Diamonds in the rust

Cliché, I know.?

But have you ever stopped to think of it?

Finding the rarest, precious gems in odd places? Discovering beauty in the mundane? Uncovering treasures hidden in undeserving earthen vessels?

If we stop to think this through, who are we to decide where good things should come from? Who are we to dictate where beautiful gems should be sourced? What validates our expectations of having the blessings we want come from pretty places?

In our flawed human nature, we have passed judgment on God’s blessings to us because they did not come in the packaging we expected.

Treasures of darkness…hidden riches of secret places (for context, the verse is Isaiah 45:3). For the longest time, I struggled to decipher the meaning of this subtle yet mysteriously deep verse.

What do you mean by treasures of darkness? Can you find treasures in darkness, where there’s no light to see? And where you bring a torchlight to aid your search, can you still call that a Treasure of Darkness?

Hidden riches in secret places? First of all, why are the riches hidden? Who hid them? How did the “hider” come about those riches, and why were they hidden?

I’ve learned that God takes us through certain processes we don’t appreciate to have certain experiences we never anticipated to build character in us. I used to wonder why He had to take us through all that stress to prove a point.

Now, I get it.

If we never went through these experiences, the eyes of our understanding would never be enlightened, as Apostle Paul said. Maybe, we would have been blind, completely oblivious to the more that exist.?

Or maybe not. Maybe, instead of complete blindness, it would have been partial, like seeing through a veil. Except the veil was black, hence, difficult to see THE MORE existing beyond THE BEYOND.

The lights of this revelation unravel noteworthy perspectives, among the many that exist, the fact that the treasures we desperately seek, heck, even fast and pray for, sometimes come in earthen vessels; ugly, local, charcoal-black, clay pots.

And if we’re so quick to judge exterior appearance, throwing discernment and sound judgment to the wind, we WILL throw these blessings we sought into the wind.

Now, this begs lots of questions; questions probing answers I do not have. But let’s go, because in the multitude of conversations with intelligent minds, answers are birthed.

How do you show up?

I would have started with “Do you show up?”, but if I have to ask that, you probably shouldn’t be reading this because the conversation would be different.

What belief systems guide your subconscious actions? What value systems guide your subconscious thinking that affects how you interact with people and places??What biases do we show up with that affect our efficiency in maximum capacity?

Have you healed or are you still a victim of your past (not a victor THROUGH your past)? Are you a puppet of process? Que Sera Sera?

More times than we’d like to admit, we blame circumstances on everything and everyone but us. We blame our past, our parents, the weather, our leaders, bosses at work, heck, we would have been blaming the mailman for not delivering motivation at the right time.

I have this mantra I repeat to myself on the days when I catch myself slipping into the blame game:

“My life is 100% my responsibility. No one’s coming to save me. That’s my job.”

As scary as this sounds and as hard as it can be to take in, this is one of the most liberating mantras ever. It detaches you from victimhood. It uncovers all undercovers, and most importantly, it gives you the freedom to be and the permission to do.

And this is where showing up comes in. Liberating yourself from all that blame-game pity-party victimhood allows you to step into the spotlight with authenticity, boldness, liberty, and courage.

It gives you the security complex, strong enough to not question your capacity to be in a room, yet humble enough to realize that you’re on a growth trajectory and mistakes are inevitable.?

(Side note: Mistakes are great. You should make more mistakes. It’s one of the most accurate feedback metrics for growth analysis. See! Mistakes, though erroneous, can be accurate, only if you change your perspective. How ironic!)

Maybe it’s time…

Scratch that. Not maybe.?

It is time. Time to unveil the gem that is YOU, time to stop hiding behind the veil of your past, and liberate yourself from wrong circles, voices, toxic culture, past failures, and flawed perspectives. Time to step audaciously into the spotlight like the one the world’s been waiting for.

Time to stop questioning your God-given potential and harness them to their zeniths as you should. Time to find YOU in GOD, not the world. Time to zone out of culturally limited perspectives and social constructs that aim at hinging all you carry and step into your God-zone, dispelling the darkness around you with the impeccable light you carry.?

Quit sitting on the sidelines. Being a spectator is boring and showing up in the shadow of who God designed you to be is a disservice to all whose destinies are attached to yours.?

Who has your ears?

I know, your first argument is no one. I mean, your ears are on the sides of your head. But are they really?

Who are you listening to? How do you control what you hear? How do you filter what gets into your subconscious, control your thoughts, edit your belief systems, and make you different from who you used to be?

Like people give testimonies about “doctors’ reports”, whose reports are you basing your judgments of self on?

Are you listening to mere mortals who today, are, and tomorrow are no more? Are you centering your self-realization on who people say you are, not who God says you are?

Do you take limitations as people describe, or do you question the existence of these limitations that stopped those ahead of you? Do you judge your beginning with the endings of others, putting a full stop where God didn’t even put a comma?

These questions are not to make you doubt YOU,?but to question all you thought you knew about yourself that ain’t backed up by scriptures.

It is time for that U-turn, to start paying attention to the people and content whom you find uninteresting, yet speak the truth you need to hear.

Your capacity and capabilities are God’s software in you, and sometimes, you need to break through doors to force them open, instead of turning back because you met a locked door.

Behind that door lies the treasure of darkness you fasted for. Fasting won’t bring out the treasures for you. It will point you to where it is and empower you to break the doors or buy the building and own the keys!

Stop letting the fears of those who have never stepped a mile on your shoes, or barely even know what your shoes look like, get to you. Stop letting the voices of people who would never see nor carry a vision close to yours be the determinant of your actions and processes.

Spoiler alert, “you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you”. And that’s not a bluff. God means it.?

God sees your destination. He was with you in the past. He’s with you in your becoming. And He’s guiding you through till the finish line. Enjoy the process. And more than that, hear only God (through all the channels He’s speaking). No one else.

Who wears the crown?

What’s the intent of your heart through all these? What’s your heart’s posture in this? Are you hiding behind feigned humility to give glory to yourself, and haughtily toot a horn you could never carry without God just for show?

The whole rationale is to point people back to God. If you’re not doing that, you read the manual wrong.

To draw the curtains, be decisive. You have a stake. It wasn’t a mistake, and you’re definitely not a mere second option to get the job done. It’s YOU because it’s FOR YOU.

And while you’re at it, be a stellar Kingdom ambassador. Intentionally and positively wield the influence you’ve been honored with to God’s advantage.?

Show up in the light of your divine design, and bask in the honor God has blessed you with. Again, it’s YOU because it’s FOR YOU.

Sayo?ara