Eden Myrrh Toohey, Author at 1Africa

How to develop ‘stick-ability’

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

June 3, 2016

Stickability:

n. a person’s ability to persevere with something; staying power

I’ve heard of “sticky” churches and brands, “sticky” sweets and hands, and I’ve also heard of “stickability”– a person’s ability to have a huge amount of stick-to-it-ive-ness. If you want success in any area of your life you have to have a lot of this stickability.

I’ve been talking a lot about dreams and such recently, so I thought it would be good to talk about stickability and perseverance in relationships.

I’m a pastor’s kid – PK as a lot of people so endearingly call it – and I was basically born into my church. My parents were working in ministry before I was born and so was most of my family. I never ever considered any other way of life, or way of doing church or things. I never once considered leaving, or rebelling against everything – even during my teenage years. Yes, sometimes there might have been things that I didn’t understand and people that I didn’t agree with, but never once did I consider leaving. It was my church, where I was planted, and you don’t just up and leave when you’re planted somewhere – I mean, do trees do that?

I had an awesome gap year experience away from home and it made coming home really hard… I had had a fresh experience with Jesus during that time and it was a kind of “coming-of-age” moment for me – the gospel was real for me. Even though there were some things that I really battled with and all I wanted to do was travel the world (mostly because of the pride that one has in their youth), I felt that Jesus wanted me to come home and serve under my parents a few years.

Those years passed and I knew that it was time for me to move on. I approached my parents, who also happen to be my spiritual-parents, and they agreed. So I packed up my bags and I moved on to the next place I knew to be – and I’m still here.

I won’t lie to you and tell you that it’s been easy. If anything, again and again, I am prompted by God to eat a ton of humble pie – a ton of it. So much of it, in fact, it’s like the pie never ends – the gift that keeps on giving *nervous laugh*… I’ve wanted to leave so many times. It has sometimes felt like I’m starting all over again in terms of relationships and understanding.

But last week, God reminded me (through an awesome person) of the value of stickability.

I know that like me, some of you may have adopted that natural fight or flight mode in your everyday life, and while fight or flight mode is innately a part of all of us, I don’t believe that it is something that we should practice employing in our relationships:

We can’t always just up and go when people don’t agree with or understand us;
we can’t up and go when it’s just too hard to work through the process of getting to know one another;
we can’t just up and go when we don’t want to take the time to understand them;
and we can’t just up and go when the grass seems greener on the other side.

“…In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago. They will revive them, though they have been deserted for many generations.” Isaiah 61:3-4

The Bible often talks about righteous men as oaks or trees that are planted with deep roots. In order for roots to be deep, they have to be planted for a long time. During that time, they have to withstand wind, rain (all the elements) and much more – it’s about perseverance.

That’s what stickability is – perseverance! Perseverance for something that you really want! You have to want to make it work! You have to fight for it!

Just, like your relationship with Jesus, you have to fight to keep your fire for him burning!

If you’re reading this, and feel that you want the means to developing stickability in your life, why don’t you click on the banner below.

Time to drop your power trip

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

May 30, 2016

0

Power Trip: 1. slang – A sustained and often aggressive exercise of power over others in order to boost one’s stature or feelings of self-worth.

Telling someone not to believe their own hype is the same as telling them not to get on their own power trip. These are both expressions that I didn’t really understand until recently (the last few years) – mainly because life has a way of showing you that, as powerful and talented as we think we are, we aren’t all that. A realisation that one needs to be dependent on God can only be a good thing. I think getting too far without a true relationship with Jesus can only be to our detriment.

A lot of the time we want to make things happen when we want them to happen, and how we want them to happen. But God has a plan for each of our lives – one that ultimately gives him all of the glory, and one that he will work out in our lives according to his will.

This last weekend, I logged on to Twitter only to be greeted by a bunch of egotistical tweets by South African rapper AKA aimed at his baby mamma – DJ Zinhle. Over the past few years we’ve gotten used to outspokenness and egotistical behaviour from the rapper and we’ve come view it as normal, but it isn’t.

Living a life where God gets added to the hustle rather than God running your life and the hustle getting added to it, can lead to a lot of problems. For example, it could lead to us working and fighting for things that don’t matter in the grander scheme of things.

“Our greatest fear should not be failure, but succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” – Francis Chan (Author)

Here are four reasons why you should entrust your timeline to God, and not to yourself:

(Adapted from a writing by Francis Chan)

1. Doing things God’s way gives you time to learn

We live in a day and age where we want instant results: instant food, instant information, and instant responses from messages. Because of this we expect everything we do to fall into place the moment we think about it. When pursuing things God’s way, we are given enough time to plant the necessary seeds so that we can develop meaningful relationships and pursue the right goals that give all of the glory to God!

