Happy new month to you all. Shout out to all the Octoby Baes it’s your birthday season. Yoh this year has flown past don’t you think? Well for me it almost feels like it’s been two years going on at the same time LOL. So much has happened and so much has not happened and so much is about to happen and that’s my exciting life for you. Thinking back to how this year started I see how far along I’ve come, I’m talking emotional Red Seas parted, Golliath-size fears confronted and Esther-like promotions to greatness.
I don’t have a million dollars in my account but I have a million stacks worth of faith built on the promises of God. Now more than ever I am equipped for success in all areas of my life because I know whose I am. I know that He has a plan and a purpose for my life to bring out the best in me, touch this world through me and send me smiling to the bank too because when the word says He will take care of ALL our needs then it means ALL our needs including the hairline or beard goals that are going around lately LOL.
Running your race when a sit-down feels more attractive
You see the rule of the race is that time keeps running ahead of us, he waits for no man and extends no stop watch facility to pause the race even briefly. His love affair with chance is so deep that whenever you come across the two in season amazing things can happen, even the bible talks about time and chance happening to us all.
The two live in this land called Life and together they go on without consideration of whether we want them to or not. I don’t know which part of your race you are on at the moment but I want to encourage someone who’s on a medium to low. Maybe the year started out great for you and it promised to go from strength to strength but then some unanticipated set-back gave you a cold hard reality-revealing slap across the face.
It could be that you had just finished family introductions only to discover that you had been played like a series of numbers in the lotto to see which option gave the best returns (Heartbreak). It could be that you started a business venture with your closest friend (the one who knows your dream from A-Z) and just when you went to pitch your idea to the investor you discovered that old friendy had already done it behind your back (Betrayal). Maybe you had an ill loved one who looked more promising everyday you went to visit until suddenly you were thrown into arranging their funeral the next day (Grief).
I know there are situations we have been through that no matter what anyone tried to say the pain just wouldn’t go away. I also know there have been situations that were so hard that even when it came time to pray your lips could not utter a single word. For some many situations have come and gone and now it seems time is stagnant it’s been same old same old since 1st January and now in October you may be wondering what is the point of it all.
Well I’m not here to give you a well rehearsed motivational speech about how much better things are going to get. I think we all know things inevitably get better it’s just the transit time to better that particularly sucks. Today I’m proposing that you keep going no matter your stance as you do. We may not get to pause the race but the rules are flexible as long as you stay in it, you can sprint when you have the strength, you can jog when you’re wearing out, you can crawl when you’re burnt out and if you have allowed God into your life He gives his angels charge over us to lift us up when we can’t crawl lest we dash our feet upon the rocks of the Earth.
No one ever said you had to wear a smile if you are really sad and no one ever said you should just be alright after one really good Sunday service. God understands that stuff happens, He knows that our hearts break, that it hurts so bad when things don’t go according to our plans, He knows we have expectations to be in better circumstances and He showers us with His grace and favour, forgiving our mistakes and drying our weeping eyes the more we seek him as a solution.
I just wanted to say, when it feels like now is the time to give up don’t. Don’t give up for that very reason, for the fact its hard and every muscle in your body wants to shut down permanently, for the fact that you’ve prayed and prayed and prayed some more and even learnt some fancy scripture, for the fact that everyone keeps telling you to be realistic, for the fact that you have nightmares about your failure, for the fact that your life is a complete shambles.
Don’t give up!!! Just keep holding on to that little shred of hope that says this too shall pass. I wish I could write a book on the power of holding on, not striving not flying high, just holding on with all you’ve got because one day things are inevitably going to get better.
Am I there yet? Absolutely not but I’m definitely a lot further than I would have been if I had allowed myself to fall into that comfortable zone of giving up. There’s a time I became very religious and legalistic and somehow convinced myself that designing jewellery wasn’t a Godly profession.
During that time I gave away all of my tools and beads thinking it was a holy sacrifice and for a while I tried to stop seeing things in daring colour and stopped being who I was trying to impress the Creator who put those very traits in my character. I thought now I was a Christian having done all I could do in my own capacity until an unlikely conviction led me to rebuild my supplies and take up designing again.
I didn’t think God would ever allow me to do what I had always dreamed of doing (I didn’t know at the time that it is He who gives us the dream not other way round) but I was wrong because He just wanted me to put it in the right perspective of seeking Him first. Since then He has equipped me with the vision to succeed and the strength to keep pushing. In short I find myself about two weeks shy of opening my very first jewellery shop. #The Dazzle Store #Be your most Dazzling self.
About the author
Sharon Rateiwa is a lover of art with a natural flair for the artistic. When she isn’t sharing inspirational pieces with the world, she designs and performs as a singer and poet. Sharon believes that we of God’s generation have a mandate to take up Godly arms in the fight for a meaningful existence. She gives encouragement by sharing her own colourful encounters.
