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The purpose of stagnant waters

When we think of stagnant waters, we don’t think of things that are fresh and alive. On the contrary, we think of the dangers of stagnant water bodies and some of us follow the instructions not to be near or in stagnant water bodies. It is for our health anyway, right? According to my Google search, stagnant waters are a breeding ground for insects and bacteria that carry diseases, the water is filled with dead things and water-borne diseases thrive in these waters. What good can come from stagnant waters? In a physical and literal sense, nothing good can come from stagnant waters. For the purpose of this blog, I wanted to use stagnant water as an illustration of our spiritual stagnation. While we know nothing good comes from it in the physical, what good can come from stagnant waters in your spiritual life? If any?! What can God do with your stagnant waters and make them purposeful?

What is stagnant water in the spiritual life?

Similar to actual stagnant waters, there are many dangers of us coming near or in these types of waters. The stagnant water in a spiritual aspect is the death of faith and hope. With the death of faith and hope, there is a high likelihood that sin and doubt breed and start to grow in our lives. In a spiritual sense because of the death of faith and hope there is no longer any movement on our spiritual walk. The waters don’t move, so don’t we. The Bible does instruct us to not get into stagnant water, a place where faith and hope die, but many of us find ourselves there for so many reasons. Here are a few of them; hurt/disappointment, loss, fear, complacency, self-righteousness, and laziness. What was the reason that made you get into stagnant waters? In other words, what killed your faith and hope?

When it starts to STINK

Stagnant waters eventually start to stink. If you have ever walked past a place with stagnant waters, you know exactly what I am talking about. It is quite hard to ignore the awful smell. In many similarities with stagnant waters in our spiritual lives, our stagnant paddles of water begin to stink. We can spend all our lives ignoring the smell of it, and allow people around us to also get affected by the smell of it. If there are people who love you well, they will let you know it stinks and they can all smell it. They may even encourage you to clean up and get rid of the smell. However, it does come down to you deciding if you want to live your life void of faith and hope, and instead allowing sin and doubt to thrive within you. Here is where you may want to think what is the purpose of this stagnant water if nothing good comes from it? All you have is sin and doubt and whatever little faith and hope you had is dead. You are unable to move forward but sit there in misery. I understand where you are because I too have been there where stagnant water seemed like a better place to live my life. I knew what my Bible said about how life without faith and hope feels and looks like, but I had already killed it enough. Death surrounded me, where could I bring back to life faith and hope while I tried to move in unmovable water? Well, this is where the purpose of stagnant water steps in!

The purpose of stagnant water

Stagnant waters save as a reminder to tell us this is not where we used to be. We are reminded that there was a time when our lives were filled with faith and hope. Understandably, some circumstances killed our faith and hope, but surely this is not where you want to remain. If the awful smell of sin and doubt eventually gets to you, you then decide enough is enough! It is time to get back to thriving in living waters. If you have lived long enough in stagnant waters, stepping out will not be easy, in fact, it will be quite scary. But there is good news! You do not have to do this alone! Someone has been waiting for you to get out of there, his name is Jesus Christ. And to ease you into stepping out, he starts with you small, he is not even trying to overwhelm you.

In his word from Matthew 17:20, he says your faith can be as tiny as a mustard seed. Think with me for a second, a mustard seed is extremely tiny and that is what can help you get out of these stagnant waters? You can’t pass up this offer! Activate your faith and allow Jesus to bring you out of these waters you have made your home. After you have activated your faith remember that you can’t take your sin and doubt where there is life, those things can not thrive in living waters. Repent from your sin and doubt and begin to build your faith and hope in Jesus. It will surprise you how much making this decision will greatly impact your life. So do you still think only bad things come from stagnant water now? Well, I hope not, because many of us came out of stagnant water, and Jesus our living water turned things around for us. We are no longer surrounded by dead things, but life and, we can move freely!

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them

John 7:38 (NIV)

This verse reminds us that there is a way out of our stagnant waters, and it is through believing in Jesus. In other words, it is having faith and hope in Jesus. There is hope that once we taste the living water, no longer shall we thirst for the old stinky waters (Read John 4 v 10-14). Now that is some good news! I urge you to step out from those stagnant waters, there is hope on the other side. It is time for you to take your rightful place! It is time to trade thorns for crowns.

Much love,

Xholiwe

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Steadfastly walking with the Lord: Is it worth it?

