I would like to share with you a message I entitled the “Unknown Place “.
I also call it the unfamiliar zone.
When you are living your life and everything is going great and suddenly everything horribly goes wrong. You may have been married and all of a sudden the marriage comes to an end; you may have been carrying a child and suddenly you lose the child; engaged to be married and suddenly the engagement comes to an end; you have amazing parents and suddenly you lose one of them to death. It can be anything when life was amazing and suddenly you are in an Unfamiliar place.
You are learning to live again without a husband; your finances are not right or you are learning to live again without a mother or a child. This is the place when you are hopeless ; confused with no sense of direction and you are in need of supernatural help and encouragement. It is like You do not see a way out of the situation and everything is a blackout .The unfamiliar place can break you down if you do not handle it well. You may end up on the verge of depression; not knowing how to direct your emotions; your anger and hurt. This place may destroy your self-confidence. Life is always about making progress and growth as a person. Life is a process and you never arrive or stay in one place not experiencing some kind of shaking.
Sometimes do not focus on what is going wrong but on what you are learning out of the situation.
Let me also share a few pointers on what I do when I am in that place where everything is unfamiliar.
1) I accept that my life is not my own and I am only living for God and he has control of my life and has the final say. If need be I cry and express my emotions that way; I let it all out. I do not keep it all inside as that is not a good thing to do. In most cases I find myself in need of my own space away from the noise and everyone else to meditate on God’s word and to understand what he is saying to me.
2) Worship music helps me to release my emotions. I focus my attention on God. Prayer sometimes is difficult. You will try to open your mouth and words cannot come out because you are hurt .Worship music will lift you up to have the energy to pray.
3) I work on my confidence in God by listening to a lot of preachers that i resonate with like Apostle Arome Osayi and especially sermons talking about what I will be going through. It can come as a shock no matter how strong you are. Loss will make you feel lessor than you are.
4) I normally do not share my issues with everyone as this can be a wrong move. Early on when I was young and naïve I once shared the details of my life with someone I considered family and only to find out one day that this person was not as dear to me as they pretended to be. What brought me to an unknown place was sharing with everyone and it destroyed my confidence and left a wound on my heart which took time to heal. It was a lesson in the sense that I learnt that I cannot just share everything with everyone in good conscience that they will keep it to themselves. I would say be careful of who share your life issues with.
5) I stay reciting on Psalms 91 vs 1 and other bible verses that resonate with the situation. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”Even though I do not understand what God is doing; I know that He is still my God, he has the final say . I know that God is still in control. I put the verses together on an A4 page and sometimes laminate them so that i boost my faith by reading them over and over.
6) I Look up to God and pray in tongues a lot. Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
7) Never curse God for you will die or your life will take a turn for the worst. Whatever happens in my life; whether it Is a test or the enemy has a hand in it I always remember that I only have God and I stay with God and that i am not alone.
8) Be grateful; Remember the last time God helped you when you were going through yet another tumultuous episode. The same God who helped you last time will help you once again, sometimes even when you got yourself in a situation. Go shows up and helps you out. Be grateful and Thank God for what is going right in your life as the enemy wants you to focus on the negative.
9)Stop worrying–Matthew 6:25-34
Verse 34 says Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Learn to re-direct the worry into God’s hands. Worry does not add a single hair to your head or solve any issues but it keeps you busy.
An unfamiliar place can be a place to learn; if your boyfriend left you for another woman maybe this happened because God has something better for you and maybe that relationship was not allowing your growth so stop worrying and look up to God.
You may be going through a difficult time right now and you think you’re stuck in the unknown place not knowing what to do next. I am here to remind you that God sees your heart. Allow the healing process to take place. God will never leave you nor forsake you. Isaiah 43 vs 2 says When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
We all go through things we do not understand but when you are in that unknown place; who else do you have except God. No one else has your best interests at heart more than God. Stay with God.
The Unknown is a journey to a beautiful place and before you know it; suddenly God shows up; heals your heart, provides a new mate; provides a new job; heals your finances; blesses you with another child etc.
Always remember that God allowed that thing to happen which means there is a way to get out of it-God’s way.