Tag: Self Development

Transition

Ever feel like you finally get a hang of life and its course, only to be hit with a surprise crossroad that shifts you into a world of decisions and the very thing you thought you finally had control of you no longer could handle? Sounds familiar?

This is Transition. When you think you have mastered Transition on one level, there is always another level that awaits your discovery. God is amazing and He is full of surprises. There is absolutely nothing that takes Him by surprise concerning you but there are times when He allows unexpected shifts which are a surprise to you. I have learnt to welcome every shift as an indication that my journey is speeding up and it means that I am getting closer to my destination called There. Everytime a car has to change gears it allows the car to move at a faster speed. Your ability to shift accelerates your journey.

Transition is your vehicle that ushers you to your place called There. Everytime there is a shift, and a sudden change it means that you are arriving closer to your destination. Everytime life throws a curveball it just means you need to shift. If you experience sudden betrayal or sudden separation of a longstanding relationship that is just destiny disguised as a heartbreak. Trust what the Holy Spirit is doing in this season.

Romans 8v28 states that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose (Amplified Version). The good the bad and the ugly are all working out for your purpose. I was listening to an interview with Pastor Keion Henderson and Dr Matthew Stevenson and Dr Stevenson stated that “Change either happens to you or through you”.

I truly believe the difference is in those who allow themselves to go through the many processes and shifts that life has to throw at oneself, to those who allow themselves to go through this process, are the ones that are used as vessels of change but to the one who refuses change ends up being on the dark side of Change.

The darkside of change is where you end up dealing with the harsh consequences of change. In a crisis, you can tell the difference between those who are prepared and those who were ill prepared. Crisis is only seen as crisis by those who fail to discern the times and prepare. Crisis is seen as an opportunity by those who choose to prepare ahead of the crisis. Look around the world and look at the response to our present crisis. I truly believe that our response is determined by our ability to prepare. Preparation precedes response.

In transition, your preparation will precede your response. Your preparation to be flexible with the curveball of change will determine your ability to navigate through the many stages of transition.

Once you learn the simple principle of ebb and flow (that is knowing when to respond and when to be still), then the many shifts that accompanies Transition will be welcomed as an opportunity rather than a crisis.

God bless you and thank you for reading.

Overcoming Barriers To Stepping Out Into The Unknown- Part 2

In my last blog, I said that there are many barriers to stepping out into the unknown. But I decided to deal with three and those are;

Fear of the Unknown
Fear of other people’s opinions
Fear of failure

I dealt with the first barrier to stepping out into the unknown and that was fear of the unknown. So the next barrier I would like to deal with is the fear of other people’s opinions.

Fear Of Other People’s Opinions

This was one of my biggest fears. Stepping out into the unknown was scary but exciting at the same time. When I took my first step to leaving my familiar surroundings, there was one thing that slowed down my progress. I was constantly concerned about what other people were thinking about me. It was so bad that my mentors at the time confronted me about it and I had to admit it that I was actually concerned about what others thought of me and my journey. It was so bad that it almost cost me my destiny. That changed when God asked me the question’ Who Are You?’. When He told me who I was in His eyes, the desire to please others just disappeared. I now developed a Godfidence that is what I call it, it is a God kind of confidence. The root of people pleasing stems from insecurities and rejection, the constant need to be approved by others. I recognised this in myself that throughout my childhood nothing was ever good enough in my home and where I attended church for a period of time. There was a constant pressure to be perfect and it was in November when God started to reveal these flaws to me. That season was a ‘river Jordan experience’, this was where all of the not so nice things started coming to the surface. I overcame this barrier by spending more time with the Lord and reading His word concerning my life. I spent more time in worship, I worked out which had an effect on my mental and emotional health. I posted affirmations around my apartment and on my bathroom mirror. So everyday I was empowering myself in God’s word to be who He had called me to be. The result of this was I stopped worrying about what others thought of me. It is a beautiful feeling when you no longer focus on the negative opinions of others.

Fear of Failure

The third barrier is the fear of failure. I believe everyone at some point in their life will experienced this. Everyone at some point including me have failed in one way or the other. I read this a while ago and it said, “failure is success turned inside out”. Failure is just an opportunity to learn something that you never knew before. I had so many moments in my journey when I said to God, please don’t let me fail but I now look at failure in a different way. Failure is my opportunity to learn something new. Some of my greatest lessons came from my experiences of failures and mistakes. I relied and still rely on 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. God’s grace is sufficient for me. The Lord took me to Matthew chapter 25:14-30, this is about the servants who received the five, two and one talents. When you read from verse 24-30, you see that the servant with the one talent did not multiply his talents because he was afraid. Verse 30 shows us the end result for this servant. God is not asking you to be perfect, He just wants you to say yes. God likes risk takers, just like Peter in Matthew 14:24-31, he stepped out of the boat and even though he started sinking, God was there to catch him. Do not be afraid of failing, even if you feel like you are going to fail, know that God will turn it for your good, Romans 8:28.

God bless you and thank you for reading