Tag Archives: A way out

What Would You Tell Your Sixteen Year Old Self?🤔😇🙃

Hope and Faith, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Once upon a time, in a small village in the countryside, there lived a girl called Eglyne Esther. She very much enjoyed indoor activities as her personality was more of a quiet and shy one. Her parents adored her as she was not so much trouble raising as a child. Eglyne grew up as a God fearing young lady who always kept her parents, three brothers and sister in much prayer. How do I know all this? Well, I know her.

So, I happened to meet Eglyne last week to just catch up about life. We had not had a girl talk for quite some time and I had really longed for one with her💃💃. She shared how much she is grateful for the far that the Lord has brought her. Her birthday was actually on the day before we met. So the curious me poked this lost friend of mine to open up of what resolutions she set herself now that she was one year older. It was amazing to listen to her share of what she would have done differently in her life instead of the future plans I inquired about. To be precise, she talked of what advise she would give her younger self…a sixteen year old Eglyne Esther?🤔🤗 She would tell her have her always remember Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you— you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Wow!! I starred with amazement as she beamed, her eyes twinkling with pride, her mouth moving with utmost confidence. “This must definitely be out of experience given such vigour and assurance of the word”, I thought to myself. Whom am I kidding? My poking self could not just keep calm and so I gave into the temptation of asking to hear more of the inspirational sharing🙃😉!! As she opened I realized how much she focused on verse twenty nine that says “ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these”. It really struck me that Solomon with all the wealth he had was not as beautifully dressed as the lilies of the field. I hope we are all on the same page of how wealthy Solomon was. Or do we need to do a lifestyle audit?🤔😂😂. Oops, seem to be digressing here. I know my countrymen understand 🤣😉!!

Okay now going back to the man who asked God for wisdom when He handed him a blank cheque. The Bible says in 1Kings 10:21, “All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days“. 1Kings 10:23 also says, “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth”. Did you also know that during his time, silver was common in Jerusalem as stones?😱🙄🥈💰🤑. Come read 1 Kings 10:27, “The king made silver common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills.” I guess we now all know. Forbes would have definitely loved this guy💯😎💃🕺!!

Eglyne (whom I call Queen Esther) really got me thinking. Isn’t God just amazing? What is impossible with Him? Nothing, absolutely nothing 🙅. He has everything under control. Eglyne wishes her younger self would not have wasted so much time worrying about how things would turn out. Rather she would have purposed to fix her eyes on things above, be at peace and enjoy life in Christ. Anxiety and worry just bursts the fun out of the life balloon. Nearly three decades on this earth has taught her that if she surrenders control to her creator, the giver of all things, then she is certain of God’s will being fulfilled in her life. Some answers to prayers may not turn out exactly how she wanted, but then time proved that truly God’s ways were better than hers. Not as easy as it sounds, and that is where the Helper comes in, the Holy Spirit. To teach us all things.

So what would you tell your sixteen year old self today?😕😎😍🙋💖💜💝

It is obvious that it is only after time passes by that some things start to make sense. You get to understand and appreciate the crooked turns and bends, the mountains and the valleys of your past life. But most of all God’s faithfulness. This is my personal testimony. That I serve the God of Abraham (Covenant keeping God, the God of Isaac (God of Impossibilities) and the God of Jacob (God of change/transformation). Amen and Amen and Amen!! So what would your advise be to your younger self?

See you next week Friday and God bless!!!😇🙏

#Hopeforyouandme #UnchangeableGod #QueenEsther #Eglyne

What Do You Do When You Lack Peace?

Hope and Faith, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Peace. What is peace? Well, Merriam Webster dictionary has five definitions:

(1) A state of tranquillity or quiet: such as
a : freedom from civil disturbance. For example, Peace and order were finally restored in the town.

b : a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom. For example, a breach of the peace.

(2) Freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions. For example, I have been in perfect peace and contentment —J. H. Newman

(3) Harmony in personal relations. For example, the sisters are at peace with each other.

(4) a: a state or period of mutual concord between governments. For example, there was a peace of 50 years before war broke out again.

b: a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity. For example, offered the possibility of a negotiated peace.

(5) —used interjectionally to ask for silence or calm or as a greeting or farewell
— at peace: in a state of concord or tranquillity. For example, the problem was settled and his mind was at peace. The peace am referring to in this post today is that of freedom from disquieting or oppressive emotions. Peace despite facing volatile circumstances. How do you have such in your life? Well, the Word of God says in Philippians 4:6-7

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. How often do we allow ourselves to want to solve matters our own way? Or want to ache our minds with worry, yet there is nothing much we can do to change the situation?

