The Hurt and The Pain

"Hiding your hurt only intensifies it. Problems grow in the dark and become bigger and bigger, but when exposed to the light of truth, they shrink. You are only as sick as your secrets. So take off your mask, stop pretending you’re perfect, and walk into freedom"-Purpose Driven Life

Being able to See

There are many things in my life that I am suddenly able to see, just because God has helped me look at them with a new set of eyes.


I think one of the greatest problems we face has to do with our inability to see The HAND of God moving in all our circumstances in spite of our doing or not doing, failure or success, ups and downs and just everything we go through in life.



Seeing is powerful, as an artist, I sketch a lot and one of the hardest lessons to learn is, just to sketch exactly what is in front of me and not what I think is in front of me. I think there is something inside us that always wants to rely on ourselves. But once I trust my eyes and my hand to sketch exactly what I see, with all concentration and sometimes less effort-the results are profound. Whereas when I get side tracked and think, "that persons nose can't be that big, let me shorten it a bit or or the distance between that persons nose and mouth can't be that short and I widen it a bit- I loose control and you can guess the result- I miss the resemblance and most of all it doesn't look right.

Bringing this lesson in a spiritual context can be uplifting too. If I trust God, keep my eyes focused on Him and believe He would work things out, My faith remains unshaken and the results are always a blessing. But when I begin to think inside of me that it might not work out and I loose concentrating on God and His Word and start worrying about the issue and concentrating on my words, which most of the time are never in agreement with God's - I fail!

So I have learnt not trust in myself but in God. It is easier said than done but I thank God for this constant reminder."Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths"- Proverbs 3:5,6

The agony and the ecstasy

There are times we are up and really up ! It's a mountain top experience and we are rejoicing, it seems all faith makes sense and God is love becomes our anthem! We sing and our neighbours think we have won the lottery! It's joy unspeakable and full of glory! Those are great times and how I wish life could always remain that way, but alas-it ain't that easy!

There are also days that we sigh, cry, moan, complain, refrain, and run into castles of despair that even have dungeons of discouragement! Ah hah! Where is God now? Where is the joy! We have forgotten the way to sing, our throats can hardly be cleared! What has gone wrong? Hmmm brothers and sisters- LIFE IS NOT A BED OF ROSES! THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY are all part of what makes life worth the living.

If you are in the light- REJOICE! But if you are in the DARK SHADES! Still rejoice because NO CONDITION in YOUR LIFE WILL BE PERMANENT, THE ONLY CONSTANT THING IS CHANGE!

May the GOOD LORD help us in the changing scenes of life! I want to trust HIM at all times!

My times my times are in Thy hand
Whatever, they may be
Pleasing or Painful
Dark or Bright
As best, may seem to thee
-from one of my favourite songs

Silence

"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.- Proverbs 10: 19



Sometimes you just have to learn to keep quiet!
Sometimes silence is gold
Sometimes our lives will know no better
Than our lips, we fold

Don't get me wrong, my idea is clear
We love to speak for people to hear
But sometimes the rhythm is not at its peak
And to the solitude of silence, must we sneak

Could I say better, could I say worse
The years of regret and of remorse
You can remember, so can I
So don't let the "non-silence" make you cry

Alas, this is my admonition for you today
For all you speakers who love to say....!
Keep it shut and let the Lord speak to you
There's always something He wants you to do!

-@ Adebanji Alade Silence 2009

STOP!

We are living in a fast world where almost everything gets done so quickly. We go to work quickly, have to finish our work on deadlines, we end up in the luuch room eating quickly, we join the band wagon to leave work and gasp in the rush hour quickly. The Internet is quick and when it does work to our desired speed we rake and rant for faster service.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm and suddenly all this can get into our spiritual lives and we want to have a fast and quick relationship with God! Hmm Well, God has been known from the ancient of days to kind of never be in a hurry! "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." II Peter 2:8- so sometimes God can take ages and He also teaches us to be still and patient-Psalm 46:10-10-"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

In a follow up to this, my life was really getting out of control until I was meditating one day and God said,"STOP!"

But there was more to the STOP than what I thought, each of those letters meant something I needed to do.

So here is how it went

S- SOLITUDE with GOD- Ahh we just can't be in quietness, just you and God and maybe a pen, paper, your Bible and that devotional or bible study book. We just need that time uninterrupted. God LOVES it, our lives would be fresher for it and most of all we'll feel His valuable presence again!

