Mgbe onye na-eche ya is an Igbo proverb that can loosely translate as “Your moment will come.” Literally, it’d translate as “everyone’s time waits for him.” It’s a proverb that teaches patience, perseverance and the right attitude while waiting for the blessings you so desire.

I know that some young blood would want to counter the above proverb because we live in a fast-paced world, and you need to grab your opportunities as they come. Well, he or she won’t be totally wrong.

However, the above proverb was not intended to encourage laziness, fooling around, sitting down waiting for some manna to fall from heaven. It is an admonition for patiently waiting for your promotion while working hard on your craft, even when you aren’t seeing results.

“For promotion comes neither from the East, nor from the West, nor the South.” Excluding the three cardinal points mentioned above, it means that promotion comes from the North, where God dwells. In fact, in the next verse, we read that “God is the judge: He puts down one and lifts another.” That is, promotion isn’t as much a result of your hard work (although that is very necessary) as it is the work of God.

You see, life is in phases. I strongly believe that if one sets his or her priorities right, focuses on his or her objective, keeps working hard on it despite every opposition, someday the sun will shine on him or her.

A few examples:

Mgbe Oge Isaac ruru (When it was Isaac’s moment)

Isaac became very rich, so rich that king Abimelech asked him to leave Philistine because he possessed more possession than the entire country, and drew so much envy from them. As Isaac moved to the valley of Gerar, he tried to dig Abraham’s wells, which the Philistines had covered up with earth. But the herdmen of Gerar withstood him at Esek, claiming that the water belonged to them.

He left it and dug another well called Sitnah, but again the people of the place strove with him, and he had to leave it for them. But he didn’t stop; he knew that the enemies won’t strive with him forever; he knew that at some point His God would fight for him; He knew that the time would come for rest and expansion because “the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.”

So, Isaac went on to dig yet another well, but this time his enemies didn’t strive with him again. It was his time; it was his season. And he called the name of the well Rehoboth: “for now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall dwell fruitful in the land.” – Genesis 26:12- 22.

Mgbe Oge Joseph ruru (When it was Joseph’s moment)

Joseph received all forms of discouragement that you could think of, but he was exalted when his time came.

The young child was loved by his parents because of his godly attitude of reporting the evil practices of his older siblings. That already made his siblings angry with him. Now, when you add the fact that he was also a dreamer, you have the perfect mixture of a man who was destined to be hated, persecuted, almost assassinated, lied against, thrown into prison, forgotten, but… but… but is destined to fulfil his destiny if he remains on the right path and persists.

So, the troubles of Joseph began with dreams but almost earned him death in a pit. Then it progressed through slavery and landed him in prison after an unproven accusation of sexual molestation. But he picked up again as his journey took him from interpreting a dream to being forgotten by the same person who got favoured by the deployment of Joseph’s gift.

Anyone could have given up on their dream after going through so much at such a young age.  But Joseph wouldn’t give up on his dream, nor would he give in to depression and despondency. He understood that mgbe onye na-eche ya. He knew that oge Chukwu ka mma (God’s time is the best).

So, he persevered, he waited expectantly for his time, he waited for the moment of his exaltation. And it came. Pharaoh had a dream, and no one in the entire kingdom had the requisite wisdom or depth into understanding spiritual matters to give a needed interpretation. And my man Joseph was called up because it was his time for enthronement. Scaling all the preliminary/entry positions, he was asked to sit directly on the throne as a Prime minister. When your time comes, protocols vanno a farsi benedire (protocols are discarded)

Mgbe Oge Israel ruru (When Israel’s time came)

It only takes God to keep hope alive in a people who have been in slavery for almost 430 years. Even if God gave a promise to your ancestors of future salvation from the hands of your oppressors, it wouldn’t take 50 years until you jettison the promise and focus on building a future where you are with whatever you have.

Israel came to Egypt through Jacob as a royal guest and in less than a century had become slaves in a place their forefather Joseph had helped preserve and build. Going through such pains, abuse and torture were unbearable. But they persevered until the man Moses came into the picture by Divine arrangement. And God through Moses manifested a little of His power in Egypt, proving to a mortal Pharaoh that there is a God that rules in the heavens and earth, in whose hands is the life of every animate and even inanimate thing.

