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

Don't Wait For Opportunities To Come, Create Them!

 Saturday 1st October 2022

Happy new month! 😁

God wanted me to post sometime this week, which I was hesitant about because this is the last week of holiday before I got back to university in three days - so it's inevitably quite stressful. 

But what better time to post than the first of the month?

Before I begin, I just wanted to apologise for my inactivity. I know before I used to post every fortnight, now it's once a month or so. I'd only post if God tells me to do so. 

While this isn't a bad thing, it shouldn't be the only reason I post. You should always make time for God, not only when he tells you to do so. 

Another reason why I've been inactive is because I'm writing a book. 

From time to time, I used to write short stories on here which were linked to whatever topic I was talking about, so that gave me inspiration. I know  writing is one of my talents so I want to use it to glorify the Lord.

I've finished writing my book now, I just need to edit it for the 10th time 😓😆😅 I'm glad I wrote it too because I've learnt so many things about what to do and what not to do when writing a novel. 

One day when the book is published, I'll announce it and I'll let you guys now! I'm also going to do a sequel which I'm yet to plan. I've planned some parts of it though not everything. 

Speaking of, today's topic is going to be about how you shouldn't let your age prevent you from doing what you love. Or in other words, you shouldn't wait for an opportunity, you should create them. 

Other relevant topics will be incorporated, it won't be about this alone. Though it'll be the main thing, even if I don't talk about it fully or straight away.

 I didn't want to write a novel until after I finished university until I was encouraged to start now. 

While it has been fun, it hasn't always been a walk in the park. It's been hard and easy at the same time. There was a point before I turned it into a novel on Word where I was on writer's block for a very long time. 

I didn't have any ideas past a specific chapter, and I never thought I'd finish it - until God delivered.

I've replaced character names about 100 times and I've had to eradicate 20 pages and almost 10K words because they were redundant. So it originally had 448 pages and 113K words, now it has 423 and 105K words. Manuscripts have to be a certain way.

I haven't finished editing it yet so I know I'll remove more words.

Though it was enjoyable - if you have a plot and you know what you're doing, it's easier than if you have nothing planned. Then again some people work better without planning first which can rarely be me. I'll do an excerpt every 7th of the month until the book is published for real.

I started writing this post at around 2 in the afternoon but I'll probably be interrupted so it might not be posted until later, though anything can happen. So without further ado, let's get into it.

I preached this topic on Sunday in church so I  wanted to share with you guys again. 

I don’t normally preach since I'm really introverted but I wanted to share a topic on Sunday before I go back to university at least. In Jeremiah 4:1-10, God wanted Jeremiah to do something for him however Jeremiah was hesitant because he felt as though he was too young for God to use him. 

Let me reference Jeremiah 1:4-10 below.

4 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,
5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s body I chose you.
    Before you were born I set you apart to serve me.
    I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
6 “You are my Lord and King,” I said. “I don’t know how to speak. I’m too young.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I’m too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to. You must say everything I command you to say. 8 Do not be afraid of the people I send you to. I am with you. I will save you,” announces the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand. He touched my mouth and spoke to me. He said, “I have put my words in your mouth. 
10 Today I am appointing you to speak to nations and kingdoms. I give you authority to pull them up by the roots and tear them down. I give you authority to destroy them and crush them. I give you authority to build them up and plant them.”

A lot of Christians think that way, as in they're too young to be used by the Lord. 

But what you need to realise is  God can use anyone, irrespective of who you are or where you come from.

If you keep letting your age or maybe even situation prevent you from doing something for God, you’ll keep making excuses. God doesn’t make any excuses for us so we shouldn’t make any for him. At my home church my pastor said something which was delayed obedience is disobedience. 

I'll admit I did make some excuses as to why I couldn't post today, or on the day God initially asked me to, which was Thursday I believe though I can't remember from the top of my head. Then again, I was getting ready for university so it was inconvenient. It's not inconvenient today though.

Making excuses for God shows that you don't really value him. God doesn't want to be your top God, he wants to be your only God. Exodus 34:14 says God is a jealous God. God should be your only and number one priority, also as I keep reminding myself, delayed obedience is disobedience. 

At times there are instances where you do have to wait for something to happen. Proverbs 19:2 says desire without knowledge is not good - how much more will hasty feet miss the way! 

