Tag Archives: Principle of trying again

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

What If You Could Have Back What You Lost🌼🎄🎁💜💖💗🤔?

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

Have you ever lost something dear to you ? That pained you when it got lost ? That treasure that left some empty space in you ? Well, what if I told you, that you could get it back ? That there is hope for restoration ? What would you give to have that loved,precious, valuable treasure back in your possession? How wonderful does that sound ? Definitely music to the ears if you ask me🙋😇😊!!

Before I get misquoted, there is need to point out that some things and some people are just best left where they are. God in his wisdom has clarified that for me in my own life. He has helped me differentiate between what I have lost that deserves to be lost from what I need to have back in my life. The latter sometimes stays lost out of my own pride or lack of effort and some times even lack of desire/will. As I worked on this post, a former close friend called and my pride definitely did not allow me to pick. And I know and I know and I know that God has been speaking to me about walking in the path of forgiveness and reconciliation and this friend is definitely on that list. The long paragraph is evident of how much emotion this topic raises in me. And how much my heart desires to see this process to the end. Can I say this is where the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak 🤗😇? I stretched out of my comfort zone and did call back..Story to be continued😉 !!

This week in my church has been a prayer and fasting one seeking for revival/renewal/restoration. The theme is based on Psalms 85:6…Won’t you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you ? It is evident between the Holy Trinity and I that a special part of my spiritual life was lost and my mind has knocked on that door of old memories quite often. So this week for me served as such an opportune moment for me to pour out my desires for restoration to God, my Heavenly Father for what I lost.

Loss brings with it sadness, tears, regret, pain, anger, resentment and even depression. For the loss brought by death, hope lies in meeting the dear ones in the afterlife. Others have lost materially for what they have worked so hard for. Some have experienced emotional and spiritual losses while others have lost parts of their bodies through sickness or accidents.

Focus for me this week has been to admit and confess that I did lose a former precious part of me that I truly need back to help me fulfill the purpose of my life. Am more than convinced that my purpose lies in a revival in the insides of me. From my thoughts, my mind, my heart, my words and in relation, my life. My inner man desires a renewal that can only come from the fire of the Holy Spirit. And as a result every sphere of my life will be positively impacted.

I am taking the step of faith on this mountain for repentance and confession of my sins combined with rebuking every wicked scheme of the evil one. Am taking the minutes to whisper my a thousand and one prayers combined with shouting of praise and worship to the Kings of Kings.

So what makes me so sure that my prayers will be answered ? Well, the beauty about this is that am asking from the source of all things. The Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, Yahweh, the Great I am. He is God of Abraham, God of Jacob and God of Isaac. He is the Author and Finisher of my faith. And am very much aware that God remains to be God. He is Sovereign and I trust His wisdom. His ways have always been better than mine. The truth be told, whether I receive or not, God still remains to be Jehovah. He is changeless. I might as well be grateful that my actions have moved me closer to Him. And maybe that was the whole idea in the first place 🙃😉😊🙂!! You see, I told you, God knows what exactly He is doing. He got this !! He got me !! He got you !! Isn’t it better to walk with the Creator of all things than the things themselves ?

This post is to acknowledge loss does occur in each one of us. Is there hope for recovery ? God has the full answer to this. You can choose to ask of Him and let His Sovereignty reign in your life or you can choose to continue with life as it comes. The former does seem wiser and really is the best for you. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open unto you (Matthew 7:7). One thing is certain God hears and answers prayers, sometimes not the way we want, but the fact remains is that He does. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!(Matthew 7:9-11)

My hope is renewed that my Creator is truly my Heavenly Father. Am not sure what you have lost or what you desire back. One thing that am confident of is that God knows and He desires for you to talk to Him about it. Let Him be your light. Let Him make your paths straight to your destiny. Let Him lead you to your purpose. Be encouraged that He has the best of intentions for you 😊😊😇!! It is written that many are the good thoughts He has for us that they would outnumber the sand.

God bless as you take time to seek for restoration, revival and renewal in all areas of your life !! See you next week Friday🙋!!

#Hopeforyouandme #UnchangeableGod #Restoration #Revival #

When The Power Of Your Mind Plays Its Part!!

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

Around two weeks ago, I stumbled upon a 2017 documentary by Nike and National Geographic whose aim was to showcase an attempt to break the Marathon’s two-hour barrier. This project was actually began by Nike in 2014, named Breaking 2 and it involved Eliud Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadese and Lelisa Desisa after screening of various athletes. The 26.2 miles race took place at the Monza Formula 1 racetrack, near Milan, Italy which was notably not open to the public.

It was truly interesting to see the preparations of around two years that involved scientists who worked intensely on the various dynamics to get the three athletes to run below two hours. So there was the aspect of nutrition, weather, recovery and genetics. There was also an attempt before the main race that helped all involved parties to improve further on the details of the preparations.

Image by Nike

Just to make it clear, the aim of this post is not to promote any product. However, much appreciation is definitely from the insides of me for the much effort, time and finances put into the thought, preparation and actual deliberate attempt to overcome the barrier. I, for one, was not even aware of the great fear that people had concerning this subject matter. That it is extremely impossible to achieve🤔😱😩🙆🙉!!

Before watching this video, I had been in a season of my life that needed much confession and visualization of my heart’s desires to become a better person. To be more precise, I would literally take a few minutes every now and then or when my mind reminded me of this commitment (Oops😇!!) to just think through the day’s events which led to thinking of my life. This visualization topic was truly nailed in my brain when I listened to a certain preacher on TV who I also stumbled upon….cannot remember her name to be honest but the message stuck with me. I must point out that the little research on this topic on the internet led me to a lot of promotion of material prosperity gospel which is not really my aim 🤐😬🤗!!

My focus of late has been to tame my thoughts from overrunning, so, that has often forced me to literally lock myself in my room and stay silent after the end of an eventful day. The process of filtering my emotions and finding the root cause has been a deliberate process of loving me. This also allows me to be true to myself to firstly improve the relationship with the inner me through better understanding and evaluation.

Now back to Breaking 2, my highlight of the documentary was Eliud Kipchoge. Not because he won the race with a 2:00:25 eecord and neither is it because he is Kenyan and a great legend in world athletics. But simply because of the state of mind he portrayed throughout. The confessions of his mouth were truly inspiring to me. They were not filled with pride of his own abilities or experiences but more of humility. Even the scientists working alongside him could note the same trait. He oozed out confidence in how he handled himself!! You cannot truly understand what am saying until you watch this video.

To be honest, just thinking about it, reminds me of Jesus….you know the movies of him walking with a gentle spirit teaching, feeding, and encouraging all those around him. But despite that lowly appearance, within him lied great power💪💪😇😊!! And he did great miracles and wonders with the same personality. Oh how far am I from this perfection but I choose to be inspired and encouraged to press on this journey!!

Hope you get motivated and encouraged as I was when you read and watch the video. God bless and see you next week Friday😊😇😉!!

#Breaking2 #Hopeforyouandme #Lawofvisualization