Can You Really Navigate Life on Your Own?

Can You Really Navigate Life on Your Own?

Is Your Situation A Surprise?

Would it occur to you that between you and someone who created the blueprint for your life, you’re the only one that could be surprised by anything that happens?

Think of it. You write a script for a production and in the middle of the action, should/would you be surprised at the unravelling of events? For something you wrote?

Then why would

What if I Told You Anxiety is a By-Product of Self-Sufficiency?

I had a friend who tried to get me to see the insight in some verses from Matthew 6 because I was struggling financially at the time and all I did was worry in between prayers. Precisely, those verses were Matthew 6 vs 25-34. I’ll put a link here since the verses are too many to paste here: Matthew 6 vs 25-34 (AMP).

As a realist, I tried to think out all the possible avenues from which money could spring forth. All of them were dry, void. I had to refocus on God since there was no other person standing with me in that darkness.

What my friend told me at the time was that I shouldn’t worry about the things over which I have no control. Those are the very things that I shouldn’t even attempt to think through; those are the things that I should commit to God ab initio. So I turned to prayer. But I found myself caving in under the pressure of physical demands for money that I didn’t have. I kept circling back to ground zero. It became a depressing cycle.

Although I didn’t read between the lines of the verses preceding 33 and didn’t get this insight at the time, I had to learn to look to just God since there was no one else. I told myself God wasn’t sleeping. That He saw how messy things were and all the threats facing me. Some way, somehow, He came through just *in* time.

Now, the insight I’m getting from all the verses here is that first and foremost, we need to REMEMBER that God created everything before man; He knew that every creation of His must be fed and nourished somehow. He made provisions for every single living thing He created, including man.

Since God put everything else in place before setting man as Lord over those other creatures and He didn’t starve those creatures, He won’t let us starve. Also, remember that God made provision for every single creature in the biological food chain.

God essentially set a table before us (Psa. 23 vs 5); our cups are running over; our heads are anointed with oil. Verse 33 of the Matthew 6 talks about everything else falling in place on the condition that we seek God FIRST. God sets the table before you come to Him. He knows you are coming. But He’s waiting for you to come to Him first, instead of trying to find the table in the darkness on your own. The light to your path is on that table you’re trying to find on your own. However, just like man was yet to come alive until God breathed into him, the candlelight on that table will not be lit until God lights it up so that you can use it to find your way to the table from His feet.

There is abundance on that table. Whether we choose to go to the table and sit — first having turned to God in total surrender and subjecting ourselves to total reliance on Him — or we stay away and say we don’t need Him or His provision — because, hey, we know the ropes and all about being independent and enterprising — is now left to us.

God has already made the provision. You either humbly approach the throne of grace and faithfully get on the path to that table or you can keep bothering about how you’re going to feed past today. Confident peace in an omniscient and omnipotent God or anxiety in your own shortsighted abilities, which one?

What Peace-Eroding Thing Are You Holding On To?

While attending to a friend’s emotional and spiritual needs recently, I came across an insight truffle in Colossians 3:15 (you already know it’s AMP 😄):

“Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].”

‭‭COLOSSIANS‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭AMP‬‬

http://bible.com/1588/col.3.15.amp

Reading this verse got me doing an internal audit because I was going through something oddly similar to what my friend was going through. But I’d just come to a place of total surrender and trust in God and His sovereign will — I had just internally let go of something that was persistently costing me more than just my peace of mind.

Just before I sent the verse to my friend, I asked God, “Why did I not find this verse since? Why did I not find this formula earlier?” The response I got in my spirit was that I was the one persistently holding on tightly to something that even those around me could see was eroding my peace and steadily being a source of stress for me.

Since I’d already just gone through the process of recommitting that thing to God and being told that it was not for me, I was already at a place where I knew I had to let go.

Nonetheless, I realised that this fail-proof formula for we spiritual beings is something that we should continually apply to situations in our lives, especially at the very beginning. We should make continuous assessments of people, situations, things, relationships and engagements in our lives using this formula.

If it does not give you peace, it is not from God.

If it stresses or confuses you, it is not from God.

If it erodes your peace, it is not from God.

If it gives you headaches or heartaches, it is not from God.

If it causes you to go against your conscience, it is not from God.

If you have as much as a single persisting doubt, it is not from God.

If it goes against your doctrine as a spiritual being, it is not from God.

If you cannot find purpose and/or fulfilment in it, it is not from God.

If it suppresses or causes you to suppress your spirit or the Spirit of God in you, it is not from God.

Our God is a God of peace and order, not a God of confusion, stress or disorder.

Nothing in this life that erodes our peace should remain with us. We must take great care to not hold on to these types of things.

Stay blessed lovely people 😘.

Can You Conjure The Visible With The Invisible?