Sometimes God can tell you you're moving too quickly, for instance if you're making a very important decision, you'll inevitably have to slow down. And to preach on Sunday, I can't do it any other day of the week - so yes at times, you do have to wait to do an instruction, so don't think delayed obedience is always something negative.

God would rather have you obey him than sacrificing something for him.

Likewise, Hosea 6:6 says the following:

I want mercy and not sacrifice.
  I want you to recognize me as God
  instead of bringing me burnt offerings.

Which is similar to 1 Samuel 15:22

But Samuel replied, “What pleases the Lord more?
 Burnt offerings and sacrifices or obeying the Lord?
It is better to obey than to offer a sacrifice.
    It is better to do what he says than to offer the fat of rams.”

So why exactly does God prefer mercy than sacrifice? You could be making sacrifices for the wrong reasons, for instance you want to impress other people. But when God tells you to do something, that’s normally between you and him. 

At times you might tell other people an instruction God wants you to do, which there is nothing wrong with. Just don't boast about it or overdo it when you listen to his instructions.

Occasionally, your prayers aren’t answered because there’s an instruction God wants you to do which you haven’t done yet. When God told me to preach on Sunday, I was hesitant. I’m not a fan of public speaking so if I ever have to do it, I will run – unless I don’t have a choice. 

And I was trying to avoid it but it kept lingering in my mind. If you refuse to obey God, the incomplete instruction he wants you to do will stay in your head. Never think you are too young to do something. You can do it, put your back into it!

Many successful people wished they started what they were doing at a younger age. Before I started writing my novel, I had to follow a specific manuscript format. It was a prerequisite for me to indent paragraphs a specific way, which was confusing and difficult at first however I got the hang of it.

I additionally did some research on authors who started writing when they were young and/or still at school. I discovered many current authors wish they started writing when they were younger, and likewise many authors finished their first novel when they were in their 20s. 

So yes, don't wait for an opportunity, create them. I have examples of this from the Bible. God telling Noah to build an ark.

13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to everyone. They have filled the earth with their harmful acts. I am certainly going to destroy them and the earth. 

14 So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. 15 Here is how I want you to build it. The ark has to be 450 feet long. It has to be 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

 16 Make a roof for it. Leave below the roof an opening all the way around that is a foot and a half high. Put a door in one side of the ark. Make lower, middle and upper decks. 

17 I am going to bring a flood on the earth. It will destroy all life under the sky. It will destroy every living creature that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 

18 But I will make my covenant with you. You will go into the ark. Your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives will enter it with you. 19 Bring a male and a female of every living thing into the ark. They will be kept alive with you. 

20 Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will also come to you. And so will two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground. All of them will be kept alive with you. 

21 Take every kind of food that you will need. Store it away as food for you and them.” 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Noah didn't wait for the perfect opportunity for him to create the ark. He didn't say let me start when it is sunny or when the weather is bearable. The verse doesn't even mention the weather. Noah also didn't question God. 

We should strive to be like Noah and Abraham obedient to God's instructions and not questioning him when he tells you to do something.

Noah could've made umpteen excuses as to why he couldn't build the ark: inconvenient time, didn't have time, too time consuming... that's why you shouldn't wait for an opportunity. 

The 'right' opportunity can never come to you, and if it does, it could take forever. Who says the right opportunity will come quickly? What is it takes two decades?

Don’t worry if people criticise you for doing something for Christ, Jesus had enemies himself. People most likely criticised Noah for building the ark but he didn't let negative opinions get to him, and you shouldn't either. 

You only live once and life is too short to care about what other people think of you, especially strangers.

Matthew 5:10-12 says the following:

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
  for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

Another instance of people in the Bible creating their own opportunity instead of waiting for it can be found in Matthew 4:18-22

Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 

19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 
20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Notice how they all followed Jesus immediately and at once.  They didn't wait for the perfect opportunity for them to do so, they listened to Jesus instantaneously, also without questioning him. 

They didn't let them being in a boat affect them - maybe they were far from Jesus or were worried they'd fall in the water. They were also just preparing their nets, which could've been another excuse, preparing it may have been time consuming.

God can use anyone, hence why you shouldn’t judge other people.  Matthew 7:1 says judge others and you will be judged, plus when you’re doing so, it actually says more about you than about the other person, whether you realise it or not.

You don’t know anyone’s story or what anyone has been through and even if you did, it gives you no right to judge. 1 Samuel 16:7 says God focuses on the Heart than on appearance. Let me reference it below:

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Proverbs 31:30 goes on to talk about how charm is deceptive but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised. Charm is nothing if your intentions aren’t genuine. God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. 