I had a conversation with my friend a while back who is an avid runner. This girl runs in any type of weather, mind you we live in the Midwest so you know we experience all seasons. I asked her how she does it and never skips a beat, and she said it is her continuous walking that has helped her build this momentum over the years. This momentum has allowed her to complete several 5k races and I am always so impressed by her passion and consistency. Her passion and consistency made me think about steadfastly walking with the Lord, which she is also great at! Steadfastly walking with the Lord is quite similar to what my friend does as an avid runner. It requires continuous walking that helps build one’s momentum to even do more walking. It is the commitment to walk alongside God through every season.

Merriam-Webster defines Steadfast as firm in belief, determination, or adherence. It further breaks it down and says that steadfast implies a steady and unwavering course of love, allegiance, or conviction. Our walk with God when all summed up in one requires all the things mentioned above. Unfortunately, it does get difficult in some seasons to hold on to a steady pace and build momentum. So what do we do when start to lose our steadfastness? We examine our hearts and see if anything has changed our pace or entirely has made us quit. Several things can disrupt our steadfast walk, but in this blog, I want to highlight a few that we may experience.

Hope Deferred

Typically, when our steadfast walk with the Lord is disrupted, we know that our hope has been deferred (read Proverbs 13:12). When our hope is deferred we consciously or unconsciouly conclude on the impossibly of the desired change ,our actions begin to somtimes indicate that we have taken another route in search for hope. You may have had hope for a long time that things will get better for that difficult situation, you were trusting God and the more this hope felt far off or put off for later you, the less you felt inclined to walk with the Lord. To make matters worse, you decide to walk this alone. What a difficult walk it is when done alone. I have been there and might I tell you, it is not an easy walk. I wish at that time I could have thought of people like Abraham who steadfastly walked with the Lord even when the hope for his promised child with Sarah felt impossible. I had to pick up again on my steadfast walk with the Lord. But the good thing about the Lord is that he is ready to walk with you once you decide that your hopelessness will not take you away from steadfastly walking with him. Even when the walk may feel uncertain for you, your part is to stay firm on what you know to be true.

SIN AND SHAME

Do you remember the story of the prodigal son Jesus told? The son went on his own leaving his father to a far-off land and with the money he inherited used it wrongfully for worldly pleasure. He committed sin through how he lived his life and later shame came upon him when all his money was gone. We know the ending is a beautiful story of forgiveness, but I want us to look at this story with us in mind and our steadfast walk with the Lord. Like the prodigal son when we allow sin in our lives and are overcome by it, it is quite easy for it to disrupt our steadfast walking with the Lord.

Sin gratifies only the needs of the flesh, pushes aside the Lord and like the prodigal son takes us to a far-off land away from our Father. With sin comes the shame and feeling unworthy to walk with the Lord when all he has been doing is waiting for you to come back home. Sin and shame tell us we can’t walk steadfastly with the Lord anymore, these two things try to convince us that we are unable to continuously walk with the Lord and build momentum. Oh, what a lie from the enemy. Indeed sin and shame can cripple us from steadfastly walking with the Lord, but then because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and shame there is redemption for us! We repent from our sins and re-commit to steadfastly walking with the Lord again. We then stand firm and determined to walk with the Lord and no longer make the choices that took us away from him. (Read 2 Peter 3 v 17-18).

Is it worth it?

Walking steadfastly with God is 100% worth it! I speak for myself and for many others who have chosen to stand firm on the belief that God is truly the best to walk with on the journey of life. Even for the most difficult times, because walking with him when all is well is quite easy. However, we are to maintain our pace even when steadfastly walking with him feels difficult. Because in the end, we know that God is with us. (read Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 1:23).

5 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose].

1 Corinthians 15:58 AMP

Be encouraged that your steadfastness in the Lord is not futile nor wasted. The reward for it is greater because you decided to stay steadfast. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12 ESV). It is time for you to take your rightful place, it is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much Love,

Xholiwe

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Letting go of your regret: When you can not take back what happened

Not too long ago I sat down feeling such an immersed amount of regret as I recollected a situation that I thought was in my past. The more my thoughts replayed the situation, the more I sank into this place of wishing I could reverse the hands of time. I immediately felt trapped by this regret and deeply thought of how this situation did not only hurt me, but it hurt others. Like a fresh-cut wound, I felt a rush of emotion that caused me to break down. I asked the Lord, I thought I let this go, I thought I moved on, but why then do I feel this way? At that moment I hoped to get an immediate response, but it was just me and my thoughts of regret for a while. I know that I am not the only one who has felt this way, I want to assume we have all been in a place where thoughts of regret flooded our minds, and letting go of these thoughts of regret felt nearly impossible, but thanks to God he surely has a way out for us all. Let us together look into letting go of regret for the things that we could not take back.

