Iron Sharpens Iron.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

 (Proverbs 27:17)

Happy New Year!
I know I am so late. I was much occupied with a lot of stuff and when I eventually put all those things behind me, I wasn’t sure on what experience I wanted to share as my 1^st update for the year. This is not what I planned on posting this week, but as things unfolded in my life yesterday, I knew the write-up I prepared earlier could wait till next week.

As we all know, no race is easy to run and only those who persevere are able to complete any race. This is the same for the Christian race. My walk with God had been rough for a couple of weeks. I just couldn’t bring myself to approach God’s throne. I woke up every day and instead of my usual devotion, I just said a word of prayer, which was not from my heart, but said it anyway in order not to feel guilty and then stepped out of the house to go about my duties. It was so hard for me to pray. I could feel myself drifting away from God’s presence and I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it.

Thankfully, that changed yesterday. I felt bored at home and decided to call my best friend, who is also a Christian. Our relationship is so special, that over the years, we have been there for each other in every way, which includes encouraging each other in our Christian journey. My intention was to know how she was doing and chat for a little bit as it had been a week since we last spoke. But as God would have it, our chit-chat centered on religious stuff and since I never save face with BF I ended up pouring out my heart to her. I told her about the distance I had created between me and God for the past couple of weeks. After hearing myself talk, I realized how far I had kept God at arm’s length. BF and I decided to deal with the issue right there by praying together over the phone. We prayed, worshiped and read the bible. I gradually began to feel some unspeakable joy well up within me, my troubled soul became peaceful and right there, God restored to me the Joy of my salvation. It was right there I understood Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: 28 “Come to me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” For the past five weeks, I had been trying to fight my battle myself, I had been trying to tackle my many situations without involving Jesus, I had been deliberately ignoring the voice of truth, and since I am powerless, all my troubles had overwhelmed me to the point of almost driving me into a state of depression.

God has not promised us an easy life as we choose to walk in his ways however, having people who have the same goals as we do, who we can call upon anytime to encourage us, is a key to making the race bearable. As we all know, no man is an island. I am thankful for my best friend because I am 100% sure that I would not be back to my normal self if we hadn’t cultivate the habit of encouraging each other and bearing each other’s burdens.

Surround yourselves with Godly people, people you can always talk to when things go shaky in your life, people who can help you back on your feet when you fall.