God TESTS us, and unlike temptations which come from the enemy to make us sin, Tests from God act as refining or purifying processes with the intended aim of building character, patience, perseverance, subsequently leading to perfection and completeness.
True children of the Father are just as kind, forgiving, generous, good, just as He is.
Welcome back!
In “At Crossroads.. :Blogpost 1“, we established that crossroads are a part of life. Crossroads are not bad in themselves but because we often would need to make crucial life-changing decisions at such points, crossroads must be managed carefully and delicately.
But how delicate is good enough? How do you delicately handle the decision of who to marry for instance? Are there guidelines for a Christian in making life decisions?
A portion of my children’s daily confession reads; “I have the spirit of the Lord; the spirit of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, might and the spirit of the fear of the Lord”
And honestly, they already astound me with some of their decisions and outlook on issues that impact on their young life.
I was recently at a crossroad and needed to make a life-changing decision. So I prayed and waited for a response from The Lord, but got none. Then I started trying to work things out for myself. Again, nothing worked. I knelt down another morning and prayed again; and The Lord gave me an answer of peace which am gonna share here.
We did not drop down to earth from nowhere. I am certainly not an outcome of some evolutionary process. I am made by Jehovah, in His image and according to His likeness. I am fearfully and wonderfully made to fulfill a specific purpose in a specific space and location (Psalm 139: 14-16).
So if I am made by Jehovah, who has my plan and purpose completely figured out from when I was in my mother’s womb, if I ever get to a point in life where I do not know which direction to turn, who should I turn to?
Jesus boasts of Himself as ‘The Good Shepherd’. A shepherd with an awesome sense of responsibility. A shepherd who is committed to leading us in the path of life and righteousness (Psalm 23, John…) .
Additionally, the Lord Jesus Christ promised and sent us the Holy Spirit; the Teacher of all truths, to guide and lead us according to God’s will, plan and purpose.
So beloved when at Crossroads realize:
Quickly, I share with you a scripture The Good Lord gave to me at my recent crossroad; Hebrews 10: 36
“For you have need of patient endurance {to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising}, so that when you have carried out the Will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.”
So imagine being in a difficult situation where the only thing that makes sense is to RUN and The Lord sends you Hebrews 10:36 or 1 Peter 2:19!!
“For this finds favor, if a person endures the sorrow of suffering unjustly because of an awareness of the will of God.” 1 Peter 2:19
Look at Hebrews 10:36 again, what do you see? I see 3 important things;
(i) The Will of God
(ii) The Promise
(iii) Patient endurance.
And I can tell you, this part isn’t interesting! Naaa. But then, what I find with patient endurance is Maturity and great resilience. And I truly love those 2 attributes.
Who knows the Will of God? Can anyone know the Will of The Lord? How do I know if am doing the Will of God?
Let me show you how to know the Will of God….
“For whoever does the will of God (by believing in Me and following Me), he is My brother and Sister and Mother.” Mark 3:35
So as a Christian, if you believe in the Lord Jesus and follow His teachings, you are unlikely to be out of God’s will. And again, you have the spirit of The Lord and His Word always. So Always, you can know the Will of God if you just seek it.
The question then is not ‘can anyone know the Will of The Lord?’ The question should be; ‘Do I accept and do the Will of God?’
I can tell you that the Will of God may not always seem glamorous, nice, attractive or trendy. For so many months, I held discussions with The Lord arguing about how I wouldn’t marry my hubby many years ago. My reasons? He wasn’t good-looking enough! {By the way, my hubby brags himself as very handsome 🙂 }. But I can tell you now, that we are the best pair God ever put together! And someone recently stopped both of us and innocently remarked that my hubby is now good-looking than I 🙂
So the Will of God may not make sense to us, but remember, no one is Wiser than God is. So trust and Obey. 🙂
Matthew 13;43 tells us;
“Then the Righteous (those who seek the will of God) will Shine Forth (radiating the new life) like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father. ”
My prayer for you today is that you would seek God’s Will at the Crossroads of your life. For only then will you truly experience peace and be fulfilled.
Remember that God created you for purpose, find His Will and trust Him to accomplish it. He is committed to it. He is a Good Shepherd. Follow Him, practice patient endurance and you will not miss the Promise.
My love always…..
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The Book is available in two formats; kindle and paperback. It is also available for order online from all amazon market places, meaning that the Amazon shop in your neighborhood should be able to supply you.
A few days ago, a senior colleague engaged me in an interesting discussion. He thinks I am a ‘really nice person‘ but he’s concerned that I might struggle in big leadership positions in the future if I continue being so nice.   Hmmm.
My response didn’t help him at all. I tried to remind him of times (in the recent past) when I have been described as high-handed by people in our organization. I have tried being autocratic, being democratic, and I think am finding a balance. He didn’t think I’ve found any balance. In his opinion, I am tilted too much towards democratic leadership.
Reminds me of something someone said to me in my university days; ‘don’t be too sweet or you’ll be leaked out of existence’. Another person made me pull out my dictionary when she said; Grace you’re unassuming/ you have no airs’.
Not too long ago, it was my birthday, and of all the many calls and goodwill messages I received, a particular phone call did touch me deeply. A colleague called and said to me; ‘wow! you’re being celebrated everywhere.I just had to call you today. You are such a nice person and all these celebration of your birthday is simply a response to all the love and care you give out’.
I have to say that apart from my husband’s birthday message to me this year, and yes, my little 5+year old spent the night making different birthday cards for me, 🙂 , this lady’s message was God’s special gift to me. Why so?
There was a time in my life, not too long ago, when I would recite Galatians 5:22, that; “The fruit of the spirit is fully evident in my life; I have love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, gentleness and self-control”.   I so much wanted to communicate God’s love to others through my decisions, actions and interactions.
My husband tells me I have grown/matured  🙂
Yeah, I can see areas where more changes must happen in my life, but I am so glad that God’s spirit is at work in me and the fruit of the spirit is becoming evident for others to see and testify.
So I have chosen to see the positives in what my senior colleague said. I’ll continue to love and show kindness. I’ll be firm when I need to be but still do it in love. I’ll make greater progress (by the Spirit of God) in exercising self-control, patience and gentleness. But I do not want to be anything else than what God wants me to be.
I believe the word of God in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, which says; that love conquers all things and love never fails (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8).
I can never be too nice for the Spirit.
I will be considerate, sensitive, show empathy and still be courageous, brave and confident. #Nice/Tough.
