The Trouble Is, You Think You Have Time (Tomorrow Isn't Guaranteed)

 Sunday 12th March 2023

Hey y'all, I hope you are well. I know I haven't posted this month so I wanted to start by saying Happy New Month!

I promised God I'd post today and after some procrastination I'm finally here. I've procrastinated on doing things for God lately which is terrible. I'm not going to sit here, lie and say my relationship with God this week has been a walk in the park. It hasn't. 

And normally I wouldn't admit it but I can't be a hypocrite. I don't like posting my struggles. Sometimes you have to. It is what it is. 

I don't procrastinate with anything else. It's mainly with God. It's something I'm definitely working on.

 I wasn't supposed to leave this until this late, I was meant to do it earlier but I put it off.  Lately my walk with God hasn't been the best.  I don't want to go into it but I told myself something when I said I wanted to do this tomorrow instead of today.

"Tomorrow isn't guaranteed"

I pondered on this for a while. It's also what gave me the inspiration for this post. It was originally supposed to be about gratitude and why you should be grateful. I'll leave that until next time I am here.

I recently started a new series on the 5th of February about how you shouldn't be discouraged as patience is a virtue. In retrospect, it's not really a series but then again, I'm not sure how many parts it will have.

After the post about gratitude, I'll go back to the post about discouragement. For now though, here is today's title.

The Trouble Is, You Think You Have Time

It's a quote as well, by Jack Kornfield. I didn't come up with the title.

Yeah, I know it says Buddha. Apparently Buddha didn't say it, Jack wrote down an interpretation of Buddha's teachings in his book. I'm not going to go into it as this is about Christianity. I don't know anything about Buddhism.

Remember the "tomorrow isn't guaranteed" quote from earlier?

It's going to be a subheading.

It's also not the first time I came across it this week. I came across it yesterday when I watched a YouTube short on someone asking people if they would rather have a million pounds today or a penny that doubles every day for 30 days? 

Some people said why they chose their answer, others didn't. It wasn't mandatory.

The results were half. Some said a million pounds, others said the doubling penny, as 30 days later, they'd have more than a million pounds. They'd have precisely £5,368,709.12, assuming they could wait 30 days. 

If it was me, I think I could wait 30 days, but if I need the money desperately, perhaps I could wait less.

Someone's response was 1 million pounds today, as tomorrow wasn't guaranteed, let alone 30 days. I was like 'wow', and I knew people from the comments thought the same thing as they thought he was a wise person. He had fantastic discernment.

Today will begin with Luke 12:15-21, which is the parable of the rich fool. I have referenced it below in NIRV. It's the version I use.

15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has.”

16 Then Jesus told them a story. He said, “A certain rich man’s land produced a very large crop. 

17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them. 

19 I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” ’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish man! Tonight I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “That is how it will be for whoever stores things away for themselves but is not rich in the sight of God.”

In summary, there was a rich man who had a lot of crops and wasn't sure what to do with it. He wanted to make larger barns and take life easy, not realising the same day was the day he was going to die.

He didn't know what to do with his wealth, just like I wouldn't know what to do with a million pounds. I most likely wouldn't use everything, I know I wouldn't. It's too much. It's as they say, more money, more problems.

I remember this verse being analysed in Bible study, in my home church. Someone thought it was a bit harsh for God to say the man was going to die for just thinking. As in the rich man didn't act on his plans, he only thought about them.

Whether it's harsh or not, it makes sense. It was a punishment. Bear in mind the rich man didn't thank God for anything. He didn't say 'God, thank you for my wealth.' He just thought of what to do with his wealth.

Romans 11:29 says God doesn't take back his gifts. If you're sinning or misbehaving, yeah God will chastise you as he chastises those he loves (Hebrews 12:6). But he wouldn't take what he's given from you, even if it feel like he has. Unfortunately, that's on you, not him.

I'd say I'm pretty multitalented. I can write, dance (ish) and play keyboard. I don't really have any other talents. Hobbies, yes. Talents, no. These gifts will never be taken away from me, not even if God is mad at me. It's the same for you.

You have to keep practising your talents daily or consistently otherwise you might forget them. I know I've forgotten some piano songs I used to know which is my own fault. I think another reason God took his life away from him is because of Proverbs 10:2-5.

2 Riches that are gained by sinning aren’t worth anything.
But doing what is right saves you from death.

3 The Lord gives those who do right the food they need.
But he lets those who do wrong go hungry.

4 Hands that don’t want to work make you poor.
But hands that work hard bring wealth to you.

5 A child who gathers crops in summer is wise.
But a child who sleeps at harvest time brings shame.

For the Bible to call this rich man a  fool, it suggests that he got his wealth by sinning.  I recently analysed Proverbs 10:22 as part of my quiet time. Proverbs 10:22 says The blessings of the Lord bring wealth without painful toil for it.  My analysis was the following:

Just because someone is successful doesn't mean their success is from God. For instance, if success is causing you (a lot of) pain and stress, it's most likely not from God. What's for you will not pass you by. When God blesses you with something, it'll definitely be without pain.

