Don't blow it.

EDITORS NOTE: A lot of times we blow up opportunities and relationships either knowingly or unknowingly or even through carelessness and misadventure. We sometimes take golden moments for granted thinking we've always got tomorrow to make up or take that bold step. Unfortunately, some of the consequences of our action or inaction can later come to bite us

.  For instance an opportunity you should have said yes to but never did suddenly comes to mock you. Even simple things like giving up the chance to reconcile with a loved one until its too late( been there and it hurts like crazy but NO REGRETS!!). I believe the most painful is the opportunity to share Christ with others directly or indirectly through our words and actions. Whatever you do, don't lose the opportunity to love like today is all you've got. Be blessed with this wonderful articled culled from UCB devotional

Queen of the road

For many reasons, I dreaded driving on any motorway.The road seems long and endless. Moreso, all those cars dashing past at 120 kilometres per hour scared me especially the noise and the rushing wind that made my tiny car rattle. Some times, I thought my good old banger would be blown off course but it was all in my imagination....that didn’t stop my knees from trembling anyway. I wished I could increase my snail pace driving but I was just too scared to try. I'd read the book on road traffic rules but just could not see myself putting my foot on the pedal and increasing my speed. How sad! I had the car and read the manual but application of knowledge was difficult. Part of my fears included the different traffic laws that applied in driving on Irish roads. It was a huge departure from my Nigerian experience. Back in Nigeria- at least when I lived there- anyone could drive on the roads as laws were not enforced. (What laws? there were no rules!) I drove a car for a year without knowing how to reverse! I never envisaged any danger to myself or any other road user at that...lol (I MISS MY COUNTRY!!!) Driving on the Motorway is not for the faint hearted. There are even signs warning inexperienced drivers to stay off. It was a road traversed by the brave and I was not that yet. I envied my friends who at the slightest inclinations would pick up their keys and zoom off in their cars motor way or not. I had to always pray myself up, days before embarking on any long journey. Seriously, I'd rather drive on the smaller convenient local roads with convenient speed limits than brave the express routes. In as much as I could, I avoided the motorways but to my dismay realised there are some places that you just have to use the motor way to access. Motorways allowed quicker access to distant places and most have tolls applied! Most times I'd use the public transports just in a bid to avoid driving these routes but it wasn't always convenient especially with a kid in tow. *sigh* But things are different now, HALLELUJAH!! After a while I've become queen of the road. I learnt that drivers that ply the motorway did not do so overnight....time and constant use built their confidence just like FAITH. It was not an overnight experience or wishful thinking. It took determination not to be limited to smaller driving experiences. "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil". Hebrews 5:12-15 Faith is simply confidence in the word of God. Believe you are what the word says. Have what the word says you have and can do what the word says you can. Ironically many are still living in fear? Like my driving experience, you've got the car, learnt the traffic rules but are afraid to put your foot to the pedal? Maybe it’s the speed limit that's scary or the rushing wind caused by other cars dashing past? Don't be! Remember, there are some places that only the Motorway can get you to. Most times it’s the only option else you'll be stuck in your tiny world. These confidence only comes with constant immersion and trust in the word of God. “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.” Mathew 21:21 Don't let fear hold you captive and deter you from enjoying and arriving at your future in style. Sometimes arriving on a bus is not as glam compared with driving your own car. In a public bus you don't call the shots. Develop your own faith! You can only go so far riding on another person's experience. I no longer dread the Motorway; in fact I enjoy driving on any motorway. It's not so long and endless as it initially seemed. However to do that, I had to let go of fear and develop more confidence on what I've learnt from the road user’s manual and my experience from driving on smaller roads. infact, i speak confidence to myself! YOU CAN DO IT TO. P.S I still don't like paying tolls! But tolls are used to maintain the highways like faith tests are necessary to grow you. SO ENJOY

Worth every ounce of Faith

It was a three day journey to the mountain. The purpose was not to view the land and enjoy the scenery but to sacrifice his only son-THE SON OF PROMISE! He wasn't even given proper directions just this basic instruction “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you". Gen 22:2. God even rubbed insult on an open wound by emphasising the exact person he wanted Abraham to sacrifice in case there was any doubt in his mind. Imagine the audacity! If I was Abraham, any of these scenarios would have played out. 1. I would feign Ignorance; pretend I did not hear God. 2. Refuse to His face that the request was impossible, count me out of your outlandish demand. 3. I'll go up the mountain, wailing, crying, dragging my feet and making sure everyone knew what I was up to. 4. Enlist prayer warriors to help change the mind of God. But Abraham didn't open his mouth to protest except to give instructions to the servants that followed him. He didn't waste time but left home very early in the morning to implement God's command. Abraham did not leave room for distractions or excuses. Those three days journey must have been the longest and the most arduous in Abraham's life yet it turned out to be the most fulfilling yet. Every step lifted in pain was substituted with Faith on that mountain trek. Every step and passing day an assurance that GOD IS FAITHFUL. I wonder why God didn't chose a mountain that was closer to home so Abraham could get the work done and over with. At least that would save Abraham the pain of looking into Isaac's eyes throughout the journey. However, it had to be three days so that the work of perfection might be complete in Abraham because THERE IS NO RUSHING GOD. "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing" James 1:3-4. You can't rush the process. At the end of the journey, on that mountain top Abraham touched the heart of God with his obedience, his blinding Faith in God without a shadow of a doubt. "Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure" Heb 11:19. On that mountain, he received the fulfilment of the promise and IT WAS WORTH EVERY OUNCE OF FAITH exercised on the journey. That phrase was used by a friend during a discussion and it got me to write this post. The phrase is simple yet profound. You see, unlike Abraham, I have screamed, complained cried even cursed up the mountain. I even threw a couple of pity slumber parties for effects but THERE IS NO RUSHING GOD. I'd allowed myself to wallow in my *situation* and lost sight of the purpose of the journey in the first place. As far as I was concerned, God set me up! Over time, I have realised it’s not the drama, tantrums and crying that releases the promise but COMPLETE FAITH IN GOD. Of course He understands our pain and is touched by our tears as scripture rightly says " For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin" Hebrew 4:15 but God wants us to trust him in the midst of the challenge with our pain. It’s like a mother reaching out to her child who's crying because of hunger. The child automatically knows that with mum in the picture then food is only a few seconds away. Crying and throwing tantrum would not bring the food any sooner or make it cook faster. How much more with God! “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Mathew 7:11. . But God will not hurry the process so why not enjoy the journey and trust He that has promised. Every challenge and hurts are building blocks in our relationship with God. It depends on how you view the situation. Initially, I couldn't fathom "the whys" but its starting to make sense now. Abraham kept his eyes on the goal and not on his circumstance and received an incredible testimony. Our focus should not be on our situation but on God no matter how difficult it might be. Challenges are glory moments for God and that my friend is WORTH EVERY OUNCE OF FAITH. Picture courtesy Fr Peter Tremblay's blog