So the message for today is age is just a number, don’t let your age stop you from achieving your dreams.  And don't wait for opportunity, create it.

On the other hand, there are some times where you have to be older to achieve something, especially if you need to finish school first. But if there’s something you want to do for God with no age restriction, go ahead and do it.

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.

Don’t focus on what others think, focus on what God thinks. This is because God’s opinion of you is never changing but others’ opinions of you can. Regardless, there are times you have to care: for instance if people are constantly pointing out a flaw about you, you should consider it.

“I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
 to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10

Jeremiah’s age didn’t prevent him from serving Christ so it shouldn’t stop you. Just ensure your reasons for serving Christ are righteous and holy. 

I pray that God will help you achieve your destiny and purpose in life, amen. Thank you for listening and that’s all I have to say. 

So I was able to publish everything at once. I also had problems with the font so apologies. Hope you've learnt something today and I promise to be more active. xx

Rejection Is God's Protection

 Sunday 15th July 2022

Hey, what's up?

So I've decided to change back to my original theme. Before I did, I was browsing through some other themes that I thought would look nice - until I saw it as a wallpaper on this website and relented.

I hope your week has been well, mine has. It was my birthday on Saturday and I had  an amazing time. Even better, I'm going to celebrate on the 25th with some of my friends from university.

25th is pretty late but then it's not really. It's the closest day we have available that's still in July.

God keeps telling me that he has a birthday surprise for me but the thing is it didn't come on Saturday. 

There have been events leading to the surprise but the surprise itself is yet to come. All the events have been fantastic. Especially the paid holiday leave on July 7th. I work at a warehouse and you can get paid for taking a day off. 

Sometimes you'll have to book this yourself but other times you'll receive a text asking you if you want one, assuming that there is one available. I think you need to have a specific amount of holiday hours left.

So today's topic will be called Rejection is God's Protection which I've decided to do because it's something everybody experiences and it happens naturally.

The next will be Stop Putting People on a Pedestal, which will be in the Pages section. I'm not saying that that'll be the next thing I talk about directly but it's definitely coming up.

The truth is, regardless of who you are in life, everyone experiences hardships. Even the wealthiest of people. Those from high positions of power aren't exempt from this either.

I'd be lying if I said that there aren't some people in life I have wrongfully thought were "perfect". 

Some people just seem that way. I recently thought that the Bishop for my university church, Dag Heward Mills, was perfect, just like I do with most Pastors. But Pastors aren't perfect even if they seem that way.

Reading Bishop Dag's books, I realised that he has had to put up with a lot of challenges and hardships being a pastor, for instance ungrateful people, people turning against him, people talking badly about him and then some. 

As I was looking for a new wallpaper, I came across I screenshot of something that I took on my phone quite a few months ago that's relevant to this, so therefore I'd like to share it with you:

 I can't remember what I typed to get this website as it was in mid April this year but I think I was to do with not focusing on others and focusing on yourself.

I don't even have LinkedIn. I barely have anything 😁 but yeah, I felt like this was important so I wanted to share it.

I'm not saying that it's wrong to focus on others but the danger lies when you wish you were them completely. Like I said, everybody faces rejection and you really don't know what's going on behind the scenes of anyone's life.

Another reason that I have decided to do this topic today was because I had already talked about it somewhere else. So I can just copy and paste my notes from there and expand on it. It saves me time, plus I have work tomorrow so I kind of have to sleep early either way.

However I promised God I would post today. My next free day isn't until Wednesday and even then I still have something to do.

So what are we waiting for? Let's get into it.

I am going to copy what I have already written on here and expand on it later.

It's in a different colour so that you know that I didn't write it today.

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Rejection is a common part of life and sometimes it may hurt more times than others. 

Maybe someone got rejected pretty badly by something or someone in the past - something/someone they really wanted, and they can’t get over it even if it’s been a long time.
Even Jesus got rejected by people, which you can find in John 15:18.

Everyone has dealt with rejection before, even the most put together people. Likewise, everyone has secrets that they’ll never share with anyone. I have one I know I won’t. I’m sure you do too, perhaps even more than one.

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

Also Isaiah 53:3

He was hated and rejected; his life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at him. We despised him and said, “He is a nobody!”

I had to double check that the verse was about Jesus and it was. 