I always like to say 'Just because the World approves of something doesn't mean God does'. It's true. I can name a few things that I know God doesn't approve of but the World does. 

I won't mention them but I know they exist. Some success has been gained illegitimately and will lead to destruction. It explains why a lot of successful people are unhappy. You can have it all but if you don't have God, you won't be satisfied. (Isaiah 55:2)

It was for a Proverbs Challenge on Facebook.

You can be inspired by successful people, no doubt about it. Jut ensure you're inspired by the right successful people, because like I said in my analysis, not everyone successful gained their success legitimately.

Even though the man didn't suffer any physical pain, his wealth was definitely ungodly for it to lead to his death. Going back to Proverbs 10:5, in a way, the rich man slept during harvest time. Instead of using his crops for good deeds, he decided to relax instead, thinking he had all the time in the world. He was clearly mistaken.

Normally I mention reasons why you shouldn't do something. As in, I'd do a certain number of points and explain them in more detail. Today will be a little different. I'm going to use three different verses, but one has three in one, so technically I'm going to use five. 

I've already dumped a lot of verses on you so I don't want to do anymore. On the bright side, you can learn new verses and so can I. The Bible encourages you to learn new verses (Deuteronomy 11:8, Proverbs 4:21-23). 

The verses I'm going to use are Psalms 90:12 , Ephesians 5:15 and the famous Romans 12:2. In that order.

1. Psalm 90:12 - Teach us to number each of our days so that we may grow in wisdom.

Our days are numbered, whether we want to admit it or not. One day we are going to die and there's nothing we can do about it. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 and Hebrews 9:27 mention how there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes) and how it is appointed for man to die once and then the judgement (Hebrews).

The only thing certain in this world is death and taxes, according to Benjamin Franklin. It's a pretty popular saying.

As much as I hate to admit it, one day there will be a funeral and it will be yours. I don't mean to be dark but it's true.

I'm not saying it to scare you, it was actually in a Sunday sermon. You don't know what happens at your funeral, or those after you. The dead hears nothing, knows nothing and sees nothing.

When God created you, he also had to think of the day you're going to die. The Queen for instance lived for 35,205 days (including her death day). That's an awfully long time.  She didn't know 300K+ people would show up to visit her coffin. She doesn't know anything because she's dead.

Your days are numbered, and sadly when it's time for God to call you home, it's exactly what he will do. Maybe you'll live for 25K days (nearly 70 years). Maybe 30K (just over 80 years). I'm not sure, I'm not God. 

Normally I use years but because the verse says your days are numbered, I figured I'd use days instead.

 As you go through the vicissitudes of life, I pray you grow in wisdom as well, amen. Don't waste your life doing nothing, or think you have time.  Vicissitude is my favourite word and it means a dramatic change in something, especially a bad one.

You can't predict the future! Some people's last days on Earth are today, maybe even this week and they have no idea about it. Don't be like the rich fool, who cared more about material possessions than God. 

It's most likely another reason why God said he was going to die the same day.

2. Ephesians 5:15 - So be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise, but live wisely.

Ideally, I was going to combine this with 16 and 17. When I saw verse 15, I knew it needed to be combined with verse 16 and 17.

16 Make the most of every opportunity. The days are evil. 

17 So don’t be foolish. Instead, understand what the Lord wants.

Ever heard the saying "you only live once"? I'm sure you have, because it's true. Once you die, there aren't second chances.

I'm aware some people have been back from the dead, as in they've been revived. However, I'm talking about permanent death. This is temporary death.

 Jesus raised millions of people from the dead in the Bible, for instance Lazarus in John 11:38-44. Live each day to your fullest because tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

So many people are alive one day and they die the next. Everyone around them is shocked, saying "what, I was just talking to them!" This can't be happening", or worst case scenario, they wish they were kinder to them.

They thought they had time with them.

And while they did, at first, it was cut short. You have to be kind to everyone. Some people's largest regrets are not being kinder towards someone before they passed away.

 A lot of people have an argument with someone and one of them dies before they can reconcile with them.

They thought they had time with them.

Ephesians 4:26 says you shouldn't let the sun go down on your anger. 

So forgive others as soon as you can because you never know when they're going to be taken away from you. Don't take people for granted and love one another, including your enemies (Matthew 5:44).

Don't overestimate time. If you procrastinate, stop doing it. If there's something you have to do, especially for God, do it now!

Occasionally God will tell you to do things at a specific time. i.e. if he wants you to share a testimony on Sunday and it's Monday, that's different. On the bright side, now you know you'll be alive on Sunday 😊💙

This is different. Sometimes God actually does want you to wait for things. Proverbs 19:2 says Desire without knowledge is not good, how much more will hasty feet miss the way!  I used this quote in an essay and it's stuck with me since.

