ASSUMPTIONS…

A few days ago, I drank something without looking at the label, someone gave me a bottle of some health drink and it looked to me like something you should drink at once, especially since I had drank the same thing last week at a function, though in a smaller package.  So I took the entire bottle and downed it.

Hours later I was feeling like I ate a horse, and I couldn’t explain why that was happening.  Eventually, someone pointed out to me that I was meant to drink only about 30 ml of the product diluted in water! The bottle held 473ml and by my estimation I had drank about 300ml!!!

Thank God it wasn’t something that could cause damage beyond my inability to eat for an entire day!  So it got me thinking, how many things have I gulped and swallowed without reading their manual or directions?  How many people have I dealt with not knowing who they really are, and how best to handle them?  How many years have I lived without a plan or a method?

All these questions have enabled me make up my mind that though this year is fast coming to an end and I cannot say I had a great plan in place when I set out; I will spend what is left planning for 2011.  I will set goals, I will put together processes, and I will exercise the required discipline to ensure that I follow through!

Back to the drink, it was a health drink, which meant it had lots of value to deliver, if I just took it in the right amount! The discomfort of not eating anything, yet feeling like I ate a horse is more than enough to ensure that I read labels and manuals before trying anything new, going forward.

The same way this drink had the capacity to help, it also had the capacity to make one uncomfortable if the dose is wrong.  The WORD of God is kind of like this health drink, there is a recommended dose, ά la Joshua 1:8, reading alone doesn’t work; there is a place for meditation… so how much WORD do you know? How much process are you sure of? …

Assumptions can kill, and from now I will do my best to not assume I know, because even the most harmless of things may have injurious side effects.

Watch this page for preparing for next year.  Even if it seems your 2010 was wasted, there is time to plan and utilize 2011 properly.  After all, he who has life still has hope. NEVERTHELESS…

Love 

Sistar B

Revealed vs. Concealed

Do you ever struggle with discerning what God’s will concerning a matter is? I do.  I struggle because sometimes it is a lot easier if I just know the end from the beginning, that way maybe I will be a lot more tolerant of the process I may have to go through.

I want to know the concealed sometimes because it helps to be able to explain the details to others who may want to question why I do the things that I do.  Sometimes it may not be something earth shattering, but at other times it is an absolutely defining issue like, who should I marry and should I invest in a particular venture or not.

A wise man said that God took a risk when he gave us freewill! What this means is that God gave man freewill so he will be able to choose and this was a great risk because the very first man derailed and disobeyed God’s injunction.  You would think that we will be like our father and just do without knowing for a certainty what our outcomes will be, but trusting that they will benefit us anyway.  Isn’t this what faith is?

But not me, most of the time, I want a guaranty that whatever it is I have to deal with will turn out just right and perfect!  This makes me preoccupied with the concealed and therefore, sometimes, miss out on enjoying the revealed.

My question is why is it that man is so interested in that which is beyond his naked eyes?  Why are we so caught up in what will happen in the future? I think it is because even though God took a risk with us and gave us the freewill, we prefer to be safe and so we do whatever we can to ensure that we know what may befall us.

However, that this is not the best way to live is what I have come to find out. I realize that every time I start to fidget because I want to unearth that which is concealed, I tend to miss that which is directly under my nose.  As a single person, being consumed with who I will marry can take away from enjoying my season of singleness, just like, as a new bride the more I press to know if my marriage will last or stand the test of time, the more I forget what it is like to have and enjoy my spouse.

As a minister, it is possible to be so consumed with what I cannot see that I may just not be able to stop and appreciate God for picking me, thereby reducing my ability to minister to God alone.  The list goes on and on…

What is the way out?  I now choose to do my best with what is revealed to me, and leave the concealed to God, who knows all things, to take care of.  I choose to do my very best in the here and now, trusting that God will take care of the future. 

I choose to do my best with the revealed, because I know that God will take care of the concealed.

Love you much,

Sistar B

Love.

My favourite TV show on Sunday afternoon is Extreme Makeover, Home Edition, with Ty and his team.  There is just no episode I watch that doesn’t make me cry. My husband asked me once why I watch it, and I told him it’s because my heart is in the same place as that of the team.

