Am I Really Forgiven?…
“Why are you in despair, O my soul? Why have you become restless and disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him,
On the 21st of June 2021, UnScripted turned 2 [yaaay]! And it has been an interesting journey!
A lot has happened in the past 2 years: lots of changes, growth and challenges as well (there can be no growth without any challenges) and I am grateful for it all!
As the day came and went, I spent a lot of time in prayer seeking God for the direction that He wanted this ministry take, and in that moment, I took a step back and decided to look back on how far we have come.
Sometimes, we get so focused on moving forward, building and growing, that we forget to take a step back and look at how far we have come. To look and see how far God has brought us, and if it wasn’t for Him and His constant guidance & faithfulness, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
So, in the spirit of reflection and giving thanks. here are 5 lessons that I have learnt from the 2 years that I have served through this wonderful ministry:
1. Follow the Lead of the Holy Spirit
As believers, we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is our counsellor, our comforter, our helper and the one who reveals the mysteries of God’s word and His kingdom to us.
He is also our guide, and He guides us through the various seasons and hurdles of life that we go through, offering us counsel when we need it.
From the very beginning of UnScripted (in 2017, when it was all but a desire growing in me), the Holy Spirit has played a very instrumental role, and He still does, even today.
The Holy Spirit is the very breath of this ministry; of what we do here.
He first breathed UnScripted by placing the desire in me to have a space; a community for young women to come together to grow in faith, and He then pushed me to start the blog in 2019 with zero knowledge on how to do so and with zero knowledge of what I needed to run all this.
He took me step by step, never leaving me or leading me astray, and here we are, 2 years later, thriving & growing, and increasing our reach day by day.
As I continue to grow in faith, and as I reflect back on how far we come, I know now, more than I ever did that I need the Holy Spirit. I need Him more than my lungs need oxygen, and I need to follow Him every step of the way.
I need Him in my personal life and I need Him in this ministry. He started this and He knows where He wants us to go, so, it is simply my job to follow Him; to follow His lead.
I must follow Him; and I will follow Him, whether it makes logical sense or not (it never does!) because I know that in the end, He knows what is best and He will lead us to a better place; to greater heights, to places that we could have never imagined.
May you also make the same decision today – to always follow the Holy Spirit no matter what. May our story and continuing growth be a testimony to you of His goodness and the great plans God has for you; plans that no eye has seen and no ear has heard.
2. Prayer | Pray without Ceasing
The only way that we can know what God’s plans are and what He wants to do in our lives is if we spend time with Him. We see this in Jeremiah 29:13 where God was telling Jeremiah that ‘with a deep longing you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart‘.
When we pursue God – when we seek Him and require of Him as a vital necessity and not as a mere formality – we will find Him.
We will find God, who He is and the mysteries of His kingdom as well as the mysteries of our lives – who we are and what He has called us to do.
Furthermore, it is only when we seek God that we can begin to hear Him and follow the leading of His Holy Spirit as He directs and instructs us.
This 2 years have taught me to seek God as a vital necessity, one that I cannot live without, and the only way one can do so is through prayer.
I have gone through seasons of doubt, worry, frustration and spiritual warfare (which I will share in due time) that have brought me to my knees and have caused and taught me to pray and seek God like I have never sought Him before. It has taught me to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and to continually seek God, not just as the giver but as my protector, counsellor, helper, father and best friend.
So just as Paul encouraged the church of Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to pray without ceasing, I do the same to you today – beloved, pray. Seek our God as a vital necessity, one that you cannot live without, and know that when you seek Him, you will find Him.
3. It's not about you, it's about Him.
Can I be honest with you?
This statement right here: ‘It’s not about you, it’s about Him‘, has been a struggle for me! I have struggled with this truth for the last 2 years, and do you know why?
It’s because I am flesh.
And just like Paul stated in Romans 7:15, I shared the same sentiment: for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
~Romans 7:15-20 NIV
“15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
My struggle was that I knew that what I was doing was not about me, neither was it about how many likes I got, how many followers I gained and how many people commented on my posts or dm’ed me saying ‘I love what you do!‘ or ‘You’re content is so amazing!‘, yet I found myself not only desiring these things but also pursuing them.