Jesus may have been perfect but his life certainly wasn’t, as in his experiences. He came down to Earth so that he could have been like everybody living there.

Added sentence: For Jesus to still remain perfect despite everything that happened in his life really says a lot about him. I'm not sure when or where I said it but I said that a problem introduces you to yourself.

If Jesus can remain calm after problems then there's nothing stopping you from doing the same thing. Don't let the problems and vicissitudes of life get to you, including rejection.

The Bible also said that he “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7-10).

Jesus loved us so much that he didn’t just die for our sins. He became like us so that he could have seen how humans lived - and experience it for himself even though he had a choice.

Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘not everybody you lose is a loss’? Yeah, sometimes rejection could actually be a blessing in disguise.

Not everybody you lose is a loss because it’s during the worst time of your life that you see the true colours of those who say they care for you. Not just that, when people are no longer beneficial to your life, their true colours start to reveal themselves.

The people that have rejected me, I have seen both their true colours and I’m glad that God kept me away from them.

I mentioned some personal examples which I'm not going to do here as I don't really like indirecting plus I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings

Edited sentence: Rejection can cause you to see people for who they really were and you could even become grateful that someone or something rejected you. Almost everything bad someone says about you could be more to do themselves.

So when people criticise you, it could be more about themselves and what they don’t like about themselves that they’re projecting unto you.

After all:

Perhaps you’ve faced rejection lately and it’s something you can’t really get over. I’m here to tell you that rejection is God’s protection. Maybe the job you wanted so desperately would have made you very unhappy.

God forbid but maybe you would have been bullied. God could have been protecting you from anything - the possibilities are low-key endless.

You can lament or be unhappy over a rejection for as long as you like - don’t let anyone else tell you how to feel about something.

They’re not you: what’s not important to them may be very important to you and vice versa. Don’t invalidate anyone else’s feelings because they’re not feeling the way they’re “supposed to”.

Perhaps a really good school you didn’t get into would have had you stressing like crazy. Maybe you would have been involved in unnecessary drama 24/7, adding even more stress to your life, stress that you don’t need. And then some, there are so many examples.

Bear in mind that disappointments are God’s way of saying that he has something better planned. All you need to do is be patient and have faith. The Bible loves patience and talks about it in Proverbs 16:32.

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

And you might think ‘what’s better than so so and so’ or ‘what’s better than not getting so so and so’ but you’d be surprised.

So yeah, don’t be discouraged if you have been rejected. You also need to remember that The Lord sees beyond what we do. Maybe the person you wanted to be with would have made your life a living nightmare.

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Then another personal example.

Today I'm going to go in depth about everything, then mention signs that someone will come back into your life.

Sometimes God can cause someone to reject you, but then after some time, he wants them to come back into your life, as a bigger and better person. 

Maybe they realised they made a mistake, maybe not necessarily by rejecting you but from cutting you out of their life because they rejected you - if that makes sense.

In other words: they want to reject you for whatever reason, they reject you, you understand, you two stop speaking to each other, they're questioning if they made the right decision, they realise they made a mistake and they want you back in their life, as friends

Other times God wants someone out of your life and he wants them out for good. 

Even if he doesn't, you shouldn't dwell on the fact that someone might come back. Nobody knows God's will for your life unless you ask him, and unfortunately that might mean cutting contact with people you care about.

Inevitably, I couldn't have done all this work myself so I have done a little bit of further research to help me. I have used two websites on how rejection is God's protection:

https://www.tamarabunte.com/blog/rejection-is-god-s-protection

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Let’s talk about rejection, yuck! Nobody likes this word but now imagine it is a sign of something better to come for you 

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ~Romans 8:28 

I had a prospect approach me about doing some work for their company and I was excited because I knew that I could do a stellar job. 

When it came time to negotiate the amount of money they were willing to pay it was so insulting I would have preferred that they just asked me to help them out free of charge. I declined to take the job because I felt rejected.

 I just shrugged it off. One thing I know for sure, is that if you get rejected (by a guy, a girl, a company or a family member) the good news is God has something better for you. 

It’s like you’re being protected because God may take something from you that you may rightfully deserve, but he may take it from you to do a “trade up”. It’s kind of like trading in a leased car for the newer version. 

There is always something better! The company that rejected didn’t see my value by paying me what I was worth never did come back. To my advantage I was given other jobs that were 10x the amount and a fraction of the time and effort.

some bits cropped out

I’ve been told early on in my career that you are never paid what you are worth; you are paid based on how well you negotiate. 
So, I would ask you, what are you negotiating in your life? 