When regret is louder than Grace

It can be hard to let go of regret when there is a constant reminder of our mistakes and failures. When thoughts of regret play louder in our minds we forget the grace God freely has given us. Letting go of regret starts with knowing God’s grace for us. No one works harder than the enemy to keep us away from this because he would rather the regrets permanently play in our minds, making it impossible to let go. Satan would rather you live in shame and guilt instead of walking in the forgiveness of God and the freely given grace through Christ Jesus. When the enemy wants to amplify all your regrets, run to Christ. He wants to condemn you, but unfortunately for him, he can not keep you there because in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation. (Romans 8:1).

forgiveness and its role in letting go of regret

There is a lot of forgiving to do in most regrettable situations. When we do not forgive, ourselves and the people we may have hurt, or those who hurt us, we easily can stay trapped in feelings of regret. It is almost like walking around with an open wound and hoping we do not bleed. Of course, you will bleed if you go around with an open wound, so then you will need a covering to stop the bleeding. Our cover for this wound would be forgiveness. If you want to let go of regret forgiveness plays this role. It covers you and allows you to heal and move forward. If it was for your mistakes and failures seek Jesus and if it is because others hurt you forgive them. (Matthew 6:14).

mOVING FORWARD AFTER REGRET

Regret is a humbling way to remind us of God’s redemption. He gives us a way forward from all our regrets. It is not just with us, many people in the Bible too had regrets. God’s very first creation of mankind Adam and Eve had deep regrets about eating that fruit and leaving the garden. Abraham and Sara regretted having a child outside their marriage even after God’s promise to bless them. King David had many regrets, just read Psalms. I could go on with this list of biblical figures who like us experienced regret, but what all of us have in common is God’s redemption that moved them forward. They could have easily dwelled on their regrets, but if we want to use them as an example, we could learn from them. They moved forward with faith in God knowing he had a redemptive plan for them, God has a redemptive plan for us too! We no longer have to hold on to our regrets, but we can look forward to what is ahead. Here is what Paul has to say:

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3: 13-14

Regret is behind us, we are graced by God to move forward through Christ Jesus. I just don’t want you to think that letting go of regret is an easy thing to do. For some knowing of God’s grace, forgiving, and realizing there is a redemptive plan can take a while, months even years. However, if you want to start to let go of regret make it a mandatory act to run to Christ when to spend too much of your time recollecting your regrets. Proceed to seeking forgiveness and forgiving others and not dwelling on your regrets. You surely can not take back what happened but you can surely trust God to work all things for your good, might I say, even your regrets! (Romans 8:28). It is time for you to take your rightful place, it is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much love,

Xholiwe

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The Grumbling Christian: Is it right for you to be angry?

Hello Crowned Royals! This blog post I am sharing with you today is several months late, but better late than never like my mom would always say. I remember thinking about this several times when I caught myself grumbling, and if you were doing it too, I would hope this would help you. Yes, I have grumbled several times and I am a Christian, I know we have all been there. In a world full of grumblers, it is quite easy to find yourself complaining even when you know all so well that you have a God that provides. I found myself grumbling way too many times last year, and last year was not too long ago, so clearly I have some work to do. So let us do the work together! The million-dollar question for the grumbling Christian is; “Is it right for you to be angry? This was the exact question God asked Jonah right after Jonah grumbled at him (read Jonah 4 v 4). So why did God ask Jonah this question? and why would God today ask you this exact question?

pROVISION AND CONTENTMENT

If you read the entire chapter 4 in the book of Jonah, there are two big things you need to notice between God and Jonah in this chapter, it is provision and contentment. Then soon after the provision and contentment comes the grumbling from Jonah. We may want to know how possible is it that one was provided for and was content, but quickly grumbled? Well, similar to Jonah, we have been provided for by God, and with God’s provision we then found contentment, but what happens when that is suddenly taken away from us? or the next provision does not come in our scheduled time? We grumble and in many instances believe it is right for us to be angry. Just think about the time when things were going in your favor and suddenly the unexpected happened, how was your approach? were you like Jonah grumbling at God or were you leaning towards knowing that God would provide just like he did before? I personally have done both and the times that I grumbled at God, I found this approach made me less content, and the more I grumbled, the more I felt anger and frustration towards the situation. It certainly is an unhealthy approach to handling situations, even for you. Take it from me who has found herself grumbling far too many times. You have a better chance of coming to a place of contentment for your situation when you spend less time grumbling.

