Happy new year. We have started a new decade and a big welcome to you all into the roaring twenties.

Some of us may have ended the year on a high and some on a negative note. Our article will try to inspire some of us who find ourselves in sticky situations. The circumstances you find yourself may be of your making or maybe not. You may have been nudged, a push, shove: whatever the circumstances you are facing, its okay. Our article is to inspire us to turn around whatever mountains we are facing into opportunities. With hope and a positive mind something good may come out of it.

Hope and a positive frame

According to Joyce Meyer, ‘sometimes we need a crisis to change’. 

Instead of wasting time getting angry with yourself and others, ask yourself how you can turn that situation into something good.

• What can I change
• What can I do

You may be going through a heartbreak, redundancy, divorce, homelessness, a life changing illness or disease in the family and so on, whatever your circumstances, dont waste the year angry and bitter, but look at your options and what you can do to move on from the situation you find yourself.

When  someone dear gets a devastating diagnosis like cancer or even dying, we despair and try and do everything we can to get them better. We can give anything to have more time with them.  We pray for more time. In a crisis things become clearer. What is valuable and important to us become clearer like time spent with loved ones instead of chasing other life’s demands.

Whatever the crisis there are always options. Some options may be painful, slow or demanding but we all have options. The best option is not to give up.

David says, ‘my cup overflows’.

As we start the year let us engage a positive mind. Dont dwell on the past if it is going to get you down. The past is gone but you have an opportunity of changing your future.

As a believer I look at God whenever I find life overwhelming. God is going to direct mine/your footsteps. Whatever belongs to you, you will get it at the right time.

Let us focus on the God who controls everything. Opportunities will come looking for you.

Personal testimony

After working for a big organisation for a long time I wasn’t getting the opportunities to move forward. Chances came but were not for me. I was frustrated. While attending a dinner that was being held for the participants at the end of a two week workshop,  I happened to be sat around a table with a very important gentleman. As it happened someone had dropped out of an event that had been fully funded. The gentleman was looking for a quick replacement. I worked in a similar industry and was the right candidate.

After a chat, my superiors were contacted and everything moved swiftly. All expenses paid, training your employee, my employer couldn’t say no to that. I benefited as an individual so did my employer. An opportunity came looking for me in the least of places when I was not expecting it at all. I wouldn’t have scripted it like that even in my wildest of imaginations if I tried.

Keep focused and dont be discouraged

Encouragement from the Bible

In the natural it seems impossible when we are facing a crisis. But there are many examples in our lifetime of people that overcame adversity and challenges and many so in the Bible. Who would have believed that David could defeat Goliath the giant? David, a mere boy tending his father’s sheep. But he did.

The word of God encourages us not to lean to our own understanding but to believe in God.

God is love. There is no to fear in him.

There is no condemnation in God.

Look at Jesus and not yourself. If you look at yourself you will fail.

• 1 John 4: 7. Love and hope lives here, in you and around you.

Remember speak and continue speaking good into your life and what God says about you until the devil gives up and you get your breakthrough.

Don’t talk about your trials but talk about what you can do.

Teach your mouth to be wise.

• James 1:5-6.  If we lack wisdom let’s ask for it.

Release your faith through your words:

• Philippians 4:13 ‘I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me’.

Speak goodness.

We get strength from the word of God.

• Ephesians 6:16.

Do your bit and God will do his. We are partners with God.

The only time we fail in life is when we stop trying

Bertha: Bertha’s parents had invested in their daughter with the hope that she would get a good job and a better life. With most teenage pregnancies, Bertha found herself in a similar position, alone and ridiculed by her peers. Her parents fully supported her. After delivering her baby boy, Bertha went back to school with a vengeance. She completed her A levels and went to university, passed with distinctions. Bertha studied everything, MA, Doctorate, and went on to hold a powerful position in a big Corporation also seating and chairing several boards. Friends came looking for her, potential partners and a husband.

Its amazing how similar our lives are. Celebrities, superstars, leaders and everyday folk face challenges. You may not be the only one facing a crisis. Whatever it is: it can be resolved.

Bitterness will prevent you from growing and realising your potential because you are busy saying its someone else false and you are not to blame.

Look inwards and see what you can change and improve about yourself. Ask what can I do what can I change? How can I make my situation better?

Action

• Get started.
• Small steps.
• Saving
• Look at your expenditures, pay your debts
• Get a job
• Work extra hours
• Train , get an education
• Make time for loved ones

When misery falls unto you like a tonne of bricks make a change, pick yourself up.

When feeling lost in the big world, do familiar and come home.

Look for support from family and those close to you and with whom you feel safe and are free to be yourself.

Use what you have. God is a God of multiplication.

Keep doing your part.

Face the situation

Talk about it

Don’t assume anything but be clear about stuff.

It is easy to be mad at everybody, the world except your self. If you are mad be mad at yourself too. This will help you to deal with your situation better.

It is also easy to decide not to talk to those people whom you see as having wronged you or caused your difficulty and crisis. Instead:

• Bless them
• Don’t be resentful
• Don’t be bitter
• Forgive and move on

Remember, your situation is not permanent. One way or the other, things end up the way they should. You can’t stand in the way of life, love or destiny. One way or the other things will end up as they should be.

References:

Joyce Meyer, December 2019.

The Bible.