A story is told of a member of a famous orchestra group who approached the great Italian conductor with an expression of sheer terror on his face. This was shortly before a major concert before a standing-room-only audience. “Maestro,” the musician fretted, “my instrument is not working properly. I cannot reach the note of E-flat. Whatever will I do? We are to begin in a few moments.” The great conductor looked at the man with utter amazement. Then he smiled kindly and placed an arm around his shoulders. “My friend,” the maestro replied, “Do not worry about it. The note E-flat does not appear anywhere in the music that you will be playing this evening.”

My confession today would be to admit that the orchestra player and I share something. In such moments, I tend to ignore the still small voice that says everything will be all right. I figure it is better to worry then afterwards nothing happens than not to worry and then something bad does happen. A complete lie from the devil. That is such a waste of time and emotions that could be used more positively. The author of “The Waste of Worry”, Brad Stevens wrote the following: “If we were to keep a record of all the things we worried about during a given period of time, we would discover–in reviewing them–which the great majority of our anticipated problems or troubles never come to pass. This means that most of the time we devote to worrying, even the constructive kind that prompts us to try to come up with a solution to what is troubling us, is wasted. Thus, we not only caused ourselves unnecessary mental anguish, but also took up valuable minutes and hours that could have been spent elsewhere. To avoid this, it is often necessary to subject potential sources of worry to the coldly objective and analytical light of reason.

So How Do You Have Peace In Volatile Circumstances?

Many self-help ideas tend to focus on deep and long breathing exercises, Yoga, others talk of taking a walk, reading a book, walking away from the volatile environment, counselling, and going to the gym, cooking or really doing something to take your mind off the problem. When you come to a church setting, solutions vary from praying, singing, opening up to the Pastor or close confidant or even taking time to serve in church or the needy. The latter two stem from the idea of taking focus from yourself and help out others who may actually be in a greater dire situation than you.

One of the great reliefs I have discovered recently is to just praise God. Praising Him with actual utterances from my mouth. Not necessarily singing but speaking out praises to the Kings of Kings. I had to work on the inner me to avoid the temptation of doing so in expectation of reciprocation of immediate blessings or sudden solutions to my problems. It is important for me that my motives are pleasing to my Heavenly Father in all that I do. One morning in the past few weeks as I made a few steps in my bathroom, I was overwhelmed by intense pain in my body. Mobility was completely not possible as a tiny movement of my legs brought excruciating pain. I believe neighbours must have heard my screams. As I was standing still for about twenty long minutes in pain, I sang and praised God. I told Him that He was good and I was glad to rejoice in the day He had made. I recall calling out the name of Jesus so many times. In my mind, whether God took away the pain that moment or not, He remains to be God. His throne remains to be in heaven and earth His footstool.

As I digress a bit, my personal testimony of my journey in writing since February 2018 has created events in my life that test the word that I actually share. It comes back to test whether I would do exactly as my post say. And that experience in the bathroom was one of them. It was a test of the post “…God remains to be God”. What I did in that bathroom did not take away my pain immediately. Taking a bath, heading to work, and working through the day, I was still in pain. But guess what? Something changed inside of me that gave me the strength to take the next steps of the day. There was the option of calling in sick and not go to work, but my mind and heart had changed despite the circumstances not changing much.

What then is the use of praising God if the current circumstances do not change immediately?

Well, in my experience they will change. It may not be at the time or the way you desire but the promise is that they will change. It is not a matter of if, but when. Whatever has a beginning on earth has an end. It is only Jehovah who is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is not easy when the flesh is fighting back with anxiety but that has been a sure way for me to receive peace in my not so interesting moments. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13..No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

The fiery furnace may not be the most exciting place to be in life, but it sure does make one grow. So, maybe our prayers should focus on allowing God to be glorified in the valley and ask for grace and strength to see us through. One prayer I have been making this week as I thanked God for my birthday is to use all my pain and suffering in my past for His glory. That it would not be in vain and the results of the fiery furnace be used to expand His Kingdom. Just noticed I have no emoji today and am not sure what that means. All I know is that God remains to be God. Our environment does not change who He is. He deserves worship and adoration no matter our circumstances. My prayer is that He shows Himself strong in and through our lives even as we purpose to do exactly what we were created to do. To worship Him!!!!

Thank you so much for taking time to read. May the Good Lord lead you in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Amen and God bless. See you next week Friday!!!!!!!

#UnchangeableGod #Peace #PraisingGod #Worship #Hopeforyouandme