A few months ago, I wanted to give an artisan a gift. I’d followed him for years and was impressed by his work ethic and attitude. I believed he should be rewarded.

What I had in mind was to fund an investment plan that would guarantee an annual stipend for years. With that, he could pursue career options that weren’t tied to the immediate need for survival. However, to access the gift, he needed a BVN, bank account and the ability to manage his online investment portal himself. Unfortunately, he had no bank account. The skills he would have gained using a bank mobile app (if he had one), would have been the same required to navigate the investment platform.

While I really wanted to give this gentleman the gift, I honestly couldn’t imagine micromanaging it too. I opted to provide a one-off cash grant instead and moved on.

That experience made me think of how God works sometimes. In my opinion, it isn’t that he doesn’t want to give us gifts. Sometimes, we simply do not have the capacity to receive them. So, he looks for someone else to work with.

Another thing I think about God, is that he rarely shows us his whole plan. Let me use a pedestrian example. Assuming God wants to give you a million Dollars. He most likely wouldn’t tell you. To do so would remove the need for faith. So, what he does is to bring information about financial literacy your way. You suddenly start seeing ads for investment courses. This is because he knows that for you to deploy and sustain $1m, you need a specific set of skills that those courses would endow. But he won’t tell you that the end goal is $1m. Again, to do so would negate faith, obedience and character.

You see, you form character by doing what is right for its own sake and not for what you can gain. Showing you the end goal would be a carrot. You would learn, not because you love learning but because you want the carrot. That is not character forming.

Sometimes on the news, you hear of random strangers who get famous by saving people from burning buildings. Chances are, several events in their lives instilled in them a character of sacrifice. When they saw people in a flaming structure, that sacrificial instinct was activated. They didn’t act because they expected to become famous. No, they didn’t know that would happen. They did so because it was the right thing to do.

One more thing. Please have a teachable spirit. I believe God hates to waste wisdom. It’s like casting pearl before swine. Act on what you learn immediately. You will soon discover that when God teaches you something, if you’re the type to implement immediately, he gives you more. It’s like a fuel tank. You need to discharge your load before you can be refilled.

“For whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mark 4:25 AMP

Sometimes, you may be weary of the character building process; the training. I can relate. There’s a project I’m working on that just isn’t gelling. I have the funds for it, but other factors outside of my control are slowing things down. I think God is trying to teach me that there are things money can’t buy – like favour and access. He’s also teaching me to stop obsessing about results. He needs me to go through a process. When the process is complete, the result will follow.

Back to the artisan at the beginning of my story. I decided to extend grace so I asked him to open a bank account and to learn how to use his bank app. Jokingly, I said he should do a N100 transfer to me to prove he had set up the app. I didn’t tell him about the investment plan that awaits him. Let’s see if someday he will be ready for his gift.