Yeah, tomorrow isn't guaranteed but at the same time, don't take it out of context. Before you want to do something for God, ask when he wants you to do it.  He might say straight away, he might say wait. Either way, obey him.

The Bible resents foolishness. There are millions of verse on foolishness which I'm not going to go into right now. Just know most of them are from Proverbs. 

Proverbs 13:20 says "walk with the wise and become wise but a companion of fools suffers harm". 1 Corinthians 15:33 also says "bad company corrupts good character".  

The main verse I'm analysing says don't live like fools but live like people who are wise. These people don't take time for granted and you shouldn't either. 

3. Romans 12:2 - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I'm kinda whizzing through these as this is taking longer than I thought. Which is my own fault, I got distracted a bit. I also had to eat, but yes.

Worldly things are going to pass away, hence why God resents the world. James 4:4 says loving the world means you are an enemy of God. Being an enemy of God is the worst thing!  If God is your enemy, you're finished. I'm sorry.

When I say you're finished, I don't mean 'finished', finished. Then again, it depends on you. You can either make God your friend or your enemy. Thankfully, if God is your enemy you can make him your friend. 

Whatever you do, just don't leave it until the last minute. Don't leave anything until the last minute.

Even if you've lived a sinful or worldly life, I believe if you give your life to Christ before you die, you can make it to Heaven. Don't take my word for it, I might be incorrect. I read it somewhere a few times.

Something you should pray for is God's will for your life. When you pray, always add 'if it's according to your will'. For instance, you might want a specific job. Instead of asking God for the job directly, say

'God, if it's according to your will, please let me have this job'.

This way, you'll be less disappointed if you don't receive it. It simply means it wasn't God's will. Some things are God's will for you although not at the time you want. At the time he wants. Isaiah 55:8-9 says his ways are not our ways.

How does the world link to not wasting time? 

Because the time you're spending conforming to the world, you can use to follow Christ. This is for me as well, sadly I'm rather worldly myself. Don't try to fit in when you were born to stand out instead.

Why try to be like everybody else? You are you and that's your superpower.  

So many people could be wishing to be you, whether they admit it or not. Some people admire you silently.

I hope you've learnt something today, I'm quite tired. When I typed this sentence, it was 10:45PM. I started at 7:35 😅 it doesn't normally take this long but yeah like I said, I did get distracted a bit and I had to eat something.

This post made me kinda sad because I've never talked about death so much. It's true though, time is something so many people take for granted. Ensure you're not one of those people.

Until next time, bye!

Don't Get Discouraged - Patience Is A Virtue (Part 1)

Sunday 5th February 2023

Happy new month!

I promised God I'd post today so here we are! Normally he tells me when to post but today, I knew I had to make it up to him because of my absence.

I hope you've been well. I know I said I'll post every fortnight but to be honest I don't know if it's always possible. I'll try to do once a month though.

So the last time I was here (January 7th) I talked about how you shouldn't let other people's opinions define you. Today's one will be entirely different and was inspired by something that happened in my life. I don't want to get into it but I know I needed to talk about patience.

I couldn't decide the topic I wanted to do today, as in I was stuck between people pleasing and patience. People pleasing is kinda like last month's topic except not really. After speaking to God about it, I decided on patience and I can see why.

I don't really like admitting my flaws but impatience is my biggest one. I can be patient of course although sometimes it's harder than others. It's especially discouraging when you've started something way before someone else and they're prospering more than you. 

While you're happy for them, you can't help feeling hopeless at the same time because you're wondering if you'll ever be prosperous. I'm here to tell you slow progress is still progress and you shouldn't be discouraged.

Yesterday I believe, I was thinking about the story of the Chinese bamboo tree. You've most likely never heard of it before so let me explain it to you. Except I won't be doing the explaining. I got it from a website which I will reference below.

I've made things easier for you by changing colour so you know it's not in my words.

Chinese Bamboo Tree

The parable of the Chinese Bamboo Tree teaches us lessons about patience, faith, perseverance, growth and development and importantly… human potential!

Like any plant, to flourish the Chinese Bamboo Tree requires nurturing – water, fertile soil and sunshine. In the first year, there are no visible signs of activity or development. In the second year, again, no growth above the soil. And the third and fourth, still no signs. Patience is tested and we begin to wonder if our efforts will ever be rewarded.

Finally in the fifth year – voila! There is growth…and what growth it is! The Chinese Bamboo Tree grows 80 feet (nearly 30m) in just six weeks!

So the question is: 

Does the Chinese Bamboo Tree really grow 80 feet in six weeks? 

Did it lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth? 

Or was the little tree growing underground, developing a root system and a stable base strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond?

