REFLECTION: Game Plan: Version 2021

We may have plans for 2021 but life can happen. Maybe a pandemic… Isn’t it intriguing that a year ago, a pandemic was not something we thought about? ANYTHING can happen in 2021, so we need to ensure that we learn from our mistakes and really leave everything to God (if we didn’t the year before). Now that we know that 2020 is over and we already reflected on what we gained or lost, we can have a moment of, “What we finna do different this year”, and actually stick to it!!

I don’t know about you, but there are THOUSANDS of things that I can do differently in 2021. I want all of us to think on this verse from Philippians:

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6 NIV

No one really knows our in-betweens but Jesus. Maybe they saw us take our first steps, and know the end. It is important for us to remain knowledgeable of the fact that we are not yet perfect, and that how we end matters. Looking back, this past year has taught us A LOT. 2020 let us know that some of us have been hurt, lazy or Crowned specialists in procrastination. Our hearts have been labelled “broken” by the ones that didn’t even create us. But in this new year, we will not stop. We will not give up. We are going to be healed, and allow God to complete that good work in us. We will endure to the very end. We will constantly be ready for God to stitch our “broken” hearts. We will be ready to hear the voice of God in areas of our lives that we felt deaf. We will hear and see streams in places there only existed dry land in our lives. Are you with me, family? I am soooo ready!!!

Lettuce say a little prayer:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for taking care of us through 2020 safely. Many of us are scarred from barbed wires that didn’t want us reaching new levels in you. Some of us lost hope or love, but we thank you for making all things new. Thank you for making beauty from ashes. As we commit our minds, our hearts, our souls and bodies to seeing your work come to completion in 2020, let everything that we do be in alignment with what you have planned for us. Help us to always remember this commitment we made with you. Help us to also leave it all to you. Help us to be committed. Help us to not be distracted. Help us to be outgoing and “Godfident”. Prepare us to be amazed by your opening doors because of our dedication, and the fruit of our putting ourselves out there. Let us see your HAND on our emotions, our bodies and our minds. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

NOWW!! We need to take this seriously. We are committing to heal, and committing to seeing God and His work through to the very end. I want us to do a few things so that we keep our healing and our relationships with God in check. *DRAWS FOR MY ANOINTED HANDS IN AGREEMENT!!* Now let’s check these 10 points.

2021 Strategy

PUT GOD FIRST. Something I learnt last year is that you don’t learn to balance everything with God. He is the balancer. You create and feed your relationship with Him and watch Him balance your studying, your friendships, your business, your dreams and your relationship.

Focus on investing in yourself. If we sit around and wait on others to invest in us we will forever be lacking spiritually, mentally, emotionally, an physically. Invest in the books that are attached to your healing (YOU BETTER HAVE THAT BIBLE ON STANDBY AT ALL TIMES!). Go to therapy. Take the long walk to the park and back. Apologize to yourself and others. Buy the airpods, or the laptop or make the office addition and start that business (NO CAP. GO GET LEGAL AND INVEST IN YOUR DREAM! They will catch the vision after you start it. People don’t think like you. They don’t see it like you do, so PAINT THE PICTURE!)

Gratitude. Be thankful for every gift, opportunity and prayer sent your way. Write them down and look at them at the end of the year. Sometimes we are so busy we forget about the skittles we got, or someone leaving work early to take us home because we were sick, you know? A friend of mine did a recent blog on this and it is so amazing how God perfectly aligns His Word though His children.

Be kind. We often forget that we too should be kind to each other. Sometimes our healing comes from helping others. So help your niece with her assignment, sometimes just being present or listening HELPS. Buy someone something they always wanted. Go visit an elderly person and spend the day with them (PS// They may bless you more than you expect). Stop and let some kids cross the street. Help a friend pursue their passion; send them competitions or pose for their photography portfolio. It doesn’t cost ya. And if it does, the feeling after the response is always rewarding and more valuable.

Put your life at risk in faith; be a risk-taker. Allow God to be the wind to your sail. Test your faith. Test it. When you cannot see a way, let God lead. Even when you can, but you know what I mean lool. Let God be the sailor of your life this year. Not figuratively; but literally have Him influence your thoughts. Build your faith and watch how you life changes. Don’t just say “in faith” but also act in faith. If you want a new phone, go eye shopping, maybe even buy the case IN FAITH and not out of any other motive.

Apply for EVERYTHING. I did that last year and I have worked with some of the most amazing people. With that said, I can’t wait for 2021 to show the harvest of my labor and release what I have been working on!! You will get rejections but you will learn from it. Maybe you need to fix your portfolio or you need to have the Fruit of the Spirit. Maybe your decisions were premature or out of fleshly desires. Whatever it is, you will learn. On the other side of things, you could meet some of the most amazing individuals who have the same interests as you do. You’ll develop your craft and feel more confident about yourself. And of course, if you are pursuing the plans that God has in store for you, you will feel more and more passionate about your gifts and talents. 1 Chronicles 16:11-12 says “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows,” So, you will be in good hands. God will also surely take care of you, and open more doors of opportunity.

Let every day end “good”. You may have a bad start to your day, but don’t let your day end that way. Choose what thoughts dictate your day, or what words are said by you or others that might change the course of it. You may have a bad moment, and not a bad day. I used to tell myself that others are going through worst than you and they survived and make the most of their days, why can’t I?

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits”
Proverbs 18:21 ESV

You decide if you want to kill or birth good in your days and in your life. No more negative talk, okay? Said, or thought or typed!!! Stop saying that on social media. You are poisoning your soul. If you say a day will be bad, I mean… isn’t it going to be inevitable? We gladly hop on the negative train because it is free. But so is joy.

Be consistent with God. 2020 showed us that WE DID HAVE TIME; we didn’t have our priorities straight. We didn’t see the importance of Him until a pandemic. Many became consistent with their relationship with Christ in the pandemic; we want to keep that consistency. We need to have God in EVERYTHING. Only then will we begin to see Him in everything.

“No prayer, no breakfast.” This was mentioned in my blog post. I read a book for ministers during quarantine in which a minister mentioned that they live by that statement. They know that if they leave prayer for something to happen later in the day, it’s just not gonna happen. And so, breakfast isn’t made until they pray. Another mentioned that they don’t kneel and pray. They walk around. (PS// I do that too, cause I know what can happen and I am not about to rob God or myself of intimacy.)

READ YO BIBLE.

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do”
Joshua 1:8 NLT

There is no excuse not to. There is no excuse not to. There is NO EXCUSE not to. There is NO EXCUSE NOT TO. Every believer should be reading the Word and meditating on it everyday. Not only on your day of worship or gatherings. It should be everyday. I’mma say no more.

Make it right. A lot of times we think that, because people hurt us and cause bruises, we don’t do the same to others. That is not true. Sometimes, we even have assumptions or mirrors with false pretenses of how things went that affect our thoughts of others. Recently, I was reflecting on how I may have been the one that neglected a friend in need, or the one who didn’t hold her tongue. I want to challenge us (i.e. you and me) to go back to them and apologise. Open the window of conversation. Don’t wait for someone else to apologise. Instead, you clear it up. Yes, you may be hurt from their doing or your very own, or maybe even your lack of doing, but you can heal from your own apology.

With that said, you can do it. You can heal. There will be days that make you forget that you are a work in progress so you start being hard on yourself. There will be days that you hate how it hurts or hate how long it takes. But don’t forget or reject the process. Don’t give up on yourself. Instead, remember that: