What’s Your Place Of Operation?
2023 has been a year that has challenged my mental and emotional capacity at every turn. I kid you not that so many times this year I have hit breaking points in my life. Only my shower stall and pillow can bear witness. My shower because that’s where I scream and let out my cries and pain to God, and my pillow because it knows everything that is boiling inside my head. I’ve had to confront past experiences, most of which were very traumatic in nature. When you’re forced to take an inventory of your life or tell your stories that you’d rather not tell, which I have done a lot of this year, you’ll either be happy or angry. Whatever the result, you’ll be forced to make a change. Some of these changes can be so major and some minor. Irrespective of it, change is necessary and needed.
I’m one who is growing in my intimacy with Christ daily. God’s healing comes in different forms. Believers somehow think that like a wind, the Holy Spirit will wipe out all your experiences and you become this brand new person. If you’ve been told that’s how it works, I’m here to tell you something different. You’ll have to dive into the mud so Christ can bring you out as gold. Healing for most people is a journey, filled with pain, joy, forgiveness and self-awareness. For others, it’s an instant game but, if you don’t fix the source that created the issues, they have a way to grow back into your life again. What God does is, He perfects everything that concerns you and that is not an overnight agenda because those experiences did not happen overnight. He transforms your mind, your heart, opens your spirit to see what you did not know and then gives you wisdom to make the right choices to correct the situations.
I was speaking with my best friend today and she shared something so profound that the Holy Spirit had told her this week. She was so frustrated with a situation involving an individual and the Holy Spirit told her that “the person you're dealing with is operating from the place where he or she currently is”. In other words, when you know better and someone is acting or treating you from a low place, it means that is exactly where they are in life - a low place. You have a tough decision to make, either you bring yourself to their level to make them happy, try to make them see things your way which could result in an escalated conflict, or set your boundaries and protect yourself and your space. You have to love God, He always brings perspective which helps you to make the right decisions.
My question for you this week is where are you operating from? Are you adding value to people's lives or taking away from them? Are you asking God what your assignment is in the life of anyone you associate with or you’re just treating that person from the place where you currently are in life? My desire in this season of my life is to pursue God’s heart, experience that peace which transcends all human understanding, fulfill my God-given purpose on earth and be a blessed and favored vessel that the Lord can use to bless His kingdom. If that is also your desire, then declare with me that it is so and so it is in JESUS’ name. AMEN!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
Time And Chance
Ecclesiastes 9:11 NLT
“I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.”
I have shared with you my love affair with the book of Ecclesiastes. I know many believers have their different takes on this book in the bible but hey, we all look at life from the perspective of our lenses. This scripture is loaded with the answer to everything that keeps you awake at night and makes your life miserable sometimes. Have you tried taking an inventory of your life and the lives of those around you and sometimes you feel like you missed your path maybe? Or you see people you know whose lives were destined to be great but somehow you wonder what happened? Sometimes it seems as if having so much education only makes you poor when we were told it was our pathway to success and greatness.
To reiterate what the Teacher said, “nothing really makes sense under this sun”. People can start out poor and become great. Someone can start out great and end up in a meaningless life cycle. There’s no straight arrow to life except that when God intervenes in your affairs, “Time and Chance” will find you. His mercy gives you what you don’t deserve and I know a scripture that says the Lord will lead you into prepared blessings. Psalms 31:19(TLB). For some of us, the love of God plus our own self-discipline has given us ‘Time and Chance.”
I pray for you this week that you will find peace in this race called life. That the hand of the Lord which can move a man from prisoner to prime minister overnight will do the same for you. Where you have been delayed in life, may you experience a supernatural speed. I declare it is so and so it is in Jesus’ name. AMEN!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
The Fruit Of Self-Control
Proverbs 25:8 ESV says that “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” In other words, when your defense structures and protection have been demolished. Any and everything can enter you and destroy you.
What is Self-Control? The Oxford Language dictionary defines Self-Control as “the ability to control oneself, in particular one's emotions and desires or the expression of them in one's behavior, especially in difficult situations.” If you live in this cosmos called earth, surrounded by people, institutions and structures, now or later, people, systems, things and processes will poke your patience and emotions at every angle. The grace to be able to stay firm, calm and collected in all situations can only come from the Holy Spirit. It takes strength to remain quiet when the expected reaction is for you to scream and yell. It takes courage to be walking through the valley of the shadow of death and not topple out of balance. It just takes guts to live among people and still rise above everything they will throw at you. I look at self-control as holding a remote control to myself, pressing the buttons, managing my emotions and reactions and all situations.
That grace, courage or strength to keep yourself and emotions in check, only comes from God. So I pray for you as I do for myself daily, that the Lord will continue to pour His Spirit on your life and cause you to produce good fruits that will draw many to Him. I pray it is so and so it is in Jesus’ name. AMEN!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.