The walk and life of a Christian is the kind of stuff epic movies are made of. In his new column, 'This Walk, This Life', George Oloo picks snippets from his own life and brings home life lessons.

If there is one thing I pray I will not find in Heaven, it's queues. Think of it this way - if six billion people need to get in on one day, and if St. Peter has to check for everyone’s name in "The Book", it would take about a minute to clear each person - assuming their computers up there are anything like the ones we have here - unlikely though. That would work out to roughly 4.2 million days. I'd hate to be the last one on the queue!

Down here in this beautiful country of ours, queuing does seem to have become a way of life - and if you live in the places I do, it is an enduring nightmare. Take the other day for instance, when I had to queue for three hours to get transport home. It was a taxing effort, but taught me a few lessons too.

Have you ever considered how much our lives resemble queues? This truth hit home as I contemplated the characteristics of the queue I was in, what with its different classes of people. One was for those who, looking from afar, spotted its discouraging length and opted not to join, instead going some other way. Ofcourse there were 'the complainers' – spending the entire time complaining about the lack of matatus, the fare, the government, the economy and whatnot. Others, bored beyond belief, found themselves digging into a book or newspaper they had read a dozen times, or chatting with total strangers.

But think about it - are we not like that with the things we pursue and wait for? Take the guys who run away from the challenge of queuing for instance. Many of us are often put away by the sheer size of the things we have to wait for, and refuse to even attempt it. Instead, we chose our own path, and predictably, miss the opportunity to achieve what God intends for us.

Some of us join the queue, but subsequently go through the waiting process complaining about all the things not going our way, and blaming everyone else for it. Someone said that ‘patience is the character you admire in the driver behind you and detest in the driver ahead of you’. We live a ‘woishe’ life, never enjoying the moment, instead we spend precious time thinking everyone else is getting a better deal than us. Still others wait with such trepidation that when things finally come our way, we are too exhausted to acknowledge it. Yet some have learnt the difficult act of waiting, and doing so patiently, all the while finding something for their hands to do so as to make good use of the time (this, I think, is the idea behind magazines in office waiting rooms – which I never have the patience to read!).

However, there was another group of people, who formed the majority. These are the ones who queued patiently, but as they neared the end of their journey, they gave up and broke the queue to pursue other options, most deciding to fight for a place instead. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably like that too. Waiting for what seems an eternity, yet giving up just before our breakthrough comes. Or more commonly, we wait on God for so long, then deciding He’s not coming through, choose to employ our own tactics to make things happen. And in the end, this option always fails.

But why would someone who had patiently queued for over two hours suddenly decide it wasn’t working for him and leave? Two main reasons. Firstly, they’d observe that other people who were not in the queue were getting there before them by fighting it out. I increasingly find, as I mature in my walk, that I have this tendency in my life to want to bite and scratch and push for what God promised me, because it seems as if everyone is doing just that.

Secondly, people simply give up out of discouragement. Just throw up their hands and say they can’t take it anymore. When my plans fall through, or take too long to work, my trust in God to get me where He wants me is put through the fire. Do I pass?


The sky is darkest just before dawn is a saying I have found to ring very true. When it seems that things have gotten too bad to go on, maybe that is the time to dig in and wait some more. See, I have learnt that God does not disappoint, as several people would testify. He just seems to have this habit of waiting until everyone can be sure that there is no way that would have happened were it not for God. Think of the disciples in the storm, wondering when their Master would wake up. And of Joseph, waiting close to 20 years for his dreams to come true. Or Sarah, pregnant at 90, when all hope of childbearing was gone. Consider the Messiah, promised some 600 years before he actually turned up. God wants us to learn to trust in Him – to be absolutely convinced that He will come through for us, no matter how long it takes. Even when we’ve been in the grave four days, like Lazarus of yore.

Oh, and one more thing - God does not need our help to accomplish any of His plans. Consider Paul’s admonition:

“What was first revealed to you by the Spirit, will you now attempt to accomplish in the flesh?”

Hard to learn as it is, I continue to practice how to stay on that queue till the end. Enjoy where you are today on your way to where you are going.

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