Musing on this scripture (John 12:24) and the Awakening Word.

*Die to live.* There is a quip (popular saying) that says 'when the the night is darkest, look at the sky for the silver lining that indicates the breaking of the day.' Another tells us to 'make lemonade out of the bitter lemons that life hands down to us.'
However, I believe the silver lining, healing, new doors only comes at that point when we give up and trust only on God. Most times, we build our hopes on human beings too much;
A university undergrad pins his hopes on an uncle's promise to give her a job after grad
A sister pins her hopes on the great job/looks that the suitor has without giving it a thought that one mishap can change everything
Some pin their hopes and dreams on just stepping out of the shores of Nigeria and believing that things will get better
Some brothers pin their hopes of breakthrough on marriage because they read that 'he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour'
Newbie couples immediately believe that conception will be certain and proceed to keep some money down for IVF in case things do not go the right way.

While planning ahead is important, God is saying that we should look on Him alone as the source of our sustenance.
The arm of flesh that we trust in has the potential to fail us.
The people we trust in can suddenly die and life will have to move on
The stock markets can crash and have your investments wiped away in a second
The magnificent house you own can be razed to the ground with a strange fire and nothing can be done
So, DO NOT TRUST IN WHAT YOU HAVE.
Rather, let's continue to depend on God at all times.
Make sure that your connection with God is so strong that when stuff happens, you will still be found in Him

For those who are at their lowest ebb, this passage tells us to rejoice
We are to rejoice and pray because God is our only hope and HE HAS NEVER AND WILL NEVER FAIL
We are to rejoice and pray because God is the 'oba to ngbo ekun aladura' (the one that listens to the cry of the prayerful)
We are to rejoice because with coach God in our corner, every opponent will be battered and shattered beyond recognition
We are to rejoice because God will comfort us, heal our bleeding wounds, and then kit us in His own armor.

Ha!
There is no greater joy than knowing that God is for you
All He tells us to do is to stop wallowing in the vomit of pity.
We should stop standing in the streets of life with our begging bowls, trying to get everyone else to attend to us.
Nah.
We are to carry our ragged, broken selves to the gates of God's mansion.
We are to tender our fears, sin, negative self-talk at His gates of prayers because He cannot behold that
Then, we should proceed to lift our eyes and run to embrace Him as He has already started running towards us
#Bashorun

Quite educative. We should look up to the author and finisher of our faith. #Inspired