The biggest understanding when it comes to provision and contentment is that it comes from God. The minute we start to grumble, we tell God in our grumbling that we prefer our comfort and how dare he take that away from us. We get angry and miss the lesson. And just like with Jonah, God is teaching us to not allow our grumbling to overshadow God’s provision for us and to also find our contentment in him.

Aren’t I DESERVING?

The argument of old times is that as a Christian I am deserving of all things good and indeed you are! You serve a God that provides even when you are not deserving. But when it happens that you do not have the provision, do not be quick to grumble and turn away in anger from God. Many have missed God’s next provision, assignment, and confirmation because they reasonably concluded that if the situation was not good then it is best to walk away from God grumbling in anger. Do not walk away in anger just yet! Think about the Israelites in the wilderness for a second with me. Evidently, they were miraculously provided time and time again by God, but that did not stop them from grumbling. How can people who have seen God provide in several miraculous ways still grumble? But we do this too, we quickly forget how God provided for us not too long ago in several situations that seemed impossible. Yet we grumble and if we are not careful with this, we go from grumbling to resentment.

HOW CAN A STOP GRUMBLING?

There is no formula that will magically stop us from grumbling, but there are several practical steps you can take that could help you. I will share some that have worked for me and I pray it helps you too;

  1. Continued gratitude to God – constantly reminding yourself of how God provided for you in other situations.
  2. Finding contentment in my current situation (even the unfavorable ones)
  3. Catching yourself when you start to grumble and acknowledging it sooner than later.
  4. Constantly reminding yourself that situations do change.
  5. Being angry and frustrated at God does not make the situation any better

The list is not long, but if you are like me and you want to stop with the grumbling then I will leave this here for you.

I know it can be hard to see God sometimes in these difficult situations we have to handle through life’s journey. It may feel like grumbling is easier when we are faced with unfavorable situations, but might I borrow the words of one apostle who in all situations found his provision and contentment in God. Even when he was arrested, Apostle Paul wrote this in a Roman Dungeon;

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4 v 10-13

May God renew his concern for your current situation so that you are not found grumbling, but instead finding contentment in his provision for you. It is time for you to take your right place, it is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much Love,

Xholiwe

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Holding on to Hope: Why hold on?

“I am sorry, mom is no more” My aunties sat close by me as they told me this and waited for my reaction. Denial quickly set into me and I asked, “what do you mean mom is no more?” then the news settled, my mother just passed away. I went into a panic and began to cry frantically, but that was not my state a few hours before this devastating news. A few hours before this I was holding on to hope that my mother would be healed from that illness. I said a prayer before taking a peaceful nap and held on to whatever small hope I had left, but this news killed the little hope I had stored up. I was hoping for a different outcome, but it quickly began to feel unfair and I remember thinking why did I even hope. Why did I hold on to hope when the situation was hopeless? What did the little hope I held on to do for me? I know those are a lot of questions, but I want to share on what holding on to hope can do for you even in the most hopeless situations.

I did a little research on Google and asked Google how many times the word hope is mentioned in the bible. Well, Google doesn’t know it all, but from the few numbers that came up it is at least over a hundred times across the different versions of the bible that the word hope is mentioned. It gave me much reason to understand the significance of holding on to our hope, I am certain that when God mentions a word over a hundred times, then we should know what it means to him. Hope like many other words gives so much meaning to one’s life, to many of us it is a core of our continued will to stay alive. Our plans, aspirations, desires, goals just to mention a few are encompassed by the word “hope”. As christians we find our confidence, strength and motivation is in the things we hope for. Let hope not be mistaken for a wish, hope is holds much weight than a mere wish. Hope is literally a pushing force that ignites our faith and gives us much reason not to quit. The unforeseen power of hope is that it is the peaceful reassurance even in the midst of a hopeless situation. That is why we must hold on to it knowing that in our hope there is reassurance that whatsoever the outcome, things are going to be just fine. I look back now to when I was told the news about my mother’s passing and think to myself, it was my hope that helped me endure the grief and loss of my mother. Also, it is now hope that reminds me that hopeless situations are not all the way hopeless if you hold on to whatever little hope you have left.