2. Doing things God’s way gives us time to get our ego under control

Human beings are super funny creatures. We think that we are in such control over the world when we enjoy little victories – when we make a lot of money, live in a big house, drive a nice car – we get so wrapped up in our ability to make things happen! So, unfortunately, it sometimes takes a major disaster to get our ego under control.

Outside of these disasters, our egos continue to grow and grow. That is how hungry and powerful our pride is. And so, when we make plans and they don’t pan out and we feel frustrated, we are reminded that God has a schedule for us. Here, we are faced with two choices: Either to trust in God and as a result, get our ego in check, or we can continue to feel frustrated and anxious. The choice is all ours.

3. Doing things God’s way often lines up better opportunities for us

You might think that the timeline that you’ve set up for yourself is the right timeline. But, interestingly enough, when you meet failure, it often involves greater opportunities coming your way later on. In fact, you might be shooting for “small potatoes” when God has lined up even bigger opportunities for you. In many cases, relying on God’s timeline and refusing to feel defeated and frustrated when our best-laid plans don’t pan out may be the best thing that we can do for ourselves. Why? Because then we are opening ourselves up to the possibility that God has saved for later.

4. God’s scheduling ensures you grow enough to fully appreciate success

Life – it’s all about failure and challenges and trials mixed in with successes and blessings. When success comes very easily we develop a mindset where we feel entitled to that success and we don’t fully appreciate it enough.

Many times, when we are forced to wait, we grow and mature as people and we begin to develop an appreciation for success. This is a blessing in itself because by focusing on God’s timeline, we are able to see the things that are going right in our lives and develop a greater understanding and appreciation of them, leading to a more fulfilled life.

Trusting in God, and not in our own strength to boost our own egos, is always the better option. God has set out a plan regarding your and my life and he is going to make sure that all of those things come to pass if we live for him. I think if we can learn the lesson of surrendering all to him early on we’ll save ourselves the pain of being constantly frustrated or angry and hurt at all the things we think should have gone right.

If, at the moment, you’re all about living for yourself instead of for God, why don’t you click on the banner below?

All you need is… your need

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

May 30, 2016

0

Man, oh man, I can still remember when Disney’s Madagascar came out and my family went to watch it together. A short visit to the cinema proved the only glue needed for half of the script to stick in both me and my sister’s heads. We bought the DVD. The whole family learnt the words (involuntarily for the most part –because we had an under-10-year-old in the house at that time) and we quoted them at the dinner table for my dad, who enjoys live comedy much more than the televised kind.

Turns out that Madagascar is probably one of the most consistently quotable animations of all time, and while there are a few rivals – I’m thinking of Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Shrek, and Kung-Fu Panda 1 and 3 – none come close to the level of genius dialogue in that movie.

I rate most “talking animal” animations quite critically, hence my lack of enthusiasm to watch Disney’s Zootopia (2016). But again, I have sisters who love these things and so this last weekend we all gathered to check it out.

The opening scenes won me over. Although there isn’t much quotable banter, the dialogue, and most importantly, the message, rings very strongly throughout the whole movie.

The story is about Judy, a rabbit that dreams of being a cop in the big city, Zootopia. She overcomes a ton of challenges as a child and as a young adult and becomes the first mammal to become a cop under the mayor’s mammal inclusion programme, only to face more challenges.

Judy’s unyielding resilience is endearing, and we follow her through a journey that could make or break her after the case that she is given (the seemingly most insignificant one) becomes the biggest and toughest to crack.

There are huge lessons throughout the film that are poignantly relevant for all ages. This includes subjects like knowing your identity, perseverance, fighting prejudice, and faith.

It’s crazy, because I feel that, again, the message of faith is what Jesus wanted to tell me – loud and clear!

Check out this passage about faith in the Bible:

“It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before… It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as an inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” – (Hebrews 11:7-8)

We have so many seasons in our lives: Ones where we are fully dependent; ones where we are hanging on but also want to do it by ourselves; ones where we want to show that we are fiercely independent; and ones where we see the value in calling for help. I’m a fully grown young adult and I can still go through all of those in a week, almost always ending in the same place – seeing my very real need for God.

Judy’s mum (Mother Rabbit) said something that stayed with me when trying to convince Judy not to make a move towards her dream to become a cop: “That’s the beauty of complacency,” she said, “You almost never have to get hurt.”

