Stillness in the midst of uncertainty

Psalm 121:1-2

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

I was a child the very first time I heard the word 'palpitations.' The source was my mother and I recall that anytime there was a stressful situation, you would hear her say, "this issue is giving me palpitations." To be truthful, I didn't understand what it meant but I associated it with stressful situations and of course I pronounced it as 'papitations!" To date, my siblings and I tease her at the slightest opportunity.

With the current state of the Ghanaian economy, from the 200m dash race between the dollar rate and fuel prices, to rising inflation and the challenges in running a business in the country, I can now relate with my mother. These are causing me to palpitate. Yes! it's happening, it's not a dream, we are afraid and speculative but can we control everything that is happening? The answer is No, but we can control how we go through it. Sounds so easy but the reality is, maintaining stillness when everything is going haywire around you can only be possible if you have no use of all your five senses. In the story of Peter doing the impossible act of walking on water, he started to sink midway through his walk. Why do you think this happened? It's because he shifted his focus from Jesus to his surroundings and allowed fear and doubt to take center stage.

Matthew 14:28-31

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

I am a known positivity addict (#positivevibes) in my inner circle and the slightest negativity is a turn off for me. I am however learning to objectively distinguish between negative comments and candid criticism or feedback (it can be difficult to hear but a lot of growth happens here) which is missed by a lot of people. We cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening because there is evidence all over and we feel it in our pockets. My waakye seller's minimum price is now GHS5 and she has minimised the quantity she cooks daily for fear of not selling everything at the end of the day. All these and other happenings spell doom and gloom and the knee-jerk reaction is to panic and take matters (what we cannot control) into our own hands when God has promised sustenance when we cast our burdens on to Him.

Truth be told, we can panic, plant and store all the food we can think of but these will certainly run out at a point in time. Then what next? This is not to say you should prop yourself lazily at home doing nothing and only praying for God's will to come through. We have to learn to consciously develop the mindset of doing what we can today and leaving what we can't control in the hands of our Father, unless you have all the answers to the problems of the world.

Although I am a positivity addict, reality is, sometimes fear and doubts creep in but for some crazy and inexplicable reason I still feel a sense of calm deep within me. I have a strong belief that things will eventually turn out ok and restoration will be achieved. Call me a dreamer, but from where I sit, there are 2 perspectives, a glass is either half-full or half-empty so why do we easily sway towards the negative perspectives? What does negativity offer us? What if you hear or see the negative but decide to tilt your head one more time to relook at this negative situation with the lens of positive perspective? Negativity can only yield good results if it is redirected to a positive trail.

What I love about positive focus is, it doesn't require a lot of effort and it's usually the little things we underestimate and place less value on. Some normal everyday activities like these can easily bring a smile to my lips and regain hope within me:

• the hawker turning up everyday on the street with the hope of making sales knowing the economic situation;
• the sight of cars still moving on the road;
• You, reading this post when you could have shut yourself indoors and given up;
• people turning up everyday for their business and work;
• people still closing significant contracts and building strategic partnerships;
• the growth in community spirit and people's desire to live with intention everyday, thanks to COVID; and finally,
• people still running charities and not giving up on the needy and vulnerable in the society.

It isn't easy but neither is it impossible. Panic if you have to but don't unpack your luggage in panic and fear zone. Keep your focus on God and keep showing up to achieve your goals even if your steps are trembly. Don't put the dream in the trash because there is a looming recession. Meditate on these Bible verses 2 Timothy 1:7 and Joshua 14:7-9 and together we can start or continue to tend to our garden of hope and faith in these times.

Together as we keep our focus on God, let us continue to diligently make use of the resources and gifts we have been blessed with, be kind to each other, encourage each other to start a garden or farm, give to charity (no matter how small) and pray and act on what we are praying for.

What are you going to do differently today for yourself and others to create a positive atmosphere of hope, support and faith?

Cheers! Opie

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Hi! I am Opie, an introverted mother of two who becomes a talkative whenever topics of mental health and navigating life comes up for discussion. I looovveee to inspire positive change through my blog posts mainly targeted at mothers and of course every other person. I am also not just a Chartered Accountant but a mentor, life coach and a quiet but daring explorer of life and places. My content is targeted at inspiring a simple lifestyle of thought, hope and love. The OMT brand focuses on inspiration, entrepreneurship, youth and women empowerment and changing the African narrative a blog post at a time. Like OMT's Digest's tagline goes: I am simply a mom on a mission to inspire!