When Pharaoh and his host decided to chase after Israel, God sank them in the Red Sea while the children of Israel passed on dry ground. When your time comes, no creature can withstand your freedom.

Along the way to the promised land, most nations refused Israel passage, and the inhabitants of Canaan vehemently opposed the settlement of God’s people. But those weren’t issues because oge ihe iruba ama Chineke eruwo (it was the time of God’s miracle). No troop, no armoured car, no ammunition, and of course, no Red Sea can stand in your way when God has decided that it’s your time to move into the promised land. If the nations rise like a flood, the Spirit of God will lift a standard against them. It’s your time, and you best believe that Pharaoh’s troops are too small for an appetizer.

Mgbe Oge Sarah na Hanna ruru (When the moment of Sarah and Hanna came)

When God told Abraham, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Sarah laughed. I can imagine her mind running through her anatomical and physiological depreciations and wondering how God would make that possible.

But not only herself, how about Abraham? His reproductive organs were already saying goodbye. Would God stop the ongoing apoptotic process of the prostate senescent cells? Oh, and if God did, then those senescent cells of the prostate gland would accumulate and probably lead to a Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia; and maybe to adenocarcinoma of the prostate. 

“Is anything impossible for me to do?” was the calm but firm rebuke from God. Well, when it was Sarah’s time, menopause couldn’t stop her from conceiving, nor could it hinder Isaac from coming forth.

What will I say of Hanna; her co-wife taunted her for years because she had no child. Her cries were constant, her weeping unending. For several years she attended the yearly Shiloh sacrifice as a barren woman. For many more, she wept as a drunken woman. Ma mgbe oge ya ruru, Chukwu agbaghe the door for Samuel to show face (when her time came, God kicked the door open for Samuel to come)

The heart and dreams of kings are in God’s hands. 

You see, the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, and He can decide to turn it in your favour. Remember that Mordecai saved the king’s life several years ago when he reported an attempt by two of the king’s chamberlains to assassinate him. It was written in the book of records and nothing more; Mordecai seemed forgotten. Ma mgbe oge ya ruru, God took sleep away from Ahasuerus’s eyes until the book of records was opened, and Mordecai’s deed was discovered, and he was favoured.

Joseph was forgotten by the butler whom he helped to interpret his dream in prison. But when the time for Joseph to ascend to the throne came, God gave a dream to Pharoah to make that happen. God can compass land and sea to make sure you’re blessed. Once it’s your time, it is your time. And no power in the heavens and on earth can stop you from getting your miracles. For “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the people and all that dwell therein.” – Psalm 24:1. And when He does what He wants, “none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” – Daniel 4:35. Your time will come, and then, no one, not even the devil will stop you from shining.

You keep working hard; you keep throwing the punches. The day will come when your repeated efforts will begin to yield her dividends. Vivien Thomas was neglected despite doing the work that would easily qualify as postdoctoral research today. His efforts were rewarded the same way a janitor would be rewarded for his work, which is basically nothing compared to the amount of work he was putting in. But when his time came, nothing could stop his rise to an apex position at John Hopkins University. 

I always tell the Lord that I’m not asking to move the mountains in one day. If that happens, I’ll be very grateful. But all I ask is the strength to chisel out a bit of it today, and tomorrow and the next and on and on. You’ll be surprised that one day you’ll search for the mountain and discover that I have successfully moved it to a new location.

You see, that tree didn’t fall the day it fell, it began to fall the day you began cutting. This is a call for patience, persistence and perseverance, for it is God that gives you the power to get wealth.

Your moment of breakthrough will come. Your moment of showing forth is on its way. Your moment of glory, your moment of triumph, your moment of settlement is coming. Just get ready for it.

Mgbe gi na-eche gi (Your moment will come). “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31.

Thanks for reading. Please share this article if you found it helpful. See you tomorrow with another dose of inspiration. God bless our week.