After all I’ve been through in my short life, I’m happy to admit that sincerely seeking God in the way of “your whole life” will never leave you disappointed. There are so many things that push us into complacency and make us too scared to ever take a step. Fear does that – it paralyzes a person, if that’s what you’re feeding yourself on.

I’m convinced that Judy made it because she continuously fed her spirit with positive words. Now what if we can do one better? What if we could continuously feed our spirits on everything that God says about us and about our futures? What if we could live for what He sees in us – in the future rather than what we see in ourselves and our circumstances right now? Author C.S Lewis said: “God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He is the fuel our spirits were to burn, or the food our spirits were to feed on.”

All we need is our need. That’s all that is needed to qualify each of us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit to achieve everything that God made us to be. God is not and has never been restricted in relation to our lives, and yet we live with the misconception that His power is reserved for “special people,” or, “more holy people” and so we try and do it on our own!

Again, the primary reason for our need and inadequacy is because God designed us to have an appetite that can only be satisfied by Him – like the woman at the well that had had five husbands and then met with Jesus who showed her her need and gave her something (living water) that filled her immediately!

If you want to know a little bit more about what I’m talking about, why don’t you click on the banner below!

How do you define success?

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

May 23, 2016

1

This Sunday marked the end of a season in South Africa – the end of the first season of South Africa’s The Voice.

In the season finale, 21-year old Cape Town local Richard Stirton was crowned the winner. I guess that I appreciate the results a little more because I was also a contestant alongside Richard in Team Kahn (Kahn Morbee, Parlotones front man) who left the competition in the Top 32.

The format of the show meant that a lot of people went home very quickly. The Top 32, for example, were instantly cut to the Top 16 over two weeks. I happened to be sent home in the first week. As much as I was disappointed to leave the show, I was also very much relieved to be able to get home and carry on with my life without the immense pressure and stress that comes with broadcasting live week after week.

If there was anything that I saw as clear as day, during and after the show it was my direction.

There were tons of people who had voted and who have been supporting me during the process; some of them kids. On more than one occasion I’ve had a kid come up to me and say, “So sorry that you failed, Eden,” and it’s gotten to me every single time.

Why? Because…

The reality is that, because it’s a competition, only one (very much deserving) person wins. The rest of the people, not any less deserving, are voted out. But what are we teaching our children if we consider everyone who was voted out a loser and failure – everyone except the person who “won”?

It is a dangerous mentality to approach life with – especially if you’re going to try and achieve any dream, really. The other reality is that we are all at different places in the timeline and are all on different lanes. Running your own race, and accepting what is for you now means that you can be at peace with whatever happens along the way.

So how do you create your own definition of success?

Set out your goals and dreams clearly

The Bible says that people perish because of a lack of knowledge, and a lack of advice, but plans go well when a person seeks understanding “from the counsel of many” (Proverbs 11:14 and 15:22). Once you’ve sought counsel and set out your plan clearly, stay in your lane. Be very strict about that because, in the words of James Treat, if you don’t define success upfront you will define success by comparison – and comparison is a very dangerous game. Not many who play it come out alive.

Determine what and who defines your worth

In The Voice, one of the simpler translations of the Bible, there’s a passage in Luke (12:5-8) that quotes Jesus as follows: “Here’s whose opinion you should be concerned about: the One who can take your life and then throw you into hell! He’s the only one you should fear! But don’t misunderstand: you don’t really need to be afraid of God, because God cares for every little sparrow. How much is a sparrow worth – don’t five of them sell for a few cents? Since you are so much more precious to God than a thousand flock of sparrows, and since God knows you in every detail – down to the number of hairs on your head at this moment – you can be secure and unafraid of any person, and you have nothing to fear from God either. That’s why I keep telling you not to be intimidated. If you identify unashamedly with Me before others, I, the Son of Man, will affirm you before God and all the heavenly Messengers.”

In the words of actress Helena Bonham Carter: “You can never put your self-definition in the hands of someone who meets you for 15 minutes.” How much more then should we put our self-definition in the hands of someone who knows every hair on our heads!

Very, very clearly there in Luke we read about how much God cares for us. He has our lives mapped. Big events and small events are all important to Him. He has complete power and He is the only one that we should fear and allow to speak into our lives – everything that we believe about ourselves should be based on what He says.

Unfortunately, we have something called the internet and today’s society in general, where people are used to defining other people and judging them without truly understanding or knowing the capacity and gifting of the person in front of them. It’s also on the internet that we see “people doing well” and wish we were them.

Can you see the danger in entering the world without your own definition of success worked out? Can you see how easy it is to get swayed; depressed; devoid of joy, and complacent? Very easy.

