Monday 31 January 2011

Sabbatical, Good People Gone Bad and Other Stuff

Happy New Year to you my blog friends! I know 2011 is no longer so new but since I never got the chance to say that to you before I thought I could be excused for saying so now.
So what have I been up to? I have not posted anything in over a month and a half and not visited blogs I follow in weeks. Well, I was on a self given sabbatical from the blog world, face book and a number of other things. I needed time out to clear my head and think without my everyday distractions. I have to admit, I missed reading my favorite blogs occasionally. I have a lot of catching up to do. I am happy to say that my sabbatical was fruitful and worth it but oh my oh my I am glad to be back. A special thanks to LDP who left me a lovely message, I appreciated the message very much and was touched beyond measure.

Lately, I have been impressed by my young sister. She is growing to be such a wise young woman. I was talking to her the other time and she said something that made me say 'Wow! Young sis you are so right'. For a long time my sister went through a very challenging time. 
She graduated from university and searched and searched for a job to no avail. Sometimes she would be called for interviews, some which she was told she had done well but still was never called back again. One time she went to register with an employment agency and when they saw long she had been without a job they laughed in her face and told her it was going to be difficult to find her anything because employers would question her long period of unemployment. At the time we had the conversation I am about to tell you about she was at her wits end. She had tried everything she could think of  - praying, fasting, sending out her CV to as many companies and agencies as she could and yet her situation remained the same. She often exclaimed how painful it was for her to see her friends and college mates doing well whilst she seemed to be stuck in one place. 
'Shona!' she said to me 'Now I know better than to judge anybody. Now if I see or hear that somebody who used to be good is now involved in illegal or bad things I will not be so quick to judge them. Maybe, they would have tried to wait and do things the right way with no results and in the end they just gave up'. I could not agree more with her and a part of me actually  felt ashamed of myself when I thought of the number of times I had irrationally judged people without even considering the fact that probably there was more to their story than I knew or could see.

I believe that my sister was going through a refining period. The Bible in several passage for instance Zechariah 13:9 talks about God refining His people like silver and testing them like gold. I know, believe me I know the seasons of refining are hard and not for the fainted hearted  because it is so tempting to just give up and sat 'whatever'. I developed a new respect for my sister as I saw how she went through this season. She clung to God. Sometimes she would would fall and be so disheartened but she always got back up and continued trusting God with a new determination. Right before my eyes I saw her relationship with God growing in an amazing way, I saw her growing in wisdom and knowledge. She changed. I cannot put it exactly into words but she has become a different person in a positive way. God recently blessed her with a very good job, not only that but with a whole lot of other things. I strongly believe  that God was preparing her for another stage of her life and I cannot wait to see what He has in store for her.
Trusting God is not always easy. It is one of the hardest things to open the Bible and read passages that proclaim that we are over comers and victors when the circumstances in our lives do not point that way and even the future doesn't seem to look any better. It just doesn't make sense but let us not forget that the Word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and it stands forever (Isaiah 39: 8). Thank you young sister for standing up and out and showing me by example that God always comes through for those  who completely trust Him and cling onto Him especially when those strong winds are blowing hardest.

4 comments:

  1. Oh my, this is so inspiring. And like I am currently believing "None who puts their trust in God will be put to shame"...this is a powerful testimony...

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  2. I enjoyed reading this... Our trust should only be on God! I agree.

    Dear Shona, I have tagged you in the stylish and versatile blogger award. See my blog for what you should do.

    - LDP

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  3. Wow! My first award. Thank you LDP. I will head over to your blog and see what I should do.

    @Rita, thank you for the great comment.

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  4. Oh mehn! Hope your sister is all the better for it. It's pretty hard to remain hopeful and trusting when things are disappointing, i should know, but God always comes true as you know!

    Good luck to your sis

    xoxo

    Adiya

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