Anchored in hope

The purpose of an anchor is to keep something from moving, to stay grounded. When we are anchored in hope even though we did not get that positive outcome we wanted, our anchor sets us up to stay grounded in our belief in God and also reminds us that it will not always be this way. We hold on to hope knowing that our hope will see us through several other difficulties we may face in the future and we will not be shaken. Understandably, we have been faced with some difficult times in our lives, it could be the loss of a loved one, loss of opportunities to better our lives, just to mention a few. In those difficult times we have hoped and prayed for a positive outcome, only to be faced with a different outcome. Hope after the different outcome is what builds us up to persevere this halt or set back we are face to face with. It is important to stay anchored in such difficult times before we drift away into despair.

Why hold on?

The big question is why should we hold on to something that is not even certain? We hold on because our hope is the essence of our continued lives lived on Earth. By holding on we save ourselves from going into to despair (a state of hopelessness) from the many struggles we face and will face in the future. Have you ever met a person that let go of hope and you saw their despair? they don’t have to verbally say it because it could be felt. Despair just like many other undesired feelings comes because we let go of our hope. Therefore, holding on to our hope is important because it is what pushes us keep going on in this life long journey filled with many twists and turns. Again, holding on to hope is where you find your strength, you peace and your willingness to keep going despite all things. So hold on to it!

GOd and hope

You know I will not write a whole blog post without quoting the bible verse that speaks of hope and like the church girl I am, I find such joy in reading this verse over and over again especially when I feel like I am losing hope or I am getting low on faith.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11 v1

Hope brings about faith, both things that God desires we have in our lives. While we hope, we build our faith, is that not amazing? why not hold on to something that actually builds even greater faith within you for the things unseen. I believe God wants us to hold on to hope for several reasons, but mainly for him to fulfil his promises over our lives. God knows that our hold gives us confidence to even overcome the next (2 Cor 3:12). Another amazing thing about hope is that it brings us peace and joy (read Proverbs 10 v 23). It doesn’t end there, remember what I said earlier, hope is our anchor (read Hebrews 6:19). All the good comes from us hold on to hope, and that could be even the smallest hope you have left in you. hope anyway because;

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

Romans 8 v 24 (ESV)

We are saved in our hope! Let that sink in the inner depth of your soul, especially if you have been not been doing well with holding on to your hope. If we saw it all we would hope, but then like the verse says, who hopes for what he sees?

In ending this post, I urge you to hold onto your hope in God, in your life, for your family, for your aspirations and for your healing (we are need it, trust me). Fight your way out of despair and hope again. What brought you to despair was not meant to keep you there and leave you there. There is hope in the things unseen and yours is to pick up on that hope and hold on to it and never let it go. It is time for you to take your rightful place! it is time to trade thorns for crowns.

Much Love,

Xholiwe

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While you wait: What is your posture?

Hello Crowned Royals! After a really busy work week, it sure feels good to relax and finally get my hands on my laptop and write to you. Talking to you through this blog gives me so much more reason to live.This week I want us to talk about waiting. We are waiting for something right? When we wait on some things in our lives to happen our posture matters because that determines our readiness for what we are waiting for. I would like to give you a simple understanding of waiting through my “shopping when hungry experiences” that often times leave me regretting what I did because I was shopping while I was hungry. If you ever shopped for groceries while hungry you totally understand what I mean by regret. When I shop while hungry, I often times do not consider what I need and don’t need when I am in the store. Every thing looks good to eat, so I buy things I don’t need, spend the money I shouldn’t have been spending and waste the food I didn’t need because it was not what I needed in the first place. What does this have to do with waiting in real life? The wait for some of us is like hunger and because we are hungry we hasten ourselves to quench the hunger without considering the reason of the wait. Our posture is then impulsive and impatience and we begin to take matters into our own hands. Things that don’t look good begin to look good, things that we don’t need are things we begin to crave for, and so we compromise our posture while we wait. Only to later regret our impulsive and impatient posture to the wait. Don’t feel bad, we have all been there, but we are going to change our posture. We will have the right posture while we wait.