If the tree didn't develop a strong unseen foundation, it could not have sustained its life as it grew.

Just as a house needs to have a strong foundation to survive, the same principle is true for people, success and your speaking career. 

People strive towards their dreams and goals, building strong character while overcoming adversity and challenge, grow the strong internal foundation to handle success, while those who chase the “quick buck” are unable to sustain unearned sudden wealth. Remember the old saying: “Out of adversity comes opportunity.”

Like I said earlier, slow progress is still progress and the story of the Chinese Bamboo tree reinforces it. The was no growth for four years and on the fifth year, the growth was so rapid it was like the first four years didn't exist.

Who said progress is always quick? Who said success can't happen slowly? There are no shortcuts to success. You have to take the stairs.

It doesn't matter how long the stairs are. If you're seriously determined about something, the time it takes for you to accomplish it won't really matter to you. It's not justifiable for me to talk about patience without Biblical references so I'll mention some below. Don't worry, I'm getting to it.

For example, it took Noah 55-75 years to build the ark. When I researched it just now, it didn't give me a definite answer. Either way, I know it didn't happen overnight. It's rare for success to happen overnight although there are some exceptions, i.e. a very famous person producing a new song.

Noah most likely grew impatient especially how he had to build everything by himself. I know I would've grown impatient. 

If it was an instruction from God however, Noah couldn't disobey. No doubt people tried to discourage him or make him think he was wasting his time. Naysayers are everywhere. When God asks you to do something, don't ask how long it'll take. Ask how can I start?

So I'm going to mention 12 reasons why patience is important. I can't mention everything here so I will break it into two parts. The first part will be today and the second part will be later this month or sometime in March. We'll see how things go.

Because I'm a kind person, let me tell you all the reasons before I break it down further.

PART I

1. You can better focus on your long-term goals and dreams
2. It's a fruit of the spirit
3. You can make more rational and realistic decisions
4. You develop persistence and resilience
5. You have a better time learning and developing new skills
6. It allows you to be a better listener

PART II

1. You make others feel comfortable
2. You practice kindness and encourage others to do so too
3. You learn how to live a peaceful life, not a stressful one
4. Better mental and physical health
5. People will be attracted to you
6. It's a way to practice faith

I've recently developed a love for Roman Numerals 😊💖

Six will be today, the rest will be next time. I'll mention the website I got these reasons from as no way did I think of everything myself. I only thought of the second one myself.

Website 1

Website 2

Without further ado, let's begin.

1. You can better focus on your long term goals and dreams

This is a powerful one and I have a real life example.

So if you know, I'm writing a book. I finished it in September 2022 and I'm in the process of editing. I would've kept quiet about this but I post samples on WhatsApp once a month and I love posting samples.

On someone's WhatsApp story, there was a girl who finished writing a book in two weeks and she already had it published. She was around the same age as me. She had a hard copy of the book in her hand and I was thinking:

Wow, she started later than me, took shorter time than me and already has it published. I'm doing something wrong. I'm taking too long. I need to hurry up.

I don't even compare myself to other people like that but honestly, I was just stunned.

I'm sure the girl's book is fantastic. I haven't read it. I don't even know her personally but it made me think something was wrong with me. I wanted my book to be published quickly too until God told me to slow down. We have completely different destinies.

I think he reminded me of Proverbs 16:32

Better a patient person than a warrior,
    one with self-control than one who takes a city.

God said my story is going to be a bestseller one day and it's not something I can rush. What the verse is saying is it's good for you to be patient than be strong or mighty. He also reminded me of Proverbs 19:2

Desire without knowledge is not good—
    how much more will hasty feet miss the way!

There's a reason people say slow and steady wins the race. It doesn't say fast, frenzied and frantic.

 I'm not saying success earned quickly is bad, I'm really not. Success earned quickly is great and I wish I knew the secret.

I'm also not trying to show any jealousy towards the girl who had her book published after two weeks.  I'm very happy for her - she wanted something, worked hard to get it and it eventually paid off. I hope her book is extremely  successful in the future. 

What I am saying is doing something quickly isn't  good all the time. It's like playing keyboard. Just because someone is playing keyboard fast doesn't always mean they're playing it well.

I mean.. sometimes they are and that's insane. They're truly talented. I only play songs fast if a section is easy or I know it fluently enough to not make any mistakes.  I love saying it's better for you to take small steps in the right direction than for you to go quickly only for you to stumble backwards.

It's easy to think you're behind when someone on the same path as you is achieving success quicker than you. They don't necessarily have to be on the same path as you, maybe they're the same age or younger and they're doing more with their life than you are.

I'd also like to mention you don't always know what someone has done to gain success. Whether success was earned slowly or quickly, some success is gained illegitimately. i.e a billionaire could have done fraud and gotten away with it. You never know.  