I was reading a plan on YouVersion some days back and Hebrews 11 vs 3 was one of the readings. At first, it seemed like one of those verses you scratch your head trying to find deeper meaning to. Here, see for yourself:

“By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

‭‭HEBREWS‬ ‭11:3‬ ‭AMP‬‬

http://bible.com/1588/heb.11.3.amp

I love how this verse may seem complex and void of applicability prima facie. But here’s what I’m getting from it: there is clearly MORE to life than what we see or perceive with our senses.

In the beginning, God called forth things that were invisible to make things that we still see millenniums after. God called forth the first man into being; He did not pick anything from

Would You Really Give Your Throne Up?

Imagine you’re a prince/princess and I just show up intending to take your throne from you. What would you do? Would you walk away or would you stay and fight for your throne?

If you haven’t come across James 4:7, lemme put it here for you real quick:

So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. (Amplified Version)

Oh, how I love this verse!!!!

RESIST the devil! Listen, James did not say “run away”; he did not say “avoid”. He said “RESIST”, meaning, stand your ground!

See, you get a new house — the house of your dreams — with your life savings and then strange spirits begin to

“People are Work!” Tell me about it.

In a time that is desperate to cater to your every need/want/demand on the spot and deliver electronically or right where you are, it’s too easy to live in a bubble.

Yes, I live in a bubble sometimes most of the time. I like that I get consumed by work because it takes my mind off a whole lot of things and causes me to use my time judiciously.

But at the end of the day, when I swipe down from the top of my phone screen, I see how the world and my circles have passed by in the how many hours I’ve been happily submerged in something that requires very little socialising effort from me.

At work, I don’t have to go out of my way much to socialise. The people I’d engage in the process of socialising would often come there to the office and even sit in my front, making conversation and social engagement effortless.

Now, if all my social engagements took this format, I’d be the most social person I know 😀! But that’s not the case 🙄. In fact, I not only have to drag my ass out of bed when I’d rather hog my bed all day, but also have to get my groggy self in the shower, brush for almost 30 minutes, dress up half awake, fully wake up to do my makeup, try to justify why I’m neglecting my bed for another person 🤦🏾‍♀️. The stress is just too much.

Now, let me tell you the real stress. This is my own stress, at least. I live in Lagos, Nigeria. I don’t drive, I don’t Uber myself everywhere because I don’t live inside Central Bank of Nigeria’s vault. I try as much as possible to not go out during the day (08:00 and 20:00) so I don’t get into the lethal Lagos sun.

Even though I go out really early to work and I beat the sun to getting to work, I end up around really stinky people (I have overly sensitive olfactory organs) and I have phobia for unsolicited body contact, which is practically inevitable in Nigerian public transport. I’m always irritated by the bus drivers stopping everywhere (including inside potholes) to pick up even ghost passengers.

I leave work when the sun has long gone to bed so heat isn’t usually my cup of tea when I’m going home. But you see, waiting sometimes forever at my first connecting bus stop for a bus to come, only for it to be so already cramped that I have to squeeze myself in the middle of potentially smelly people is a death wish in itself. Most of the time, going home means hopping on four or five vehicles to get from my office to my house.

When I get home? 🧠💀. Literally. I’m so knackered I’m more likely to fall asleep inside my plate of food, if I even remember to eat. Lagos commute is ever draining for me. Drains my energy and will to load me with tiredness that’s beyond me. I hardly ever remember to return calls when I commute or even messages 😩! I always get people telling me, “You just forgot me”, “You didn’t even check up on me”, “Hello stranger”. I sincerely believe that that tiredness that overtakes me when I get home is uncanny.

Sometimes, I chastise myself and sit up on my bed at night, telling myself I’m going to call this person now or send them a message just to let them know that they’re on my mind. I wake up the next morning to see I didn’t charge my phone through the night.. then regretfully realising that I didn’t go through with the previous night’s plan, hence forgetting to plug my phone in overnight 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Then it’s morning and my phone is sometimes going off the hook with messages from people and I’m just cringing at not being able to message them back to say, “Hey, I’m engaged rn. Leave a message.” But then, if I message every single one of them back — you know how engrossing chatting can get 🙄 — I’ll end up getting distracted from my deliverables for the day.

The sad part is, this is my reality and all that stress is part of my life. I recently saw a Twitter post shared on Instagram where someone attested that “Adult friendships are hard. Everyone is busy and life happens”. But he also dropped a wisdom nugget which I’ve mentally adopted for a while now: texting people when you’re thinking of them and how it goes a long way. Like I said, it’s still a “mental” process for me 🙊. I’m learning.

Unless you have special circumstances that don’t afford you the opportunity to say no to that stress, at the end of the day, it’s left to you 🤷🏾‍♀️. But the reality is that so long as the person or people you’re going through all of that social stress for is/are worth it, that should be enough peace for us busy folks 🌝. Don’t waste your precious time on those whodon’t actually matter.