Can we be honest for a second? waiting is not that easy. For those who continue to wait and those that waited before, most can admit that waiting for something significant in life can be hard. If you were to tell your story, after the wait, you can agree with me that your outcome was based off your posture. How was your posture while you waited for somethings to change? Was it good or was it bad? Here I go with my ever available examples, my job search season was good, but not always great, I would be frustrated at times, desperate and would have a negative attitude all together. I tell you right now that this is not the type of posture you should be in the whole time you wait. Truth is that the frustration and all that impatience will come, but it is important to get back to the posture of gratitude and patience while you wait. I guess what I am trying to say is that while there are several ways to wait, a good posture would be to show gratitude and practice patience. It worked for me, and I am pretty sure it will work for you too. Other good postures you can practice while you wait is prayer, fasting, trust God’s plan, encouraging yourself or receiving encouragement from others, and have an positive attitude all together. I would love to write on all of them because they all are essential while you wait, but my heart is fixated on talking about gratitude and patience while you wait.

Posture of Gratitude

I know that you are probably thinking that there is nothing to be grateful about right about now. You are in the middle of what seems to be a long wait and because you are so focused on this new thing you wait for, you are forgetting to be grateful for what you have now. There has to be at least 5 things or more that you are grateful for and should acknowledge everyday, especially while you are waiting. This doesn’t mean that when you wait is over, you stop being grateful. The posture of gratitude at least from my many experiences while waiting is that it helps focus the mind on the grand picture and not just pieces of it. All the pieces will come together, but you are to express gratitude to God for the pieces you already have in the now. Life can be challenging even for the strongest people you know, but what can keep a person going is showing gratitude. While we have experience some not so great things in our lives, we have also experiences some really amazing things too. We have been blessed in life and surely there has to be something we are grateful for somewhere. Let God know how thankful you are for what you have and what you are yet to have when the wait is over. Now that is a good posture that will please God!

Posture of Patience

By one definition patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset. How many of us from the definition can admit we lack patience while we wait? Have we been able to realize that there are things we have not accepted? Acceptance makes the wait much more bearable. When you understand that you are waiting and accept it, you are less likely to experience constant frustrations while you wait. Practicing patience is something some of us have to work on constantly. Just last week, I remember being in line at a grocery store and telling myself to accept the fact that the line was long, but it would eventually be my turn. Even in your wait, it will eventually be your turn, so you have to be patient. Patience is a good posture that can also help you make sound and stable choices while you wait. A bad posture that comes from the lack of patience in your life is hastiness. Hasty decisions have been the downfall of many men and women that were starting to lose their patience and decided to take matters into their own hands. You shouldn’t be that man or woman that loses their patience and misses what you were waiting for all the while. If patience has taught me one thing, it has taught me that eventually it will also be my turn. Ecclesiastes 7:8 summaries all this by saying;

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Ecclesiastes 7 v 8

There is no way you could go wrong with combining gratitude and patience while you wait. It is the perfect combination that kept me going and still never fails me. The wait is so much easier when you are grateful for the present and patient for what is yet to come. Think of gratitude as your humbling tool that protects you from having a proud spirit. The end is never better for the proud spirit that doesn’t show gratitude and exercise patience. Please read Ecclesiastes 7 v 8 again for re-emphasis on all this that has been said about gratitude and patience.

My last words for the night, couple gratitude and patience with all the other good postures I mentioned earlier, and you eventually get your turn. Stop shopping while hungry, you remember what that does right? Be in constant prayer, show gratitude, practice patience, choose hope over defeat and work on self each any every day while you wait for your turn. It is time to take our rightful place. It is time to trade thorns for crowns!

Much Love,

Xholiwe

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Botched Plans: Trusting God’s plan

Photo by fotografierende on Unsplash
A couple detours and stabling blocks will still get you there, it may be different from what you imagined or it may be exact, but trust that God will get you there.
-Xholiwe

Hello Crowned Royals! It’s crazy how quick the weekend comes and goes so fast and not all weekend plans are accomplished in their scheduled time. Today I planned to do my laundry in the morning, but plans to do so were botched because I snoozed my alarm way too many times. This is not the first time I have experienced botched plans and some of the plans I actually needed to be botched because God knew better. Ever planned to leave for an event at a certain time, but ended up being late and hating yourself for it? Then Later on you got word that the exact street you planned to use had a terrible accident. You then took a moment to thank God for that botched plan because maybe that would have been you. I know this has happened several times that we got saved by 5 late minutes.