What you have to remember is life is not a competition even if it seems like it is. It's also why I take millions of breaks from social media 😅 I'm not against it of course but it can affect your mental health if you're not careful.

Okay sure my book may be published way later but if God has told me it's going to be a bestseller, I can't doubt him. Besides I know it's teaching me patience. What Website 1 have said about this point is:

Back in December, I did a review of the Slay Your Goals Planner that I purchased and am still using.  Before the year even began, I was thinking about my long-term goals, and how to get there.  

Here’s the thing– I knew they were not going to happen overnight.  

In fact, much of the reason I bought the planner in the first place was to help me break down my goals.  When I have a minor setback or something doesn’t work the way that I planned, I can have the patience to say, “that’s ok. I’ll try something else.”  One of the benefits of being patient is that it helps you set and achieve your long terms goals.   

Website 2 didn't delve deeper into the reasons, it only mentioned them.

Unfortunately, looking back I don't think I'll get to all six parts today. I might have to break it into three or four parts instead.

It's good for you to set long term goals so it'll be easier for you to be patient. For instance, I said I want my story published by 2025 or earlier. Inevitably, I don't know God's plans for my life so it could be later - and speaking of, you shouldn't be discouraged if your goals are taking  longer than you wanted them to.

Remember Psalms 33:11

Psalm 33:11“But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”

Speaking of long term goals, I'm not talking about extremely long term, like what's going to happen 50 years from now. I won't hold it against you if you've planned out your entire life of course 🤣but it might be better for you to start with closer dates and years first. i.e. wanting to finish university with a first class and you're a university student.

On to the second point!

2. It's a fruit of the spirit

So this reason was invented by me, and you can find the fruits of the spirit overall in Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and peace. It is being patient, kind and good. It is being faithful 23 and gentle and having control of oneself. There is no law against things of that kind.

I normally use the NIRV Bible (New International Reader's Version) because it's the easiest version for me to understand. Occasionally NIV too, although mainly NIRV.

But yes essentially what this verse is saying is these are the qualities a true Christian has and is something all Christians should strive for.

These are contrasted with the fruits of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21

19 The result of sin’s control in our lives is clear. It includes sexual sins, impure acts and wild living.

20 It includes worshiping statues of gods and worshiping evil powers. It also includes hatred and fighting, jealousy and fits of anger. Sinful desire is interested only in getting ahead. It stirs up trouble. It separates people into their own little groups.

21 It wants what others have. It gets drunk and takes part in wild parties. It does many things of that kind. I warn you now as I did before. People who live like this will not receive God’s kingdom.

Verses 16 - 18 are powerful too however Verses 19-21 explain what the fruits of the flesh are while 16 -18 leads to it.

If you have patience in your life, it means you have a fruit of the spirit. Ideally, you should strive for all fruits of the spirit. Since this topic is about patience, it's why I'm emphasising it.

Two excellent examples of people who showed patience in the Bible were Job and Sarah. Job lost everything and did not sin by blaming God:

Job 1:22 - In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

I mean, wow! For someone to lose everything and not blame God, it's truly an accomplishment. Asking God why something happened isn't the same as blaming him. Certain things happen in life that need further clarification.

I'm not sure how long Job had to wait for everything to be restored back to him but I know he definitely had to be patient. At the end of the chapter, he received twice of everything he lost. I've referenced the end of Job 42 below:

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.

11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[a] and a gold ring.

12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.

13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters.

14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch.

15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

Job described as "full of years" in the last verse means he lived to a considerable age. I'm sure if he blamed God or was impatient, God wouldn't have blessed him at all, let alone twice as much.

I mentioned Sarah earlier and I'm now going to explain why. She waited 90 years to have a baby. I know the Bible calendar wasn't as long as today's one, otherwise Methuselah definitely wouldn't have lived to be nearly 1,000. 

Regardless, waiting 90 years is an incredibly long time. It's less than how long some people have lived for. Imagine starting something when you're let's say 20 and finishing it 90 years later. You'll be 110. Or dead - or you might not be able to finish it because you're dead.

I know if I had to wait 90 years for something, I would certainly not be patient. Sarah and Job both had patience and I know you can too. If it's hard for  you to be patient in situations, try being patient with people. You don't know what they're going through.

There's a song I know I like called Count It All Joy by the Winans. The Winans family is very large - a lot of people have the same surname. The chorus says the following:

Count it all joy

Even when it seems so hard to

God will never 

Give you more than what you can handle

Tough times is the best way for you to be patient because you know there's light at the end of the tunnel. There is a time for everything, which you can find in Ecclesiastes 3:1. 

Like the song says, God doesn't give you more than what you can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). Tough times happen in your life so you can become a stronger person and so God can teach you patience, because you're waiting for something good to happen.

Some tough times are blessings in disguise, for example rejection. Or if a strong Christian who suffered a lot in life has tragically passed away, you know they're in a place where there is no more suffering.