I found myself constantly checking my posts to see how much likes and comments they had garnered, and if I had little to zero of those, I would feel bad, to the point I compared myself to other ladies who were doing something similar to what I was doing and wondered, ‘Why not me?’
Ladies, I knew that this was a problem and I brought it to God over and over again, and yet, it didn’t go away!
It was only until I sat down with the Holy Spirit and we began to dig deep, all the way to the root of the issue, that the posture of my heart began to change from seeking worldly affirmation to seeking God’s affirmation and His kingdom as my first priority.
God worked on my heart and showed me how to stop placing my desire and need for affirmation in social media and people, and place it in Him, where my need will always be met without fail, not because of what I do or how great my posts or ministry is, but because of who He is and who He says I am: His beloved.
And because I know He approves of me, I can work with joy as I give it my best, because I am no longer pursuing affirmation but I am serving my God with the gifts and the abilities He has given to me!
Yes, there are days I stumble, but thank God for his grace and mercy that always lifts us up and restores us, which is also available for you today to help you through whatever problem you may be facing, including this one.
4. Seek first the Kingdom of God.
Jesus in Matthew 6:33 shared that we are to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
The context of this scripture was that Jesus was talking to people about worrying: He was telling them that they shouldn’t worry about what they are going to eat the following day or what they will wear – He was telling people not to worry whether or not they will have the provisions that they need to sustain themselves, but to focus their gaze on God.
He said from verse 25b-27, that ‘Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?’
The birds of the air do not sow, neither do they reap, but they are taken care off? So, how much more will we, the beloved children of God, be taken care of?
How much more will He, complete what He started when it comes to this ministry?
How much more will He provide for us the funds and the resources that we need? How much more will He bring people our way who will help us and walk with us so that we can fulfill our vision? How much more will He bring women our way who need to hear the message that we are sharing?
How much more?
So then, I learnt and continue to learn (and share the same with you) to seek first His Kingdom – not the funds, not the resources, not the ladies to join the community – but seek Him and His Kingdom FIRST.
Require it and pursue it as a vital necessity, knowing that all these other things which you need (and He knows you need them) will be added unto to you.
His job is to provide, my job is to seek – and so is yours.
5. You can take a break, you know?
One thing you may not know about me is that I am a go-getter.
I am the type of person that once I have an idea, I develop it into a vision. And once I have that vision in my mind (I can see where I am going or where I want to go), I roll with it and do all that it takes to see that vision come to pass. I stop at nothing. Literally.
If I am not working on my vision, I am thinking and meditating on the vision, coming up with new ideas and ways to improve and to do more or do better. I am also part Choleric which means once I set goals to do A or B, it has to get done, and usually by a deadline.
Sounds strict, huh?
Well this attributes have proven to be useful when it comes to building UnScripted and scaling heights I would have never thought possible. But, balance is required.
Due to my continuing ambition and drive, I have found myself either too tired to continue or lacking the zeal and fire which I once had because my tasks turned into routines which I ‘needed’ to do (and if I didn’t, I would beat myself up).
In the past 2 years (especially this year), God has, and still is, showing me the need to slow down. To take a breather. To prioritize myself as well and not get consumed in ‘doing’ and forget about ‘being‘ – to live life and enjoy myself by doing the things I love to do other than content creation.
He has shown me the importance of resting (not just sleeping), taking time to be still and reflect because it is in the stillness where I gain back my strength and receive the refreshment that I need.
And if you’re like me – a go getter who is always on the move- may you learn to slow down and not feel guilty for doing so, but learn you need to pay attention to yourself and your needs as well, not just the needs of others.
Let us know in the comments below how this post or UnScripted in general has impacted or challenged you in the past 2 years, and what you’re looking forward to most in the years to come!
Also, feel free to drop us a like and share this post as counsel for someone who wants to start a ministry.
hello & welcome.
My name is Renee, the founder of and main content creator for UnScripted.
Thank you so much for stopping by and I pray you get encouraged and your faith is stirred while you’re here, as we are here to empower you to be the woman God wants you to be.
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