The Royal Wedding 😻: My Thoughts & What Changes?

Since my faithful Suits days, I’ve been a fan of Rachel Zane and Meghan Markle. Since I first saw Prince Harry’s charming smile, and his full ginger head in comparison to brother William’s *coughs* balding *coughs* head 🙊, I’ve loved him, his not-your-regular-waves-and-smiles royal self, and his humanitarian efforts!

The first time I saw the news of Harry and Meghan seriously dating, I was like 😧!! How did that even happen?? They aren’t from vastly different worlds, seeing how they’re both celebrities in their rights. But how did they even meet???? I was stunned more than I can tell.

Fast forward to when they decided to announce that they’d be getting married. I was like, back up.

What/Who is Ella, Emmanuella?

While writing my last blog post, I don’t know who sent me to go and look up my name on Urban Dictionary 😩. Here are some screenshots:

The only thing inaccurate about his definition is the insecurity. And I don’t “make sure people are there for me” 🙄. I don’t expect people to be there for me, but I will be there for them regardless 😘☺️.

Oh, I don’t have green eyes. They’re as brown as these ones: 👀.

What is inaccurate about this one 🧐? Again, the insecurity. What is it with the Ella’s these people know and insecurities 🤔?

I don’t get angry easily 😕.

Kooky? 🙄 Really? Lord and only Lord and oh, wait, my lost diary sessions since my laptop crashed (😩) know the truth about that one 👀. Bizarre 🙄? Talks too much? More like laughs too much 😂😂.

By the way, aside from whatever anyone says your name means or connotes, you define you; not anyone or anything else, not some algorithm somewhere. Don’t let things, circumstances or people define your identity for you 🤗.

In the interim, please, gaan shehk your name on Urban Dictionary and let me know what it means according to pop culture 😂!

Why Do We Blindly Feel the Need to “Match Up”?

I don’t know if it applies to every single one of us, or some people are actually fortunate enough to never have felt the need or urge to match up someone else’s standards — or society’s standards.

Me, you normally wouldn’t find me trying to match or beat someone else’s game because I thrive on being weird and odd 🙊. But that’s not to say that I have never felt that urge to push myself to be on par with someone else.

Once, I so badly wanted to show my fellow everyone that something from my book of designs could become a reality that I engaged the services of a tailor that made me question my friend’s life choices, since she recommended the tailor. The outfit was so horrid, I had to saw through the bottom with a pair of scissors and hand stitch the hem back in 😩. Ended up wearing a really short dress (thankfully, covered in a black chiffon overlay) that could barely contain my small chest to a formal dinner 😓.

However, what I have an issue with (I’m talking from personal, very recent and now seemingly indefinite experiences) is matching up with someone’s standards, without evaluating certain things.

Why are they doing what they’re doing? Why are they doing it in that way? What are they getting out of it? Is that their lifestyle? Is it convenient for them? Is it a temporary thing or is that their life, in reality?

There are so many questions we don’t ask before jumping to the conclusion that someone is “doing more” than us, therefore, we need to meet up or be at par.

I’ve noticed from my experience of people trying to “match up” with me, that they unconsciously empower me to control their lives. Seriously, when you subject your lifestyle and life choices to other people’s standards, and to match their life choices or lifestyles, you are empowering them to control and govern how you live your life.

I’ve watched people whom I just started getting to know go from complaining about having to do certain things to start doing those very same things just because they found out those are the things that I happen to be doing. And these same people would’ve sworn that they absolutely could not do those things because of how inconvenient it would be for them. But get one thing: they never asked me why I do those things, and ever so frequently and naturally.

Why do we blindly follow in others footsteps?

If they have a child today, whether you’re ready or not, you decide to have one just because “s/he’s having a child”. If they decide to take up residence at the new estate in the city, you decide your house needs an indefinite break from you while you cosy up in one in that new estate. If they decide to start sleeping for 3/4 hours, you decide that you’re sleeping too much! If they decide to buy a new car, you don’t even listen to your account’s wails before you throw a mental party for your new car 😀!

With every step they take in living their lives, you’re trying to hop onto the same step without considering what you’re doing, if it’s right for you and if it’s necessary!

Who is this “they” that you’ve unconsciously given so much ascendancy in your life that they unwittingly dictate your life? Oh, wait. That’s even assuming they haven’t noticed that you’re reshaping your lifestyle and life choices to match theirs 😮 and maybe even deliberately making some adjustments!

Don’t compete with anyone, try to match up with anyone, inconvenience yourself or recalibrate your life just to “meet up” to anyone’s standards or lifestyle, especially if your motive is simply to “be like them”, or “do what they’re doing”. You both lead two separate, distinctive and unimaginably customised lives. They (both lives) were not made to be photocopies.

Do you 🤗♥️!