So yes, hang in there. Don't get discouraged - Galatians 6:9 highlights it.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

You can only reap a harvest if you're patient enough to wait for it.

3. Allows you to make more rational and mindful choices (on how to react to things)

I've decided to stick to three reasons per part. The number 4 bothers me (and 9), plus these posts take about two hours to write with no distractions.

What website 1 has said about this is:

This is a major benefit to being patient.  When you are overcome with emotion, you are not going to make very good choices.  Your brain can’t think straight – all it sees is the emotion that you are feeling which is temporarily over-riding your rational thinking.

You know how I said you should be patient with people and not only situations? Let me go back to it.

There's another song I know that has lyrics saying:

In life people will hate you
Do anything to break you
Don't let nothing faze you
Even if they forsake you
You go stand up tall
Na your enemy go fall
Don't fear them and believe in yourself

Make them no say that you shall pass

Make you look them in the eyes and say...

The rest is kind of in another language. But this verse I've referenced is 100% correct.  

People in life will hurt you. It's inevitable and expected. And certain people will undoubtedly be difficult to be patient with. If someone has wronged you and you're angry at them, it's easy for you to lash out.

Don't do this - the Bible is against it in Ephesians 4:26-27

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

In GIFs, don't be this:

When you can be this - and you should be this:

If you're the first one, you're kind of letting the devil have a hold on you. Yes, she's clapping her hands but she also looks like she's ready to fight someone. It's like she's clapping her hands sarcastically.

1 Peter 5:8 and John 10:10 says the devil is roaming around like a lion, looking for who to devour. 

Likewise, Ephesians 2:1-3 says:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 

3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

I'm also saying this because some people may be dealing with situations affecting their mood. They may be going through a tough time. You need to be kind to people always and I cannot stress this enough.

When Ephesians 2:2 says the devil is the prince over the power of the air, it means  he rules and possesses power to manifest evil in the world through influencing people and commanding demons. 

This can be losing your temper with someone and not really being patient with them without fully knowing what's going on. If you do know what's going on, it makes it worse.  For instance, someone you yell at for taking too much time to do something may be having a bad day or worse, is grieving.

 We should strive to be like Jesus at all times. It's why we're called Christians. Christians mean Christ-like.

You cannot act on your negative feelings because it'll do more harm than good.

That's it for today! I'm quite tired I'm not gonna lie 😴 but yes I hope you've learnt something for today. This will have 4 parts... I know - while I do hate the number 4,  I just realised it's a lose lose situation either way.

I'll hopefully see you next time and have a good week/month/year ahead. 💖💜 thanks for reading, bye!

Opinions Don't Define You

Saturday 7th January 2023

Happy new year! 

It's been a few months and I'm sorry for the inactivity. To be honest, with university and everything it's been quite hard for me to balance updating this website. God urged me to post today and I can see why. I haven't been on here since October. 

It's been so long my videos have stopped working completely. I'll work on that soon. I'm going to try and be more active and stick to my old habit of updating every fortnight.

With that said, I hope you have a fantastic year ahead and I hope this year is better than the last.  Everything this year will work in your favour in Jesus' name and when people hear about you, it shall be of good news and not bad news, amen.

Before we begin, as it's been a while, let me update you briefly on what I've been up to behind the scenes. I've written a book on Word, it hasn't been published yet but one day it will be.  I can't wait for you to read everything! Samples will be on WhatsApp only every 7th or 8th of the month (depending on how I'm feeling)

The title will be hidden for now unless you're lucky enough to read the whole thing. I've edited it so much I can remember people's lines. It has been extremely  stressful and I feel like I'll never stop editing.  

For instance the story is in third person, and there's third person limited and omniscient. Mistakenly, I've done both so I have to change certain chapters and scenes  to third person limited as it creates more suspense. It's not advisable to do both especially as a new writer.

It's hard work. It's enjoyable though. If you really want something to happen, go for it! You can do it, put your back into it!

Today's topic is about something a majority of people struggle with, which is caring what other people think. I struggle with this as well sometimes - and some of you might do too. I occasionally still do. Just know it's not something uncommon.

It's not impossible to stop caring, but it can be difficult at times. There are times where you do have to care what other people think of you, which I will get to later. Not caring doesn't mean you can do reckless or insane things, it just means you're not letting other people's opinions  affect you.

Some of the things I say on here won't be my own words. It'll probably be from somewhere else, and I'll make sure to credit it later. I'm essentially going to talk about why you shouldn't care about opinions. There will be five reasons overall.

1. If you deny Jesus, he will deny you

If you are ashamed of God, God will be ashamed of you.  Luke 9:26, Matthew 8:38

There have been times where I've unintentionally cared what other people think of me than what God knew about me. On Snapchat for instance, and quite recently too, God urged me to post and analyse Bible Scriptures and change my display name to jesusfreak123.  

