“Hello Sisi. How are you? What has been happening to you? Which school are in now?” Kiki asked.
“Hello. I am fine. Nothing much. I am in University of Lagos now” replied Sisi.
“Oh, I am so happy for you. Thank God our dreams are coming to pass.” Kiki sent back as they chatted through the Facebook messenger.
“Thank God. Let me quickly prepare for my lecture so that I don’t get late,” Sisi wrote.
“Okay friend. Do have a nice day,” replied Kiki.
“And you too.” came the response from the other end of the computer.
Sisi and Kiki were acquaintances by virtue of living in the same area. As young people with dreams and aspirations for the future, they desired that they would each get admissions to their universities of choice but things didn’t turn out to be exactly as they dreamed. Kiki got admission immediately after School and went on to study the course of her choice. Sisi later graduated and unlike Kiki, didn’t get admission immediately. Feeling left out and not wanting Kiki to know what was happening, she began to tell outsiders and even Kiki that she had gotten admission. Above was the conversation that they had.
…Based on a real life story but names have been changed.
Usually my afternoon naps are between 1:30mins to 2hrs. On this faithful day before my nap, what to share had been on my mind. As I drifted off to sleep, I found myself sitting on the toilet bowl in our bathroom (I’m sorry, that’s where I get inspired the most) and the next thing that came so clearly and profoundly was, “Are you walking by faith or living a lie.” Waking up just in time, it was as though I never slept at all and then it clicked within that the only time I had ever spoken of such was to my siblings whenever we have the moment of hard truth being shared among us.
Faith can be defined as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” It can be said to be “a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.” Living a lie on the other hand can be defined as “living in a way that is dishonest because you are pretending to be something that you are not, to yourself or to other people.“
It is so easy to always live a lie and term it walking by faith. When Sisi was later discovered to be lying all along, one thing she said was that she was doing so by faith. When you are walking by faith, the intent of your heart and your actions matter. You work towards ensuring that you truly believe what you believe. For example if you have faith in me to give you something, you will come to me and ask without any form of doubt. But if you don’t ask me and keep believing I can help you, you will never receive the help you desire because I do not know exactly what your needs are or what I feel may be your need could turn out not to be exactly what you need at that time.
Living a lie on the other hand does not make any effort neither is there any form of belief. When you live a lie either because you cannot come down from your high horse or because you don’t want to feel vulnerable, you loose out on all the things that could easily be yours. Take Sisi for example, if only she had mentioned to Kiki that she had not gotten that admission, she wouldn’t have ended up staying at home longer and then everyone finding out that she wasn’t what she said she was.
Faith has only one thing at the end of the day – to make you a testimony and make you happy. Living a lie on the other hand only brings about embarrassment, disgrace and hurt to you and others.
So dear friend, are you walking by faith or are you living a lie?
One thing I have come to know and share with others is this. “You can lie to everyone but you cannot lie to Yourself, God and the devil. We can easily believe what you tell us and act based on that but the truth will only be with you and your maker. Living a lie robs you of the beautiful things of life, I must tell you. It only makes you a slave to yourself. Do not let the blessings of others put you in a position to live a lie. Rather, let it propel you to believe in God and those God has directed you to look up to.
When people place you on a high pedestal and accord you some high level of respect because they believe in you, one thing you should do is ask God to help you not to fail them. Don’t let it get to you and then you loose you true identity and become a lie because at the end of the day, you get to choose which road you go through.
Life is beautiful and you can enjoy it. God bless you.
Scriptural thoughts : James 2:14-26, Colossians 3:9, Proverbs 6:16-20
Living life God’s way is living the Beautiful Life.
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