I was in the kitchen trying to prepared my food and l needed to clean out my deep fryer to put a new oil to fry my chips. I finished pouring the dirty oil in a plastic bag to dispose of it so l will not block my drainage as l was about to put it away, l accidentally dropped it on the floor and the oil split all over my clothes and on the floor, l think you can imagine my ordeal. I was covered in oil and the whole place was slippery, l just want to cry and run away. I was hungry and tired and now l have to clean myself and my kitchen. I looked around and l just don’t know where to start.

Why am l telling you this story? God always used incidents to speak to me the most time. As l was cleaning the mess, l was close to tears and l was saying to Myself, how did l manage to drop this oil and put me in this mess, sound familiar? You are in trouble and you can’t explain how you end up there, I was hungry, all l want to do is eat, l don’t know if you are having a challenging day and all you want to do is at least is to eat and that one too gets complicated. I remember years ago l was having a very bad day and l stopped by Kentucky fried chicken to buy food, l was on the queue for a while and when it get to my turn I was told they run out of chicken in a chicken shop, l could not believe it. It’s like l just want to eat. Life is truly a drama. So back to my story, as l was cleaning, God began to speak to me about the mess, you know our life can be so messy that all we want to do is cry and run away, and that was my first reaction when l first split the oil. Our life can be so messy that we do not know where to start or how to get out of it. I was upset but l started to clean it step by step and it was beginning to look better, if you have ever split oil on the floor, you will understand where l am coming from, oil is so difficult to clean from the floor. I used to have a cleaner that stop coming to work because she can not clean pots or oily fryers. you have to remember l was hungry and that is the last thing l want to deal with, but it will not go away. God begins to speak to me and he said “most time our life needs so much cleaning and it takes a process to get it to where it needs to be. We are in a rush and we want to skip the process. Just picture the process of cleaning the floor full of oil. I have to kneel down on the floor to wipe it with a kitchen towel, then use my mop to continue the cleaning, You need to take your time to clean it or else you can fall and break your bones or it can lead to death. I hope you are getting the picture. You kept saying to God when am l going to relax and enjoy my meal and God is saying l need to clean your mess so you can enjoy your environment and you will not fall. You need to go through the process. I love listening to music when l am in the kitchen and l remember the track that was playing at the time was (it’s not over till is over) and guess what,l was too upset to hear the message in the song, it’s that familiar to you? You are too upset to hear God in the midst of your mess, all you want to do is eat, just like me. When l finished cleaning, l felt better and it’s wasn’t as bad as l thought and guess what l end up eating another meal because l just lost appetite for the food, do you know sometimes after running around and stressing so much and when we finally get what we think we needed, it might not worth all the effort because it’s not in God’s will, is permissive will. I just need to take one step at a time. God used this incident to ministered to me because so much was happening in my life and God needs to reassure me that it’s not over till it’s over.

We are all at different stages of our life, some they are almost there and for some, they have not started at all and that is why you can not compare yourself with anyone. I nearly miss out on what God was saying to me because l was too upset and l just want to eat, like most of us in our troubles, we just want peace and be happy. As human beings, we can only see with our physical eyes unless God opens our spiritual eyes to see. God is working it out, but it might take time, but it will be worth waiting for. I might decide to continue cooking my food in the mess and wait till l finished eating before cleaning, what if l slip and break my leg because l want to skip the process. It can even affect my family, someone might walk into the kitchen without realizing there was oil on the floor, and that can be disastrous, our decision can affect people around us. When you are making a decision, it is not just about you, many lives are attached to your life. Most time we procrastinate or we take a shortcut to clean our mess. Wait on the Lord. The promises may tarry but they will come to pass. He will never leave you or forsake you. Don’t run ahead of God. God has a way of turning our mess into a message. We all love to hear a good story or share a beautiful testimony, but nothing just happens, you have to go through it before you can say you have a breakthrough, if there is nothing to break, you can not go through. Most time l found myself in a really bad mess and at that time l can not seriously see any way out and my hope is completely on God, and sometimes l felt like God has forgotten about me and he has changed his postcode, just when l was about to throw in the towel, God will turn that mess to a message for me, but the time l was going through that mess, l felt like l was in a real fire and you just need someone to put some water on you to cool you down, but until the process is completed, your testimony is not completed. People asked me all the time, why are you always happy? You don’t want to be in my shoes. I chose not to wear my problem like makeup. I cried and l make my supplication to God, but l don’t let it wear me down and affect people around me. Happiness is a choice