I was hesitant when I heard this at first because I was caring what other people thought. I refused to listen to him, saying how no one really posts about Jesus on Snap and I was worried people would make fun of my display name. There's this group chat for my course and I was scared to say something on it because of my display name. 

After a while I did eventually change it and I started analysing verses on Snapchat. I felt so relieved, maybe it's just me but when you do something for God everything feels so relaxing, especially if you've been disobeying him for time. Do you know delayed obedience is disobedience?

I try to remind myself of it.. not always working, so it's a work in progress.

How many times have you done something or not done something because of what you think others will say?  The devil always tries to discourage you when you're doing something big for God. He can do this by speaking to you or vicariously through others. 

I've had some  doubts my story by wondering if it would really be published one day, or remain as a hidden draft, away from the world. There are so many rules on what to do and not what to do when writing it's hard to incorporate it.  

There have also been times where I've avoided posting certain things online because of what others will think, especially dance videos on WhatsApp. Like, I want to post them but I don't.

Going back to how Jesus will deny you if you deny him, remember Peter in the Bible. He denied Jesus three times, even though he didn't believe Jesus when he foreshadowed it. You can find this in Luke 22:54-62

54 Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance.

 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 

56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 

61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 

62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Peter wept bitterly because he knew he sinned. He knew he denied Jesus. I don't know if he suffered any consequences, however what Peter did isn't something uncommon.

 
Denying Jesus doesn't necessarily mean saying you don't know him in front of others, or fail to admit you're a Christian. It can mean disobeying him or failing to listen to simple instructions. This way, you are denying God through your actions and not your words.

Actions speak louder than words. It's one thing to say you'll obey God, it's another to do it. Ensure you obey God at all times! He knows what he's doing.

 No one knows you more than you know yourself

There's a saying I came across recently that says there will always be someone prettier than you, younger than you and smarter than you. But they will never be you.

Let me post it below.

Comparing yourself to others and wishing to be someone else is actually disrespectful to God because it kinda means you're not happy with yourself and you want to be someone else.

It's fine to admire something about someone and strive to be like them. 

The danger lies when you wish you were like them entirely. Sure they might be better off than you in all aspects, but if you want to be someone else, it means you're willing to trade everything about you to everything of that person. Do you seriously want that for yourself?

 I mean I know I'm not the prettiest girl, and to be honest I'm not sure I want to be. Though I may have some talents the girl prettier than me doesn't have, or wishes she did. Aside from God, no one knows you more than you know yourself. 

If you are comparing yourself to someone, it's probably because you don't have the full picture. The grass looks greener on the other side until you get there and realise it's all an illusion. Just like you most likely don't know everything about the person you're comparing yourself to (assuming you are), others don't know everything about you. 

Even if they did, they have no right to judge. A stranger's opinion of you doesn't define you. Only God's does.

Galatians 1:10 - Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man.

Some friends only like you as long as you fit their needs. As soon as you do something benefitting you more than them, they drop you. You may think there's something wrong with you at first until you realise:

Hang on a second, why am I annoyed at myself for doing something that makes me happy? It's not my loss, it's theirs. They left me as soon as I couldn't fit their needs anymore. How is any of that my problem? They're fake friends.

Or something alone those lines.

Kinda like believing rumours about you that you know aren't true yet you think they are because a majority of people do.

It's the same thing about people's opinions: Why am I letting someone who doesn't even know me make me feel bad about myself? Even people I do know, they don't know the whole me. They don't know the whole story.

I'm in favour of social media but occasionally it can make you feel like you have to be a certain way to fit in - hence why I was reluctant about posting about God at first on Snapchat.

Don't try to fit in, you were born to stand out. Why try to be a carbon copy of someone else? There is only one you, so embrace your superpower.

This links to the next point: If you care about opinions then you can't really be yourself

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. - Psalms 139:14

If you care about opinions, you are preventing yourself from being who you really are. You put on different facades depending on who you're with just so you can impress them or fit in.

Eventually, you'll become tired of these facades and wish to be yourself. With the help of God, you can stop caring what others think. It's not something which can happen overnight, it'll take some time, effort and praying. 

You can start by speaking to God and faking confidence.  One day, the confidence will hopefully turn real. 😊💖

I use this paragraph a lot, and there's a reason for it. The paragraph below is from  This Website

When God calls you to do something and people rise against you, attacking you, ridiculing you, making fun of you, or slandering you, don’t be discouraged or feel alone. They did the same to Jesus and His disciples. This is what Jesus Himself told His followers about this kind of treatment:

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” – Matthew 5:11-12

Your true self can love God and want to do anything for him, albeit if you care what others think, you're likely to change who you are. 

I'm not saying this is always true, as at times you may hide your relationship with God instead of outright disowning him. Or you may not even do anything. I'm guilty of caring what other people think too so this post isn't for you alone, it's for me too, trust me.

