By Miriam from Nigeria
Sometimes, when I am going through challenges, even the little things get on my nerves.
For example; I finished the brand of coffee I brought from Nigeria; the one I was used to drinking every morning. Now that it’s all gone, I am forced to use what is available in the country I am currently staying in. The brand of coffee from my home country was what has been keeping me connected to the few areas of familiarity I have left.
After I woke up one morning recently, the first thing my friend (who I’m staying with) said to me as I walked into her kitchen was, “I have bad news for you.”
My brain was half asleep, and I was still feeling groggy. All I wanted was a cup of coffee.
Then she said, “your French press is broken,” and I didn’t know what to do or what to say to her. The feelings and thoughts going through my mind overcame me. I thought I had outgrown these reactions to situations like this, and I found myself struggling to rise above them.
Do you experience moments like this?
Do you sometimes notice when experiences are different or maybe even familiar, you still find yourself reacting spontaneously? It’s as if your expressions, gestures, and feelings are all over the place.
In these situations, I found out that if I wasn’t intentionally conscious about what I was doing, my reactions could go the wrong way. What I am trying to explain is—depending on what brought about some experiences, I have become aware that I want to be watchful of myself; that my reactions are positive and edifying. Life is a continuous cycle that can go negatively or it can lead to maturing and it’s a process that it’s important to me to be intentional about.
Do you let the little things that you experience dwindle your growth process? I say, let’s instead use these experiences as instruments that aid our maturity in Christ. For example; how would you know you have patience if you aren’t challenged regularly with feelings of disappointment, distress, delay, or suffering? Or how would you know that you are a forgiving person if offenses didn’t happen to you?
As all these things went through my mind after some of these events recently, I took time out to reflect, process, and evaluate. I felt bad that I allowed myself to be in a negative mood and I realized that I could have changed my thinking, even if it was tough. I could have asked the Holy Spirit to help me. Realizing this took me to the foot of the cross; I told God I was sorry and asked Him to forgive me. Then I asked the Holy Spirit to help me.
Being a child of God is about allowing His spirit to teach, direct, guide, counsel, and help me through every day of my life. When I don’t do that, I am not aligned with Him and life becomes hectic, chaotic, and it’s not peaceful.
Though that morning started out rough, it was a learning curve for me to grow as a child of God and for that I am so grateful.
