DAY 41 IS COMING
(5-minute read)
It is funny how bad things seem so permanent and good things seem so transient. Maybe it’s because we tend to avoid pain and associate all pain with negative outcomes. We may ask, what good can come out of an event that decisively disrupts our lives. As believers, we can become prone to using our faith for quick fixes to life problems. We expect instant healing. We activate prayer groups and everyone wants to see undesirable situations turn around quickly. We evangelize with the hope of instant salvations. We believe that powerful testimonies must demonstrate how swiftly God works on our behalf.
‘Forty days’ is an expression that describes a period of uncertainty and discomfort we go through in life. Deuteronomy 8:2-4 tells us of a time when the Israelites had to depend on God daily for their basic needs like food and water - not for a year or two but for forty whole years. They could not hunt or harvest food to eat, nor dig wells for water because they were on the move all the time until they reached the Promised Land.
Today, we find it hard when God is not prompt in delivering His promises to us. If He says He will do something, doesn’t He mean that it will happen very soon? Forty years seemed like an awful delay before the Israelites reached their Promised Land! Yet, it was God’s deliberate plan. In fact, Moses later told the Israelites that it was ‘to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands’. The Bible also recorded how the Israelite army was taunted by Goliath and, “for forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand”. (1 Samuel 17:16).
In the Bible, forty days depict times of formation and transformation. They are times of intense trials and testing. They narrate times of preparation and transition. As these periods eventually come to an end, they are never permanent. But what can we expect when day 41 rolls around?
Stacie has yet to cross over the threshold of her forty-day mark, and what she is experiencing now can sometimes feel so permanent when the most natural things like eating, sleeping and breathing do not come easily on any given day. She still talks about life in her ‘forty-day zone’ in the present tense. Inexplicably, she faces two compelling truths in her life:
Intimacy with God
Many facing prolonged uncertainties find themselves in an on-again/off-again relationship with God. Yet, at every breaking point, Stacie finds an intimacy with God that is stronger than her will-power and the waves of emotions she goes through. Just like the Israelites in the desert, she has to unlearn and let go of habits and the way of life before and to trust God while she adapts to a new diet and a new routine for basic survival. Her day 41 will come, but her victory does not happen in the future; it happens right here right now. Unbiblical sources of healing are so within reach, and conventional wisdom says that giving in to her body’s cry for help seems like the right thing to do.
To Stacie, victory means to stand resolute with God and refuse to bow down to the attractive offers of ‘other gods’ (Matthew 4:8-10). Victory also means to declare her faith in the Lord who assures her, “So do not fear, for I am with you (Stacie); do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you (Stacie); I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10). Stacie's victory looks at the sickness that sometimes takes on the size of Goliath and say My God is still bigger than you!
Her victory has power only because she continues to enthrone God in her heart while still suffering.
Mental And Emotional Resilience
Extended periods of waiting and recurrent disappointment can trip up anyone and cause them to walk away from God. More than she can recall, Stacie, too, has been tempted to walk away from God thinking that the relationship is not working for her. Without the support of people who care, she would indeed have made the painful decision to walk away from God.
But there is an inner resilience that is stronger than her body even when she is not in the best state of health. She finds a mental and emotional life that is indefatigable. She speaks of her ‘Day 41’ with convincing hope and compelling faith that do not need evidence or proof. But she knows that when ‘Day 41’ comes, it will be more than just a breakthrough that brings a change of scene. She will need to be ready for the beginning of another spiritual adventure with God.
After 40 years of wilderness, the Israelites had to drive out the inhabitants in the Promised Land.
After David slayed Goliath, he later became a commander of Israel’s armies.
When her ‘Day 41’ comes, Stacie knows she has to step into the fulfilment of God’s plans for her.
“I just want an ordinary life but God has called me to an extraordinary life. We are not called to be wall decorations but to make declaration of who God is to those who do not know Him.”
The season of 40 is never to break us, but to build us through our relationship with God. The season of 40 will not remain because day 41 will come around. Be careful, though, not to be alarmed by what is due process to God, and to normalize what is unbiblical.
Whether you are still waiting for your Day 41, or you have recently emerged from it, know that another spiritual adventure with God is what He's setting you up for! Resist rushing to put your name down for this or that, seek the Holy Spirit and let Him show you what you need to stop doing and start doing, to focus on building true intimacy with God and the resilience needed for what’s ahead.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 24 May 2025.