Another thing the same website said is this:

Jesus warns us many times that the enemy will, not might but will, use this tactic against us (discouragement and doubt)  but He also reminds us that “God is on our side”! If we hold true and do not break under the pressure, He will turn it toward our good and His glory in the end. In time, He will use the pressure to turn the ugly coals of our situations into diamonds and He will cause those that ridiculed you to see it and know that He is God and you are His child.

Like I said earlier, Satan will try to discourage you from doing something for God (John 10:10). Not saying it'll happen straight away, but it's likely to happen one day.

At times, he may not discourage you, more so tempt you instead. He wants you to be someone else to fit in with the world instead of being yourself. Don't listen to him, do what God wants you to do, regardless of what other people may say about you.

 It has nothing to do with you and more about the other person

At times, people have a negative opinion of you based on something completely unrelated to you. Perhaps they're jealous of you as you possess something they don't, or you remind them of someone they don't like. 

The possibilities are endless. I can't mention everything, but you should get the drift.

Whatever the reason, don't change who you are to get someone else to like you. If they realise it, they may resent you more for it. Unfortunately, some people's negative view of you will never change. 

Some people claim to "hate" you, yet they religiously watch your statuses every time you post online, or they stare at you a lot when you're not looking. They're deceiving themselves - they don't hate you.  They probably secretly admire you and are too scared to admit it. 

They may even have feelings for you, you never know.

Quite a number of people are rude to the person they have feelings for because they're in denial. I'm not sure why, it's not right... however, people deal with feelings differently.

People pleasing isn't right. It's better to be who you are and be hated than to be someone you're not and be loved. Jesus was himself and remember what happened. He was crucified.

The worst thing you want is someone liking you because of a façade you've put up. People's opinions of you can change, but God is unchanging, which links to the last point.

You can't please everyone and you shouldn't strive to. The devil tried discouraging me from writing my book because he said I'll have negative comments. Forget the haters, because somebody loves you.

If you don't have haters for doing something (fantastic), you're not doing something right. Not all haters are explicit, some are silent. Pray for God to remove them from your life.

Of course I will, all books do. Negative comments didn't prevent some books from becoming bestsellers, and turning into a series or a movie. If everybody likes a book, there's an issue. It's rather quite suspicious. 

How can a book make everyone happy? How can everything make everyone happy? It's not possible.

I've had my fair share of people who were rude to me. Okay sometimes I was actually rude to them first, however most of the time I was nice and I didn't do anything. 

What God knows about you is better and more important than what others think of you

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5

God knew you before you were born. He set out a destiny and purpose for your life.

So for me, goodness knows when I'm going to die and how long I'm going to live for... but God wanted me to be born July 9th 2002. 

Regardless of how I know what I want to do in the future, I know it won't be exactly how I planned it. God's path for me is different and far better than mine. Same for you. Jeremiah 29:11 and Isaiah 58:11 (my favourite verse).

When you want to do something, ask yourself why. Is it to please God or to get someone to notice you? To impress someone? When you do something, people see how but Heaven assesses why. Don' forget that.

God knows you longer than you've known yourself. He knows your strengths and your weaknesses. 

Some people have known you for years, yes, but they may not know everything about you. God does, hence why his opinion is more important than anybody else's.

It explains why people enter and leave your life. If your view of yourself was determined by someone else's view of you and they leave your life, you might be unhappy for a long time. 

God will never leave your life.

Sometimes you to have to care

I'm adding this here because I don't want you to go overboard. There are times you should take opinions to heart.

This paragraph was from Bible Reasons. I've mentioned what it says below.

When I say don’t care what others think I am not saying to live in sin. I am not saying that we shouldn’t be careful about causing our brothers to stumble. I am not saying that we shouldn’t listen to authority or to correction.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t humble ourselves and love our enemies. There is a way that we can go so far in the wrong direction with this that we can hurt our Christian testimony, we can be loveless, arrogant, selfish, worldly, etc. We have to use godly and wise discernment when we should care and when we shouldn’t.

If someone has a negative opinion about you that's not constructive criticism, then disregard them. If it is constructive then I think you should listen. An example of this can be:

Listen, you're a very sweet person, but sometimes I think you're too impatient with me. You always jump to conclusions and get mad at me when I don't reply within a specific time frame.

It's definitely a warning sign you need to improve if more than one person says the same bad thing about you. This means you should change your bad habits ASAP.

To be honest that's the only scenario I can think of where you have to care what other people think. When someone gives you constructive criticism. Also when you're making a huge decision about something - it'll probably be best to seek advice first before you do it.

Don't seek advice if you're not going to consider it. Because if others find out, they might wonder why you asked them in the first place.

That's all for today, I hope you've learnt something. I'll see you next time. Bye xx