As I sat and started to take stock of the past year and plan for 2021, I realized that I had learned a lot during the turbulent year of 2020. So many things happened that I would not have been able to handle if it were not for the grace of God. It is only when you are at the end of a situation you realize you should have trusted that God would see you through. It is funny, but this seems to be the norm. Someone once explained worry as “thinking that you have any control over the end result of any situation”. When I read that I was astounded. That is it. I act as if I can control how any situation is going to play out thereby becoming anxious when it does not end up the way I want it to.

Today I am going to share a few things I learned last year and how I intend to spend this year also.

Trust God

A year ago, I was pregnant, scared, worried, frustrated and everything in-between. My body does not do well with being pregnant and so this was a trying time for me. I know some people enjoy the process and are praying to experience it but for me, pregnancy could potentially kill me. So knowing that, I refused to get pregnant again, but there is only so much preparation you can take when God has a plan for you. I had gotten to the beginning of my 3rd trimester by being on complete bed rest, doctors visit 2x a week and sometimes spending days in the hospital, Not fun. My week started thus, I was happy, carefree on Sunday, Monday I started to feel a bit anxious, because the doctor’s visit was on Tuesday. Get through that, happy on Wednesday, anxious Thursday, doctors visit on Friday and finally free to relax and it went on for almost the entire time.

It was around this time that I finally had enough. I sat on my bed and wrote down all the things I was anxious about, cried ugly tears while talking to God about it. Then I felt better and walked to my husband and said “You know what? I’m done. I refuse to stress about this anymore, If I or the baby die, we die. I refuse to let the devil control my every existence because of this”. He looked at me like I was crazy and he said “You will be fine”. A few days later, I went in for a check up and I ended up having the baby. One scripture that stuck with me was Revelations 21:5

“Then the one sitting on the throne said: I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted.”

That’s the part that got me. His words are true and can be trusted because I had seen and experienced his words being true. Once I got that revelation, life was so much easier. My daughter spent 12 days in the NICU and I can tell you it was a breeze. They ended up sending us home because they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. Talk about true and trustworthy God.

Being Thankful

I wrote a series on thankfulness in the month of November 2020 and it embodied all I learnt in the year. I realized that being thankful isn’t a situational thing, it is a mindset thing. Once you have a mindset of thankfulness, you see the joy in every situation.

“Be joyful and sing as you come in to worship the Lord.” Psalm 100:2.

The situation might not warrant being thankful, but God does. I had to understand that how I felt had no bearing on who God is and what He said in His word. The Amplified Bible says

“in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thess 5:18.

Faith

This is something that I am still learning about. I thought I had faith when I went through the same thing with my first kid and stayed in the NICU for 8 months, but I was wrong. Faith isn’t something you learn and move on. It is something that changes based on the situation and the level of growth God wants for you. I learnt so much that I named my second kid “Imani”, the Arabic name for Faith. It was my way of honoring the child that God used to teach me about a different kind of faith. The type of faith where I relied on the word that he had spoken. I did not want to be pregnant again after going through the first experience I had, but God in His master plan decided that I needed to learn something else and He gave me the one thing I did not ask for. Now, one year later, I can honestly say that I am grateful for that experience. It taught me about the power of the tongue, how to encourage myself in His word and speak life into my life.

Spend some time today and reflect on your last year, what did you learn and how did the situations you went through shape your life?

“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.” AMP Romans 8:28.