Are you settling for a relationship that you know isn’t really that great for the sake of a warm body and a full calendar? Are you negotiating (Trading time for money) even though you hate what you are doing? 

Are you settling for a lazy body because you’ve failed at every diet and thus gave up? Maybe you’re negotiating on someone’s faults and not recognizing their value and dialoguing over meaningless things.  

Let's negotiate for something even better!

One of the most powerful techniques in negotiation is certainty. It’s been said, “The power in all relationships lies in who cares less.” But I would argue that power isn’t happiness and sometimes it’s in caring more for another person that brings real joy.

So, if you’ve been rejected, just know that rejection is God’s protection and he always does a “trade up” in value.  It’s a mindset that will get you through life’s valleys, Keep your heart right in all things! 

It’s dangerous to put your faith in your circumstances, because your circumstances can change so quickly.  Set your mindset and know that it might feel like you lost the battle, but have faith – you will win the war 

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for you are with me;
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the
Presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and loving-kindness will
Follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

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It may seem like nothing better is coming because it's not coming instantaneously. When God wants to do a trade up with you, you have to do it as his time, not yours.

Doing a trade up with God is him swapping something good for something even better. Here are some pictures to support this.

There is also another website I like about how rejection is God's protection. I have referenced it below. Here is the second one:

https://mercymultiplied.com/when-rejection-is-really-gods-protection/

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Rejection causes us to immediately look at ourselves rather than the person who has rejected us. It’s like our knee-jerk reaction is to ask, what did I do wrong? or why wasn’t I good enough? 

When the reality is that their rejecting you likely had more to do with them than you, or perhaps, it was God who removed that person from your life because He knew they would have caused you even more pain had they stayed.  

“Where you saw Rejection, I saw Protection.”

As I was spending some very intentional time with God recently, I started talking to Him about some of the rejections I have felt in my life that I have questioned and wondered why they happened because I always assumed it was because of something I did. 
As I was listening for Him, I heard Him say, “Where you saw rejection, I saw protection.” Hello! 

When I heard these words, it was like there was this weight lifted off me. I had been carrying around feelings of hurt and rejection, thinking there was something wrong with me.  

Rejection is hard and painful, but I would much rather have God remove someone from my life than be in a relationship with someone who may cause me more harm than good.

 There have been people in my life before that I knew were not bringing life to the situation, but I still allowed them to stay in my life. Maybe it was because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings. 

Maybe it was because I allowed the positive things to outweigh the negative.
 Or maybe I downplayed things, making excuses for the person because I was lonely and thought it was better to have someone in my life than no one. Can anyone else relate? 

Life is too short to have people in your life that are draining or maybe even holding you back from the call of God on your life. When I did not have the strength or the guts to walk away, God was gracious enough to remove those people from my life. I see that now but definitely did not see it in the moment. 

A Season for Everything

Sometimes people are in our lives for a season. I can think back on some friendships that did not work out long term and wondered why they didn’t last. I wondered if it was something I said or did, and although I knew it was nothing I did, I still felt like it was my fault. 
But maybe it was God’s protection, but it could have been that person’s choice, or maybe that relationship had run its course. The reality is that we are not responsible for other people’s choices. 

They may decide they don’t want to be friends with you anymore, or they don’t want to date you anymore, and that’s okay.  
The enemy wants to plant lies in our minds that cause us to question who we are. Renewing the mind is foundational in us growing and changing and digging up those roots of rejection. I think of the mind as a playground of the enemy. 

You can have one tiny thought that is not from God, and the devil will run with it, making it a huge thing that you carry with you for decades.  

some bits cropped out

Run to Jesus

The next time you feel rejected, whether it’s from a friend or loved one, or maybe you didn’t get the job you were hoping for, the contract on your dream house fell through, you didn’t get the promotion you were hoping for, before you start jumping to conclusions, get angry, or upset, ask God where He is in that moment. 

Ask Him if He is protecting you. Don’t run to your spouse, mom, friend, sibling, etc., to vent your frustrations; run to Jesus.  
If you feel rejected and find yourself headed down the path to negative thinking, stop and ask God to meet you in that situation and ask Him where He is. 

Ask Him how to deal with those feelings and ask Him to help you get your joy back. Maybe He will also tell you that where you see rejection, it is really His protection.  