T- TUNE- Get in TUNE with God- Sometimes we get out of step with God we know it! We just don't seem to be operating on the same frequency. God wants our heartbeat and His to rhyme and that's no joke, because HE LOVES us! How about that?

O- ORGANIZE- Get your life ORGANIZED- every part, God seldom likes what some of us sit pretty and console ourselves by saying, "it's alright, it's organised mess." No!! Those documents must be filed, properly and according to date, section and type, those clothes in the wardrobe must be sorted, those letters must be replied, that room must be tidy, that..............uuurggggghhhhhhhh!

P- PRIORITIZE- Get what is important done and leave the less important till after the most important has been done! We need not put off that pressing thing that is right in front of us, always begging for attention but like a giant we avoid it. My tax return was like that to me but thanks God I got it done before the deadline!

Let try and S T O P! And in the midst of chaos, quick and hurried lives we can bask in the glory of Gods peaceful presence!

THE PLAN OF THE ENEMY

The plan of the plan of the enemy is......... to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..........."-John 10:10 Now, this doesn't sound funny! There are so many people out there that just don't understand the plan of the enemy for their lives.




The picture you see here was a live shot I took of a Solid BMW car that had been wrecked on my way to my studio in Chelsea. The plan of the People who made this car wasn't for it to end up like this. They built the car to be enjoyed and cruised along the road for the comfort and easy going of the user. BUT if this car is mis-used, abused or carelessly handled without following the basic instructions or even if simple road user rules and regulations are not adhered to-THIS CAR IS DOOMED TO BE IN THIS STATE.

This brings me to the point- GOD CREATED US FOR A REASON - He put it in this fashion,"....I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."-John 10:10. God created us to have life! To enjoy life! To cruise along life's journey without the wrecking and destroying that the enemy brings into it. BUT if we don't follow Gods basic instructions in THE BIBLE, or follow the rules and regulations in HIS WORD, we are DOOMED to be destroyed just like that car.

Please, as you go along life's journey take a pause and think, " IS THIS THE LIFE I WAS MADE TO LIVE?" or "IS THERE A BETTER LIFE FOR ME SOMEWHERE?"

I must honestly tell you that Jesus Christ came to the world so that we wouldn't be used and abused by the enemy of our souls. The plan of the enemy is to steal, kill and finally destroy you BUT God's plan for you is that YOU SHOULD HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY. The choice is up to you, God cannot lie, He means what He says. If you really need a changeover. Simply Pray to this unseen God to HELP YOU FIND THE TRUE MEANING OF LIFE, I PROMISE YOU HE WILL REVEAL HIMSELF TO YOU IN A WONDERFUL WAY!

FINDING YOUR MATCH

This has been one of the greatest quests of life, When a man or woman seeks their life partner. The divorce rate today almost makes one feel the impossibility of a perfect union made in heaven could ever exist. But the truth is, God designed this package to last and He even has all the maintenance procedures in place, when it goes wrong. The problem with us humans today is that we have often looked to the wrong sources fro help.




While sorting out my three year old son's socks this morning, a routine I usually practice, I noticed that he had more single socks than perfect pairs. I searched all around the house for the second pairs but all to no avail. Then I now lined them all up just to count the number of socks that were actually single and then suddenly the reflection of socks in the mirror produced them in pairs! Then I thought to myself the mirror to the socks is exactly what God is to us. If we line up our lives right in front of God focusing only on Him, He will produce to us our perfect match. Sometimes it would be vain looking in vain in the wrong places, I think we need to look back to God, he created us and He knows exactly the right match for us. God knows how he will help us to deal with every other thing that follows but from experience and from other peoples testimonies, they ALWAYS HAD A DEEP SILENT, SMALL VOICE THAT REGISTERED WITH THEIR SPIRIT WHEN THE RIGHT PERSON CAME ALONG. It is my prayer that if you are seeking your life partner - Try focusing on God, tell Him how helpless you are in doing this without His divine help and TO YOUR SURPRISE YOU'LL BE SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT DOING JUST THAT WILL PRODUCE YOUR PERFECT MATCH. It might sound all to simple and easy but the principles of this are SURE!


"And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."

-Genesis 1 : 20-22

AND ADAM SAID, THIS IS NOW BONE OF MY BONES, AND FLESH OF MY FLESH: SHE SHALL BE CALLED WOMAN BECAUSE SHE WAS TAKEN OUT OF MAN- Genesis 1: 23