I know I have not yet shared my full testimony, but here is a little part of it. So, I have a family of seven and yes, it is nice having a big family especially at Christmas and birthdays etc, nothing can replace those precious moments. However, having a big family provides a very easy way for God to teach us patience. Living in a house with so many different personalities and so on can certainly be challenging. For me, being at home as of recent has been very stressful and has been the opposite of peaceful. We are a very, very busy family, between my parent’s individual businesses and our ministry it almost feels like we can never get a moment to ourselves. So, in a nutshell, I have not felt peace in my home in a long time.

Towards the end of the last academic year, I got the exact same word from God spoken to me by three completely different people. The message was peace, that God was about to bring me and my family peace and freedom. When I heard this Word, I was ecstatic and held onto it like life itself, because I honestly felt like I was at my breaking point and God had just given me a lifeboat. I was so excited for the Word and just wanted it to manifest immediately, I wanted an instant miracle. However, our God doesn’t always operate like that, especially when He is teaching us something. It’s been about 7/8 months since I was given that Word and in all honesty, I have not seen the complete manifestation of God’s promise. Naturally, I was upset, angry and frustrated and just wanted God to move, but God is the kind of Father that will place what is good for us above how we feel. God knew that if He gave me the peace I searched for there and then I would not have gained anything, nothing would really be learnt. God used my situation to help me become more like Him. God’s plan was never to just hand me peace, but to teach me how to have inner peace, the kind of Peace that is not dependent upon my situation or any person.

When I look back at the root of my stress and frustration it was always anchored to things not going the way I wanted and someone getting on my nerves, but we can never have peace when we act like that. Each time something goes wrong our peace will go with it, and that is not real peace, that is happiness and happiness is always tied to whatever is happening in our current situation. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and He had a much busier schedule that I ever did and faced some interesting characters much worse than I ever have, yet He was still able to sleep through the storm and have peace through it all. You can find this story in Mark 4:35-41. This is where God wants us to get to, to the place where nothing can shake us and we can trust God in all thing. However, getting there is not an easy journey and God will send many tests our way to get us there.

So far, God has taken me through lessons of obedience, and He is currently teaching me how to have mercy on people the way He has mercy on me. It’s crazy what it takes and what we have to let go of to actually have Peace. For example, being able to submit to the authority God has placed above you (obedience), such as your parents. This can be very difficult especially when you feel like they are abusing their power over you, but you have to remember your service in ALL you do is unto God and not man. There is such a great reward in every act of obedience, every act!

In addition, I am currently on the lesson of mercy, being able to have mercy on people the way God has mercy on us. When you can allow God’s love to overflow in your heart and cover the multitude of a person’s sins and overlook people’s flaws you will break a serious bondage over your life. 1 Peter 4:8. When you get to a point when no one can offend you because you only see God’s mercy and love instead of what they have done wrong or how they have hurt you, you will have inner peace. Often, we talk about how the devil loves to create confusion and divide people with offences, as true as that is, sometimes God will allow someone to offend you to show you areas in your life that you need to work on. God will use other people to teach you patient, long-suffering and how to love. Galatians 5: 22-26. These are all characteristics that we must have because it is what separates us from those who do not follow God and is what makes us like our Heavenly Father. Yes, the devil is very active, but let’s not give him too much credit because all power is given to our Heavenly Father, not him! Mathew 28:18. If you really believe that God has the supreme authority, you will know that nothing happens in your life without Him first knowing about it. So, when something is going wrong ask yourself what is God trying to teach me right now because there is a new lesson from God to us every day, we just have to be sensitive enough to recognise the hand of God over us. This process has been so hard and trying and I know for a fact it is not over yet, but I have learnt so much and these lessons are honestly transforming me to become more like Christ in everything I do, and truly I know this way I get to become who God created me to be.

I don’t know what you are going through or what God is teaching you right now, but I know that our God is someone who delights in every detail of our lives. I was once so far deep in depression I nearly committed suicide, I thought I had reached the end and I would never belong to Christ the way the bible teaches. But God destroyed every single lie of the enemy over my life and He did it with His love and mercy. Despite how much those years hurt me, God was faithful and He never left me and there was a reason for my pain, just like there was a reason for His on the cross. God will never leave you.

Stay Blessed x