even half the distance when they have already spent double the time.

6:24 Speaker 2: Think about this, how it would have felt for them, how they would feel, Oh, my goodness, other people are able to cross this lake in just three hours, whereas after six hours, we've only crossed half the distance. Think about this, guys, do you feel like your life is going at a similar piece. Let's take a practical example, right like when people say, oh, if other people are able to get thousand subscribers in three years, well, I spent ten years and I've still not got even finder subscribers. Are you able to with what I'm saying if you're a content creator or into the content world.

7:04 Speaker 2: Or let's take another example, if you're saying, oh, other people, by this age, they have already stabilized themselves financially. But look at me, Look at my salary. I'm not even able to meet me my regular needs being met though I've been sogging and I've been struggling for a much longer time than somebody else. Do you feel like that? Or you're saying other people are easily getting married, people who are much younger to me, they are getting married, whereas me, I've been waiting on the Lord.

7:37 Speaker 2: I've been trusting him, I've been looking up to him, but after so many years, I'm still not even able to go on a single date. Are you able to get what I'm trying to say? That's how the disciples could have felt. And that's why this passage really ministered to me, because the Lord was saying this to me, because I was in a place where I was saying, God, people who's started, you know, into content creation for example, right they started posting content and in hardly fourteen months or sometimes even in eight months, they have grown exponentially.

8:13 Speaker 2: Whereas after doing this for fourteen years, this is my fourteen year in ministry and content and podcasts and YouTube. I'm saying, God, after fourteen years, i feel like I'm nowhere compared to where I'm supposed to be, compared to those who just started less than fourteen months ago, and they're soaring high like you? Are you getting context here? This is how the Lord was ministering to me and encouraging me through his word to say, can you be comfortable? Can you be okay? If the pace at which God wants to deal with you, the pace at which God wants to lead you is different from somebody else, are you, Okay, if somebody else is able to reach through, but you spend the whole night to cross the same distance.

9:04 Speaker 2: You know, Sometimes I tell this to people that from my home to the airport in the city, it's roughly around thirty to thirty one kilometers. Okay, of course this is twenty one but let's say example, so in some places it's maybe around twenty twenty one kilometers. And I say, imagine if I told you that this, I'd spent the whole night to travel from the airport to my home. What would your reaction be? And they would say that's so amusing, Like why would you spend the whole night traveling just from the airport to your home?

9:42 Speaker 2: But if I told that the weather was bad, there was a blinding rain, there were so many accidents around, and there were so many possibilities of my life being lost, but God protected me and brought me out, reaction will change. You won't say, ah, why did you spend the whole night traveling from the airport to your home? You would say, but thank God God protected you in that wild journey. And you will say you have a story to share. You have a unique angle a perspective. You have a unique experience that nobody else has.

10:26 Speaker 2: Won't you say that? Now, think about this. If the disciples said crossed in three hours, we wouldn't be talking about them. But because what would have taken three hours took the whole night for them to cross, so many thousands of years later, we still talk about them. You know why, because they have a unique story to tell through which we realize how God takes care, how God leads, how God protects, and that experience is something that you cannot deny. So many times people reach me and say, even though they look at other creators who have much more growth and they're able to have more reachs or numbers compared to me, they reach out and say, John, but they mature way of handling.

11:18 Speaker 2: The depth in the revelations and the way you give the wisdom is something we're not getting anywhere else. Like I'm not putting myself on a high pedestrial. I give all glory to God. But then that wisdom, that depth, that unique you know, angle and perspective that God has led me through with the fourteen years of struggle and experience is something that cannot be discounted. That cannot be bought with just money or by getting success quickly. See That's what I want you to understand. If the pace at which God is leading you is slower than somebody else's, can you trust God and say, Lord, instead of me getting bitter that somebody else is doing better than me in a shorter span, help me to trust your pace over my life.

12:16 Speaker 2: Help me to be comfortable in whichever pace you are leading me, and help me to do my best because I know that through this experience, through this passage of whatever you're leading me through, I'm going to have a story and experience and that will be a blessing to other people. I really challenge you to leave a comment if you're checking this out on YouTube or Facebook and share this with someone and I will see you back very soon. God bless you.

12:49 Speaker 1: You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifda, we hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the gift to YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, interviews, and more. Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts, and don't forget to check out the best selling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I which will help you understand your identity, and the latest number one best seller Unveil Your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it.

13:24 Speaker 1: Make sure to leave a rating and review, and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description, and if you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www dotjongifted dot com. See you on the next episode of The Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. God bless you