What amazes me most is that there isn’t any visible sign that this show has any faith based ideal behind it, but each time I see these guys take a family and give them joy and hope, I just see that Jesus comes in Jeans and work tools sometimes and not only with a bible and a flowing robe.

I cry because I never fail to see how men and women who take time to stop and show love in a tangible way to others bring hope.  I cry when I watch because I keep saying to myself when will I be able to make a difference on a scale such as this?  When will I be able to go some where and give people a home, some hope and spread some joy around in the magnitude that Ty and his team do?

I weep when I watch because I am forced to ask ‘Lord, why don’t you put the resources in my hands and see how I will use it for your glory?’  I weep because sometimes knowing how little I can do right now, brings the inadequacy in my person to the fore.

But I have decided I will continue to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition. I will continue to applaud Ty, his team and ABC for the great work they are able to do, but I will also keep watching because each time I come away from that TV, I know that I am important and I can make a difference.  I know I may not be able to build homes yet but maybe I can sweep premise where the owners for one reason or the other cannot.

I may not be able to bring a whole year’s food supply to a family but what if I just bring them lunch?  We all are called to make a difference and I will do my best within my resources right now.  I understand that if I have to wait until I have enough, my help may come too late.

I am learning through this show on TV, that whatever thoughtful contribution I make will go some way even if not a long way.

But most of all, I weep profusely, when the family who are being helped by Ty and his team is a family that have given so much even out of their own lack.  And I see that as long as there is love in our hearts we will be able to out give even the richest man on earth. 

My conclusion is this, while money makes the world go round, love keeps it from falling apart! And while we go around claiming that we know God, we must remember that God is LOVE, and if we love, we will find a way to make this world a better place.

Love

Sistar B

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

On Sunday I got into my car to drive to church and noticed that my entire dashboard was lit like a Christmas tree, all kinds of signs were blinking at me.  I drove the car the previous day and nothing was wrong with it, so I wondered what it is that could have gone wrong.

Then I went into the DIY mode, I mean I became an auto engineer immediately, fished out my car manual, (thank God for cars that come with their manuals) and went straight to the trouble shooting page.  The manual did explain the implication of my dashboard being lit up like that, but they couldn’t tell me why it lit up so suddenly.

Finally, we had to call an auto engineer and tens of thousands of naira later, we found out that rats had been feasting under the hood of my car for a while and they had chewed up all kinds of wires and these set off a chain of events that ended in sensors becoming damaged and … well you know the rest of the story.

What was my reaction?  First, I went back home to see if there was anything in my driveway that could be the attraction for rats and I can’t say I found any, really!!  Then I wondered if maybe this was some spiritual attack and I didn’t find an answer to that, because honestly that was ridiculous even for my mind.

So… we fixed the car, thanked God for the resources to do so and learnt a new lesson of ensuring that we look under the hood everyday going forward from now.

But this morning I signed in to take a look at the NEVERTHELESS page and my cyber friend Mary had posted something on http://jesus-thelambofgod.blogspot.com/2010/11/dont-forget-to-pray.html. (Check it out yourself) and 1 realized that rats chewing out my cables was nothing compared to what some people have had to face this week. 

Imagine going to church and becoming a terrorist target to the point that 58 of your fellow worshipers are killed and 70 injured!

I know we should pray for them, but it also makes me think hard of what I have done with the liberty that I have received from God.  No one stops me from worshiping; no one tells me I can’t pray in school or the market or even in my office.  No one is offended because I mentioned Jesus in traffic, (at least they can’t ask me why) but all I do is complain of how my soap ran out, how my water isn’t clean enough, how I don’t have three wardrobes of clothes…

So my question is Child of God, what’s with the attitude? Can we begin to thank God for the blessings we have today? It cannot compare with leaving for church and being carried out dead!

Let’s work on our attitude okay! I need an AA, (Attitude Adjustment) and I think you may need one.

What ever you face today remember, it could have been worse, that all is not lost is because there is always a light at the end of the tunnel; NEVERTHELESS.

Love you.

Sistar B