The Rock Bottom Experience
I was recently listening to someone share their story of how life dealt them such a hard blow and at some point they doubted if they would even make it through alive. I smiled when this person said “you’ll never know what it feels unless you’ve been there.” Yes, I smiled because while some of us do not look like the burns and demolitions we survived and have overcome, I know exactly what that rock bottom experience feels like. I have been through it and so many people have been there in life as well.
One thing is certain in life, each and every one of us will experience something tragic at some point. It’s an experience I will not even wish on my worst enemy. When all hope is lost and you think you will not make it. It’s the lowest, breaking and humbling experience you’ll ever know and if I choose to share it on paper, you’ll be looking at thousands of pages to read. Here’s one of the things I learned through those painful experiences and even the ones yet to come in the future, they drew me closer to God and made me realize that I was so dependent on the strength and words of men. My whole life was centered on the people and the external structures and systems that I have created to help me do life well. I was wrong, very wrong in my thinking and processing of life because the arm of flesh will fail you. (Read Psalms 146:3 and Jeremiah 17:5-9.) In my heart and mind, I always believed people honor their words and promises like I do, but I will learn the hardest way that the only true word I can trust and build my life on was God’s word.
Only the power and strength of God can hold you and give you that security you desire in life. It is God’s power that will cause another human being to bless you or favor you. Only God can touch the heart of a person to intervene and not harm you. Look, He shut the mouth of Lions so Daniel’s life will be spared when a man condemned him to die. (Daniel 6:22) So, do you get my point now? You hit rock bottom because you are depending on the strength, resources and honor of men. If you are experiencing the rock bottom life, please do the reverse, draw closer to GOD and focus on God, and ask Him for His strength and power to come out of that situation. You will come out of it a different man completely because your dependency and sufficiency will be of the Lord, the creator of the entire universe. (2 Corinthians 3:5)
I pray Psalm 40:1-3 AMP for you this week.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
I decree it is so and so it is in Jesus’ name. AMEN!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
Declarations for June 2024
Welcome to the second half of 2024 and yes indeed, this is how far the good Lord has brought us. I’m still holding on to my promise for the year, that the Lord will be my exceedingly great reward. No matter what it looks like, that promise has to remain true and speak so loudly. In all honesty, the first half of the year looked like the promise God made is completely dead but here’s a word the Holy Spirit laid in my spirit for this new month which is from Job 14:7-9 NIV;
“7 ...there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.
So I declare that in this new month, anything that was supposed to bring us life that seems to be dead or is dying, may the Lord revive it again and perfect all His promises concerning our lives. I declare it is so and so it is in Jesus’ name. AMEN!
XOXO,
Lady Abena
Ask For What You Want
Just a week ago I interviewed a young lady to hire and train her for my client. It’s her third month in the USA and this will be her first job in this country. She had such a rich experience from her home country and other countries she’s worked so I decided to hire her. When I asked her what she would accept for compensation, she stated that whatever we decide to pay her will be fine with her. I smiled, because I knew where that was coming from. I knew she was being humble or just thankful to get a job or just afraid that she would be asking for too much or could be the lack of confidence that we all experienced as new immigrants in this country.
I asked her to tell me an amount and after what seemed like the hardest thought she came up with a number. So, I told her my story of when I landed my first job almost two decades ago when I stepped on the shores of the United States. I was a front desk agent and I had the greatest opportunity to meet all kinds of people coming to the Washington DC area. I was checking in this man and he had the most beautiful gray eyes I’ve ever seen. He was so impeccably dressed and yet so humble and polite. I complimented him that he had such beautiful eyes and he smiled so heartily. He started to ask me where I came from and all those questions people kindly ask because they notice you’re “not from here.” We had a lengthy conversation and luckily he had arrived earlier than the usual check-in time so the lobby was not too busy. I found out he was very well accomplished in business and was in Washington, DC for some meetings. He shared a lot with me about navigating life in the USA and one of the pieces of nugget that stuck with me was when he said this;
“Don’t ever be afraid to ask for what you want because life will always give you what you demand of it. Build yourself with knowledge and skill but confidence will take you farther than your skills and talents in this country. Most importantly, never sell yourself short…”
Dear friends, this wisdom that was shared with me so many years ago has helped to shape my life and thinking in the USA. So, after sharing my story with the “newbie”, I asked her for the last time to tell me how much she’d like to get paid. This time, she asked for a higher number which she believed was commensurate with her experience. I told the HR director to offer her the full amount we had budgeted for the position which was a bit more than what she asked for.
I also remember a year ago, one of my best friends was offered a job in another state and she shared with me how much they were paying her. I drafted a compelling email and told her to send it to the HR person asking her to increase the offer. She was a bit hesitant and thought what if they rescinded their offer completely that she was asking for too much. She was even advocating for them that she did some research and in that state, the offer she received was in alignment to her position and her license. I told her to trust me on this one and send the email to the company. She did send the email and within minutes, she received a call from the HR person making her a counter offer which was much higher than she was willing to accept earlier. She was so overjoyed and told me that she owed me her first paycheck. She spent it on a beautiful Christmas present for me.
I share this as a testimony and also a reminder that when God said to ask and we will receive, He meant it. Matthew 7:7-8 AMP;
““[a]Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.”
I pray for you that as you end this month of May, may the good Lord give you the boldness to ask for what you desire and deserve and when you do, may He answer your request. AMEN!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.