WHEN 'MAN-NING' UP DOESN'T CUT IT! 2

Sometimes in a bid to ‘Man Up’ and go through challenges alone without seeking help and speaking up when we feel overwhelmed, we slip into God’s role and lose sight of God and His place in our lives. When we believe we can do all things with our own might, we want to fix it all by ourselves. We allow the pressure of life and societal norms or ‘ab-norms’ weigh us down, sometimes we feel if we cast all our cares upon Him, it makes us feel weak or powerless and men are not supposed to be weak right? WRONG! 

God's strength is made perfect in our weakness; I mean, If we could do life on our own and were that powerful then we wouldn’t need a savior. “Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me... In this godless world, you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart, I’ve conquered the world ” (John‬ ‭16:31-33‬ ‭MSG)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go...But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline; don’t sulk under his loving correction. It’s the child he loves that God corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this.” (Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-12‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬)

So my fellow men! 'Don’t tight the world to your chest' (permit my Swahili). Societal norms were created by imperfect people like us and most of these rules are not right. I mean we live in a society where good is the new bad, orange is the new black and many twisted truths just to suit perverted narratives. We cannot afford to have this same society guide how we interact with life so the first thing we need to do is turn to the one who created life itself - God and accept you are not in control, give your life to the One who subdues our fears because honestly, that’s all that really is.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life... I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew‬ ‭11:28-30‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬)

Secondly, prayerfully choose your friends (those who genuinely love you, want the best for you and you can confess your faults to without fear of ridicule) and lastly join a Christlike community to build you up.

For us as Christians, we have a sure foundation we can rely on to get help and we have the light to illuminate our darkness when we are overwhelmed. What are we doing with the light we have? We are not light to shine among light, we are to shine in darkness so let’s go out into the world and shine. Through the help of the HolySpirit, we can be the help to that man or woman around you or be the messenger of hope……BE THE MESSAGE! Speak up about your truth (God being our truth and how he helps us overcome challenges), speak up to the right community when you’re down, speak to the people around you who need hope. Be the message in your own niche and let’s change the narrative.

If you are in a position where a man confides in you about a challenge, don’t blame him or call him weak or tell others of his situation; encourage him in the Lord and let the HolySpirit guide you to be the light in his darkness. We all need each other and we all need God so Man Up! when you need to, Speak Up! when you need to but above all God Up! ALWAYS!!! even when it seems you don’t need to.

Samuel Idiake

Thank you so much for stopping by. God bless you and see you soon.

OneLove,

SomzyBrown.