I am not much of a planner so when I do plan, you best believe I have calculated every possible and impossible event that will make or break my plan. I have had some serious plans concerning my life that were well thought out and planned so precisely, but not all my plans fell through they way I imagined they would. If I were to be honest, most of my plans were botched and I couldn’t be more grateful to God for my botched plans because they saved my life.

I am probably not the only one that has experienced botched plans, if you are reading this you know what I am talking about. You had plans for your present and future that did not fall through the way you imagined them. This is not the time for you to be hard on yourself for the plans that didn’t fall through, but it is time for you to be grateful. God being all knowing knew exactly that 5 years from now your plan would not be sustained and so he turned things around. I don’t know about you saints, but when God turned things around, I was not very happy about it, in fact, I would be low key mad until God showed me why he had to botch my plans. For me it took several botched plans for me to trust that God has better plans for me than I did.

Botched plans can come in different ways when in comes to serious life plans. I think if you have lived long enough you would agree with me that failure, disappointments, delay, lack of and heart break have a way of telling us our plans did not work. How we deal with all these pains that come from our botched plans will determine whether or not we trust God for a better plan. For example if a particular failure paralyzes you not try again then you trust your botched plan and not God’s plan. In the same way, if you keep repeating the botched plans in hopes that they will have a different outcome, then you are more trusting of your own plans and not God’s. I totally get it, your plan is well thought out and pretty perfect, but did you ever stop to think in the long run how well this plan would serve you? I mean it is great plan that you want to accomplish so much, but do those plans line up with the greater plans God has for you? A couple detours and stabling blocks will still get you there, it may be different from what you imagined or it may be exact, but trust that God will get you there.

To my constant planners who plan your life by the hour, it may be hard for you to deal with botched plans, but when you see why God had to interrupt that day to day planner you had going on, you will be grateful that he slowed you down. He slowed you down not because he doesn’t want you to accomplish your hourly tasks, but also to remind you of his existence. There is nothing wrong with planning your day and getting things done, but somewhere in your plans do you have some time for God? Or are you so wrapped around your planner so much so that your planner is full and God has no slotted time? God needs some time with us, we were created to relate with God as much we do with our family and friends. God desires to have a relationship with us and so if an hour planned date is botched for some time with God please take it. Enjoy some quiet time with God either through prayer or praise and worship, you will be grateful you did.

To my quick planners that are so quick to plan, but not well prepared for these plans, you too may deal with some botched plans. Perfect example, this year I quickly planned to change my closet like I always do from Winter to Spring as the days approached. Did I do it? No, days went by and I was not prepared for Spring. On a more serious life note, how many plans have you made that you are not well prepared for? Have we ever just taken the time to sit down with our plans and honestly look at our lives to see if our plans match our preparedness? God wants us to be prepared for what we ask for, so if you deal with botched plans from your quick plans trust that God wants to prepare you. Remember that quick fixes sometimes cost you so much later because most of them don’t last. So trust God as he prepares you for his plans.

Often times when things don’t go as planned all planners tend to be mad and want to throw their fist at God rather than be thankful. I have been there and after I learned why my plans did not work I broke out into a praise break because God knew best! Thank God for my botched plans. You too need to rejoice in those botched plans because those botched plans saved your life. God knows better! Here is what he has to say about planning;

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29 v 11

Until you allow this verse to sink into your spirit, you will continue to make your plans and end up frustrated when they do not fall through. God is not on his throne waiting to harm you, but his plans are to prosper you in all things, not just some. Unfortunately, we look at God’s direction as harm until weeks, months or years down the line where we realize why your plans were no good. I don’t know how many times I can emphasis this, but there is no use being mad at God for your botched plans. There are many reasons for you to be grateful and not hurtful. A closed door does not mean that God doesn’t have a plan. Stop relying on plan A, B and C when God only has one plan for you.

My last word before I eat these perfectly glazed wings are you are not the best planner. Yes, I said it, you are not the best planner. Allow God to do the planning and be amazed at what he does for you. Don’t let the botched plans paralyze you from trusting God’s plan for your life. Also, don’t make plans without first consulting with God. Are your plans well aligned with God’s plans or are you basing them of your own human understanding. Remember God knows better! While you are at it, be well prepared for the plans God has for you. You can’t be so quick to make life plans in a hurry without fully understanding them. Slow down and take some time to look critically at the plans you make concerning your life. Lastly, make some time for God talk to him about your plans and trust him when he botches some of your plans for better ones! It is time to take your rightful place! It is time to trade thorns for crowns!