An Article from 26th September 2013] Yesterday was a very dramatic day for me. From bed to bed I had to deal with one drama or the other all of which took away my peace, joy, flow and equilibrium. The final drama, [after a brief commercial break] was when I got home after a gaping four-hour drive through traffic. I left the office at 5:15pm and got home around 9:15pm.
When I got home and got out of the car, I dropped something which was a part of the very thing that had cost me 4 hours on the road. I needed to find it or I could not be at work today. So I set out to look for it. The light on the premises was not bright enough so I turned on all the lights on the car to see if it could illuminate the premises well enough for me to search for what I dropped.
The shocking thing was, I saw the ‘thing’ drop so I had a fair idea where it fell, except I could not find it there. I moved the vehicle off the paved yard, run my feet and hand through the grass but to no avail. I went in to change my clothes and came back to continue the search. Nothing. This went on for 45 minutes. I was exhausted, I had eaten just lunch and yet I was grossly low on appetite.
I told myself, ‘George you know what, calm down and go catch some sleep, tomorrow the light of the day will make the search easier. I had a plan B figured out though.
So this morning, By 5:45am I was ready to set off for work, my Plan B was ready to implement. The light of the day had also come on. I stepped out of the house into the Yard and I was about starting my search, when my spirit told me, you have not prayed about this search. So I stood still and muttered these few word, ‘God give me A NEW PAIR OF EYES to see this thing now. In less than five minutes, I had the thing in my hand. The same place I had looked for it for almost an hour the night before.
While I was driving to work, I got some insights I want to share with you.
I have learnt that sometimes we need to pray for new pair of eyes when the things we are looking for elude us and the answers we seek seem not to be coming forth. You could be looking for that man who will mean something more than all the six guys you have been with have ever meant to you. It could be a lady who is a break away from the drama you have experienced with other women or witnessed others experience. It could be you looking for that right deal, that right contract, that prestigious job which has eluded you, that opportunity you know has to come to you, but someway somehow, even while standing right in front of it, it manages to bypass you. It could be anything you are looking for, some answers you are seeking, some results you are expecting….It could be anything… Sometimes, all you need is a prayer for a new pair of eyes, to make you find them exactly where they are.
I also learnt that, sometimes, we need to allow the night to pass for the day to come. When we struggle in the night, we grope like fools lost for direction. Sometimes we see some light which we think is bright enough to help us find our way, but most sources of light in the night cast shadows. Maybe we can just allow the night to pass so we can search better with the light of day. You have been wondering what is being kept away from you; she is pretending everything is fine, he makes you think he is being Mr. Good, but you know things don’t add up. Sometimes we spend so much time setting spies, snooping, fighting and fussing just to find what we feel is amiss. Yes some things can’t wait, but then some things can’t also be found if the conditions surrounding their anonymity remains the same. Maybe it is time to take a step back and allow the gloom, the anger and the frustration to pass, let the hatred go down, let a new light of love and peace and calm shine in, and it will make your way clearer and bring to bear all the things that are trying to remain incognito.
I was also taught to rest. I was tired and I was frustrated; clearly the result of the search was partly influenced by my distorted perception of the reality around me. I was either searching too fast or my eyes were moving in a poorly coordinated way, I was bound to miss the thing. After sleeping and resting, I woke up rejuvenated and invigorated to do a better job. I understand some of you are thinking age is catching up and every Saturday you see your friends being led to the altar like Jesus entering Jerusalem; the joy and excitement that follow them, and you are wondering when it would be your turn. So you are fighting to hold on to the leech that is sucking you, you are aiding the killer to kill you just so you can be seen as TAKEN or a TAKER; the lady who is in a serious relationship or the lady who is married. You want to be seen as the guy who is grinding hard to make his woman proud. Why not take a break from all these? How many men do you want to strip in front of and have something precious taken from you in order to be accepted or to be TAKEN and taken serious? How many heart breaks do you want to suffer in the hands of women before the meet the ultimate one? Aren’t you tired of the long day? Don’t you think all these years of fighting to hold on, one heartbreak after the other, has gotten to you and distorted your perception of reality? Don’t you think maybe a good rest and break might help you gain better perspective of things? Step back please, and get some rest. Tomorrow you will be refreshed enough to see clearly in your search.
You need to have a plan B. I learnt that sometimes, some things will go and you will not find them again and therefore the need to accept to let go of them emotionally and move on with plan B. Have you done all there is to do to find and keep it? Is it not working out? Maybe you need a plan B. Sometimes you realise the cost of holding on to what you have lost or losing is far more extensive than the cost of acquiring a new thing. It could be time, money and/or emotional cost, and you know if you let go and found a temporary means of getting by, you could replace it at a lesser cost later. Out of this, I want to you to make your own personal applications as the applications thereof is expansive and boundless I cannot begin to plunge in.
Finally, I learnt to have faith in what I believe will work out. I did not pray hoping it won’t work out. So don’t pray and yet doubt, do not confess with your mouth and act otherwise. When you ask for new pair of eyes, walk as if you have it. I had faith that the light of the day would help me find what I was looking for, that aided me to stop the search and get some rest. I had faith and it paid off. I had faith that if I rested I would be better tuned up to search for what I was looking for; I did, and I found it. I had faith that the plan B was going to work and I had no doubt in my mind I would find a replacement for whatever I had lost, should I not find it after the morning search. But that plan B was at the bottom of my list. And it was because I had to go to work. And it is because life must go on for you. Because you need to marry and cannot be held captive by what you hope would work out but is not working out. You need to be happy and you need to thrive.
Life comes with many lessons available to you and to me and I think if we so much as open our eyes a tiny little bit, we may be amazed at what God has brought our way through natural occurrences to teach us.
Be happy and abide, abide and thrive, thrive and endure
PG Sebastian