It can ruin you unless you decide today that your joy, reason, and hope are all found in God; that He is the source of your worth.

After all of this, be grateful – for every experience, for every lesson, and every little thing that you’ve learnt and received along the way! Without gratitude you are unable to receive anything more:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (you’ll find it towards the back of your Bible) says the following: “Celebrate always, pray constantly, and give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. (This is God’s will for all of you in Jesus the Anointed.)”

If you are finding it hard to stand under the heavy pressure that society is putting on you to be successful, and are also finding it hard to see that your worth is not found in your gifts, talents, or anything you do, I strongly suggest that you take a little time to click on the black banner below!

Living life skilfully

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

May 16, 2016

0

Life is bewildering and difficult at times. Don’t we all know that! It would be amazing to anticipate every blow, ride every wave, and duck every kick, and I think that we can – to some extent – make sure that we’re as prepared as we can possibly be by doing certain things to focus our efforts.

What is skill? Well, it is the ability to do something well. In the Bible, skill is also sometimes described as wisdom. God’s goal for us as people is not just to live, but to multiply (in every area of our lives).

Skills come in skill sets and learning how to handle multiple tasks with skill or with certain skill sets is what sets a good leader apart from the mediocre.

I’ve made some points on how to live skilfully and given points on two different categories of life: our devotional lives and our practical, everyday lives (for example our career situation). However, I fully believe that the two are strongly intertwined.

Develop a personal relationship with God

Devotionally: Without it, we aren’t going anywhere, and we might as well accept our lives being mediocre. A disciplined person who invests consistent time in prayer and Bible study shows a deep relationship with God. The reading and study of other ministry and devotionally related books compliment your Bible study well…
Practically: The Bible (in the book of 1 Timothy 3:2-3) talks about the ability to read and influence people by one’s personal lifestyle. Living and leading also includes handling and communicating with different types of people all the time. Therefore, building your relationship with God and serving in your local church can not only help you when you’re serving, but also when you’re about your daily work.

Develop an interest in listening and reading

You should be reading something at all times – knowledge is key.
Practically: Jack Ma has said that his College Mentor, who grew up in a really poor family and made something of himself after being the first of his family who ever went to college, thought that his biggest success was his reading habit. He would often ask his interviewees what book they were reading and the “excellent’ ones could give the answer immediately. Reading gives you a head start, and creates new possibilities for you – especially if you are interested in expanding your vocational skill set.
Devotionally: I like to listen to preaching Podcasts in my car – it’s a good way to not only increase your knowledge of the word through being taught, but it also allows the Holy Spirit to work in you throughout the week!

Practicing healthy routines

Devotionally: Things like fasting are paramount to a committed Christian’s lifestyle. It’s about showing commitment and readiness to sacrifice in order to do the will of the Holy Spirit. I’ve found that fasting deals with many other issues that I have in my life when I commit to it.
Practically: If you have a full-time job, what you do every night is very important. If you want to develop your skill set to be able to get the job of your dreams, begin to practice daily (even if it’s just for an hour). Obviously, we need to balance life and work (and family), but there are plenty of things in one’s life that one does that wastes time, like watching the new season of a Netflix drama – 14 hours per week is the average amount of television watching time. Other than that, get that exercise in, bebe!

Actively Build Your Connections

Practically: In your career path, a strong network of connections will accelerate everything that you do, and if you haven’t set up your personal connections then you should probably allocate a portion of your time to doing so. A strong network of relationships helps you to:
- Contact smart friends, and then learn their opinions;
- Get information and knowledge that’s hard to get (sometimes speaking to people is the best way to find this information);
- Look for or just run into income generating opportunities
Devotionally: People perish without knowledge or vision, and people who desire to move forward not only long to cultivate their own vision but desire to connect with people who have vision!

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” – Seneca

I merged both the devotional/spiritual and practical/everyday life points because a lot of times we can get so focused on the “getting forward” part and forget that we need Jesus, thinking we can do it all by ourselves. I believe that only Jesus Christ can fully equip one to face the everyday challenges of life with the utmost skill, humility, faith, and hope!

What’s in a name?

Faith
Jesus

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

May 13, 2016

0

Changing one’s last name when you get married is a legal custom in certain English speaking parts of the world, and even though I’ve grown up in quite a conservative family, this has always been something that has freaked me out.

I’m big on “living” out the meaning of my birth name, and so, just the idea of changing my last name was insane for me. I decided that I may not want to change my last name in marriage (it’s a long story, and we’ll have to see what happens when the time comes for me to finally get married). But then I also knew that I couldn’t go through life without any name changes at all.

