“LIFE IS FULL OF UPS AND DOWN!”
I loved this statement from a close family friend this week! That’s it! It’s all a part of the human experience we ALL go through. I’ve been going through YEARS of a rough patch! I told my daughter, Ember, I’m the queen of falls yesterday. I may fall a million times (NO SHAME!!!!), but I get back up a million and one! That’s life! But the GREAT NEWS I want us KNOWING is that GOD’S PRESENCE IS WITH US THROUGH THE ENTIRE JOURNEY- THE LOWEST OF THE LOWS AND THE HIGHEST OF THE HGHS! Yeah, baby!
I can boast of my weaknesses because those are the times when God’s strength comes shining through. God and I have a little joke between us that whenever I want to complain, ‘God, what is this?’ He says, ‘Nik, My grace is sufficient, sweetie! Suck it up, buttercup!’ No one has a perfect life, and we all have our share of difficulties and troubles, but as they say in Nigeria, “God dey (God is here!)!” He is in complete control of everything and everyone. It’s just for us to develop a relationship with Him so we can know His voice and guidance for our personal lives.
Like this morning, God blew me away with His closeness! A Facebook friend commented something yesterday that I got a little bit upset about that it looked like I was “borderline worshipping” our family friend, Ceri, who I call my God influencer. I wanted to immediately write a post about my low state when I met Ceri and how someone called me from Nigeria saying, “Don’t worry, Aunty, God will send an angel to calm your mind.” Fast forward to this morning, I asked God what page to go to for my appointment with Him, and because it was 6:33, I decided to go to page 6 of 146 pages and look what incredibly showed up there:
“GOD WILL SEND YOU AN ANGEL TO CALM YOUR MIND”
I can’t get over these words from someone who called me from Nigeria. The crazy thing is that God didn’t just send me an angel, He honestly sent me an entire team of angels. Like my husband questioned my relationship with our friend, Ceri, yesterday (hubs is low-key jealous!) and I had to explain to him how Ceri faithfully does these messages every morning in a group that I now upload to YouTube and no shame, I replay them repeatedly to literally help calm my mind.”
THIS WAS NO COINCIDENCE THAT GOD TOOK ME THERE FOR MY ALONE TIME WITH HIM! It was God’s loving way of revealing His invisible Presence with me, as if saying, ‘Nik, I’m with you, I’m with you, I’m with you! I am aware of EVERYTHING going on with you!’ THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH! Honestly, Ceri is just an example of the deep love God shows me. God gives me direct and specific message through Ceri! No joke! There was a message from Ceri that I shared and had to replay tens of times to calm my mind. It wasn’t funny the level of stress I was dealing with, but in God’s loving way, He connected me with Ceri and some recordings that he faithfully woke up to share in a group. Thanks, my God influencer!
Even the one where I told you guys recently about me crying to God in a sad moment and seeing if God had anything to say to me through Ceri, and his latest group message was God speaking to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me (me at that moment!)? Tell the people to get moving!”. Again, I took it as a direct message from God to me, and I left Nigeria, but still sad, weak, and fretful.
Then in another message through Ceri, once I returned to the US, I felt God saying to go into Rocky mode as if I was preparing for a big fight. I began these 5K runs every day as my time with God to strategize and get clarity on how to tackle my life. Let me tell you, a NEW Nikki returned to Nigeria. That weak, fretful Nik needed to say bye-bye! God has turned all my mourning into joy, and His super strength has emerged! This morning, I was able to lie next to my husband and say, “Hon, don’t worry about anything; our God is with us! Let’s move confidently forward.” What the devil means to harm us, God will use it for our good! I’m more committed to my family than ever before! Devil, go away!
Ceri has been a HUGE part of this transformation. I pray that he sees the changes in me and the power of his words. Not only has Ceri given me more faith (God repetitively reveals His Presence to me through Ceri, but he also gives me the WISDOM to tackle my life. His group recording of Feb 11, 2022, about loving others the way God loves us unconditionally with lots of grace and mercy, is the reason why I was able to get on a flight from the US to Nigeria and say to my husband, “Forget the past boo, we’re moving forward.”
Don’t be ashamed of your low moments! They are the times God is doing His best work to bring out the best in us! Heads high, my peeps. We’re rolling with God! Make sure you are having your alone times with Him! Ceri is one of my go-to places to seek God’s face (no shame!), but He talks to each of us individually, so find your place to hear from Him! THE BEST LIFE IS CLOSE TO GOD! Your girl here has decided to have fun with this entire situation! I’m watching and laughing! God tells me to take a lighthearted view of trouble because HE IS on my side!!! He is with you too!