Discerning Opportunities For Growth

Hello everyone, it’s Tamara here!

How has this economy been for us? It’s becoming hard not to take thoughts o! I was reading this scripture earlier this week — “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Matt. 6:25), and I am realizing how it’s so easy to think a verse of scripture is easy until it’s time to do it!

It’s also becoming more apparent to me that any commandment given in the Bible is great warfare. It’s been a struggle for me in this ‘Emi lokan’ economy. I have even romanced the thoughts of going back to a ‘9–5’ job because at least I will have a steady income.

As a business owner, I have targets to meet monthly to break even or even make a profit, but the market hasn’t been moving compared to last year. I see fear creeping in every now and then because I wonder how I will survive with how things are going.

Have you gone to the market recently? The prices I use to make five orders are meeting just 2; I’ve had to increase my prices while explaining tirelessly to my customers to avoid losing them.

But that scripture has refused to leave my thoughts. And why now, of all times?

It was not until a sister who came to patronize me on Monday explained somethings to me that I better understood it. Frank referred her, and this conversation blessed me. Let me share.

I told her my struggles and the scriptures in my heart, and she explained that if Jesus said to take no thought for your life, He was not oblivious to the fact that there would be times like this. Jesus asks us not to take thoughts because it is not the way of the kingdom. God’s mind about every situation is the kingdom’s way of responding to those situations.

In my mind, I felt, ‘He is God now. But I am a creature, and I live in Lagos’. But as she kept talking, I saw that God desires that we capture how He thinks about every situation. And the reason for making any decisions should not be outside this mind. It should not be because of external factors. In these times, we are not permitted to do anything without being led.

Pheww!

The part that hit home the most was when she said that one of the best ways to grow spiritually is through experiences where we can exercise/obey what we learn by preaching. It is called ‘dealings’. They may not be experiences we are willing to go through, but we are most blessed if we yield to God, as He leads us through them and be discerning enough to not murmur through them but keep our gaze on God.

So the current economy and things happening around us are ‘dealings’ and opportunities to grow — respond to God more accurately? And I should stop complaining about it? (I believe we all know the answer now🤧)

Anyway, I am not applying for jobs again. God is not leading me in that direction. She also advised that I try content creation and other things to boost my marketing. I’ll just focus on that. I will also focus on building my faith to discern this season and trust God for the right responses for life.

Tamara.