I remembered years ago, l was going to lunch with a colleague and all of a sudden he disappeared next to me and l was wondering where he disappeared to and when he appeared he told me he has to quickly run from a man walking towards us because the man always talked about the problem and most time his lunch break will be over talking about the problem with this fellow. You see man will get tired of hearing your problem, it’s only God that will never leave you or tired of hearing your voice. But if all you ever do in prayer is complain and complain, then you are not doing yourself any favor. The psalmist says” l will enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his court with praise. Philippians 4 vs 4-7 says Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. That’s how l approach God in prayer. I love to praise my way through.

We always have a choice to cut corners.
I remembered years ago when l was at the edge of giving up hope of giving birth to my dream of Time2Shine. Time2Shine is a vision God gave to me to provide a platform for Christians to showcase their gift and glorifies his name through song. I heard God say to me that he have a choice not to carry the cross and went through all the mess and humiliation, he could have stopped the process, but he endured the pain for me and you. I was encouraged to carry on and completed the process and that’s why l can share my experiences to encourage others. I just want to encourage you not to give up on God because he will never give up on you. God allowed us to go through some situations to glorify his name.
In the book of John 9. It was a story of a blind man from birth and the disciples are asking Jesus if the man sinned or his parent. Did that sound familiar? You thought God is punishing you and your friends and family thought you have sinned. The job went through the same situation, his friends thought he has definitely sinned against God, even his wife told him to curse God and died( Job 2 vs 9)We have to be careful the way we talk about people without knowing what God is doing with them. The bible says the blind man was blind for God to be glorified, some of this thing doesn’t make sense, but God knows. Let’s talk a bit about when God sent Moses to delivered the Israelites from the hand of the pharaoh. You will think it should be easy? right! but God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so he can destroy him in a big way and the news will spread more, if it happens at the first attempt, the reaction and the news will not be spectacular. God used that situation to spread fears and respect for the Israelites and their God. ( Exodus 9 Vs 12)People know not to mess up with the children of God because everyone hear how God destroyed Pharaoh and his armies in the Red Sea. It wasn’t easy for the Israelites to go through the hardship at the time, l am sure Moses will be so confused and tired of how many times he thought yes we are free and they are back to square one. There is always time and season. I am sure we can all relate to that, you are tired of waiting and you just want to be free. God gave you a vision and you are so excited and you thought God has spoken, everything should be straightforward and easy , If your vision is from God, you will go through process to matured you and also for God to take all the glory. Wait on God. You will soon be celebrated and your song of defeat will be change to victory song. I will finish with this story l read. There was a young man in Kansas City who realise he had a natural gift of cartooning. He sent many application letters to many media houses and no one was interested in this young man.
Fortunately for him, a church employ him to run the adverts for them , but he has a problem, he was homeless and the church offered to give him a room in an abandoned building . The room was a mice infected room , he took the room because he had no choice. The room became his bedroom and a studio with a mice as a room mates. This mice inspired this young man to build a multi billions entertainment brand MICKY MOUSE and the world famous entertainment centre called Disney land in California and Disney world in Florida . The name of this young man is Walt Disney. I wonder what will have become of him if he never go through that season of homelessness? My husband started property business because we were homeless .
I was driving one day and l saw a homeless man sleeping on the floor on a very very cold day and he was reading a book! That caught my attention . What is going through his mind? What do you see in the midst of your mess? God will use anything to trigger your exit from a season and your entry into a new season . Always ask God what you need to learn from your experience and never say “God why me”
The question is “What do you see?
He makes all things work together for our good.
Is not over until God say it’s over.