Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church says Christians tend to get impatient whenever the timing of their plans does not coincide with God's. However, Furtick reminds God's followers that fate happens in stages and does not come into fruition immediately.
During his Functional Faith series, the pastor said destiny is not "a drive-thru where you place your order and pick it up three minutes later." Instead, destiny needs to be taken care of like a seed. One must plow the ground and sow it first before the fruits can grow, he said.
"Everything that God will reveal in your life... is going to be revealed in stages," Furtick said, according to The Christian Post. "[Jesus] wants you to know that some things just take time."
If God would only mark "harvest season on your schedule," then Furtick said there would be no more need for Christians to maintain a strong faith.
But things don't work out that way, he said.
He then asked: "How do you relate to a God in patience when He won't show you the schedule He's working off of?"
The challenge here, said Furtick, is surviving the waiting period before finally reaping the benefits of one's destiny.
"I think that's where most dreams die – in the soil," the pastor said. "What takes the most faith is to be buried in the soil of uncertainty and keep growing, but that's exactly what you have to do."
There will be some stages of faith when Christians can do nothing about their destiny but wait, but Furtick said they must never lose hope because "the seed is in the ground, the seed is still on schedule."
"Everything I need for a life of godliness is inside of me," Furtick said. "It's just a matter of time before the potential is released from the seed."