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Truthfully speaking, I wanted almost everything from the above website to be copied and pasted, but then if that's the case why reference it? 

I might as well have just told you to visit the website but I'm not lazy. I wanted you guys to be blessed as well.

Lastly, before I leave today and add some Scriptures, I'm going to give you guys signs that someone will come back into your life. I know I've used a lot of Scriptures today. 

Normally I don't, but I didn't want to be the only one blessed by the websites I referenced.

Here are 3 signs that God broke you apart with someone so that you can come back together better and stronger. And by breaking up, it doesn't necessarily link to just relationships, it can link to friendships as well.

Now and forever, you're always together <3

From this website (Last one for today)

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I wouldn’t automatically assume God removed someone from your life so he could bring them back to you one day once you two are in a better place. Oftentimes God removes people from our lives and never wants them to return. Sometimes we just need to let the past stay in the past and fully move forward with God.

But there are those times where God actually does take something or someone away from us so that the distance can prepare us to receive this blessing back in an even healthier way one day. With that said, here are 3 things that would happen in a situation where God will recreate an even better connection than the one you lost with this person.

One biblical example of God removing a blessing so he could give that blessing back in an even more complete way is the story of the Promised Land. Abraham was actually in the promised land long before his descendants would fully inherit it (Genesis 12:7). But then in Genesis 15:12-16, it states:

"As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners (temporary residents) in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.’”

Even though God had promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land Abraham was already in, God took that land away from them for a long amount of time. But through this process, the people multiplied, the people were blessed with great possessions when they left Egypt, and God prepared for those sinful nations currently occupying the land to be judged. 

2. If This Distance Is Being Used to Put God Before Each Other, Sometimes He Will Then Bring You Two Back Together

Making a sacrifice for God won’t always result in getting something you want from God in return for your sacrifice. But there are times in life where God wants to give you something but he first wants you to put him before this blessings.

In 1 Samuel 1, we are introduced to Hannah, a woman who is barren but desperately wants to have a child. In 1 Samuel 1:11, she makes a vow to the Lord and says:

O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

God answers her prayer and then Hannah follows through on her vow and dedicates her son, Samuel, unto the Lord. But then in 1 Samuel 2:21 it states, “Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.”

I’m not saying that you should make a vow to the Lord so that he will then give you what you want. I don’t believe this story is meant to teach us to try to strike a deal with God. Rather, I believe this is a story of how God often uses difficult times of waiting to then produce dedicated saints who are fully following God.

3. If the Loss of This Relationship Is What You Both Needed So You Could Appreciate What You Have, Sometimes This Is a Sign the Lord Separated You Two So He Could Bring You Back Together

This point can be misleading because whenever two people separate, there is usually a season of grieving what has been lost. Even when a relationship was unhealthy and needed to end, it’s natural to also remember the good parts once that person is gone.

Remembering the good times causes many people to then go back to each other a few times and then keep breaking up before finally realizing God wants them to truly stay broken up because they are not a good fit together. 

You definitely want to avoid this unhealthy cycle whenever possible. In the vast majority of cases, those who break up or part ways should remain separated because the problems that led to the split will cause them to just split up again if they come back together.

There are times, however, that a loss is needed before the gift can be received. When Hezekiah became sick, only then did he return to the Lord. In Isaiah 38:17 he prayed (NIV), “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.” Sometimes God has to let us experience pain so we will see what he wants us to see.

With said, there are times where two people didn’t really know what they had together until they lost it. Sometimes you need to lose something to realize how good it really was. 

If God had to separate you two for a specific amount of time so you could learn to appreciate what you have together rather than focusing too much on the imperfections present (because no relationship is perfect), this could be a sign God broke you two apart so he could bring you back together in an even better way.

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To finish off, it wouldn't be right for me to not add encouraging Scriptures about rejection being God's protection. Here they are:

Psalms 27:10
Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

John 14:1-3
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

And then some! 

That's everything from me so hopefully you've learnt a little something about rejection today! I hope you have a good week ahead but at the same time you need to be careful, there is a red weather warning as temperatures might apparently hit 40 degrees.

Sometimes I wonder how people who live in very hot countries like Spain cope. Their temperature is 40 degrees or around it almost every single day. 

But yes please be careful and don't do anything you're not supposed to.

I'll hopefully see you next time, I'd like to add some more pictures and GIFs to the pictures on the side xx

See you later! 

Lola :)