There was one very important name change that I had to go through, and one that I believe we all have to undergo. That name change comes when we decide to live for God.

The Bible, in the book of Colossians (2:20) says the following: “Listen, if you have died with the Anointed One to the elemental spirits of the cosmos, then why are you submitting yourselves to its rules as if you still belong to this world?”. That same book (Colossians 3:17) later says the following: “Surely, no matter what you are doing (writing, speaking or working), do it all in the name of Jesus our Master, sending thanks through Him to God our Father.” The book of Isaiah (44:3-5) says something similar in poetic language, claiming that “… some will write the Lord’s name on their hands and will take the name of Israel as their own”.

I regret to admit that it’s maybe been people like me (and others who decline to admit it) that struggle when it comes to having a consistent relationship with Jesus. You know, like meeting with him every day and talking to him like you would in your real relationships. The only way to fully take on someone else’s identity, and to walk and do life as a part of them, is if you change your name and take on theirs, and then unselfishly fully submit yourself to find your happiness in theirs.

Look at we just read in Colossians. If we are fully enmeshed (entangled – wow!) in Jesus Christ then we should not be doing things in our own strength. Surely, if we’ve taken on the name of the Lord’s as our own, then there shouldn’t be a problem when we need to submit to his will in certain areas of our lives.

Why is it that we so often stray from common sense (good sense, judgement based on a simple perception of the situation or facts)?

My good sense tells me to cling to Jesus with everything that I have, but in a world where, as young women and men, we are confronted with a barrage of hyper-awareness about things like feminism and cultural appropriation it is sometimes hard to believe that it will take us laying down our lives (and our pride) for us to truly find them; that it will take giving up our names (and really, also, our worldly identities) to find who we really are.

I feel that maybe the best way to it, is to just jump in. And so, if you are reading this, and are battling to have a meaningful relationship with the guy upstairs (and everywhere, really), then I’d like to encourage you to take the jump with me today (I have to do it on the daily) to take on His name. If you have no idea what I am saying, and would like to know a bit more, why don’t you click on the banner below!

Keep standing for what you believe

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

May 9, 2016

0

“Thuli Madonsela is living in fear for her life after she was warned that a prominent Western Cape boss has been paid to arrange a hit on her,” read the Sunday Times on Mother’s Day. I shuddered. I had just recently had a hard conversation with South African pop star Lira about the cost of standing by one’s convictions in public rather than just in private.

“It’s true,” she said, “It’s very hard, but you have to stay true to what you believe in even when the world doesn’t like it – and there’ll always be plenty of people to tell you that they don’t like it.”

Madonsela has neared the end of her time in office as the Public Protector – in fact, she only has five months left of her term and so she is understandably shocked after having received a tip-off from a trusted whistle-blower who is a known police informant. Madonsela thinks that it is probably someone trying their hand at revenge.

The informant, who Madonsela has worked with several times in the past, says that the gang boss has been paid R740 000 to organise that three hitman make her death look like a car accident. The threat was first received on the 1^st of April as she was on her way to the Cape Town Jazz Fest. Madonsela alerted the police’s VIP Protection Unit. She initially kept this information from her family, but later informed them.

These events follow after she’s stood up consistently for the right thing in the midst of the turbulent South African political landscape.

All throughout history we learn the stories of people whose lives are threatened and people whose lives have been taken because they spoke out for the injustice in whatever system they were living in, or because they just spoke the truth (and some people didn’t like it).

I guess that we can dream in private about sharing our convictions and dreams with the world but still never be fully ready for the attack we’ll experience once we get out there, especially once we get out on a bigger platform than just our office or classroom.

For people pleasers like me, it can take a huge amount of courage to stand unswervingly for what you know to be true. Sometimes, that truth is unashamedly being who God made you to be in a world full of copies.

I continuously had nightmares as a child, and also struggled with a heck of a lot of bullying, so the very first Bible verse that my parents taught me was from the book of Timothy:

“You see, God did not give us a cowardly spirit but a powerful, loving, and disciplined spirit.” (2 Timothy 2:17)

I love it! In fact, throughout the books of Timothy, Paul tells Timothy how he can overcome his fear: fear of man, fear of being young, speaking out – you name it! This, even though we know that Timothy is a really powerful guy that was incredibly gifted and that God used amazingly!

In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul, goes on to say: “Timothy, do everything you can to present yourself to God as a man who is fully genuine, a worker unashamed of your mission, a guide capable of leading others along the correct path defined by the word of truth.”

I was so encouraged by that word and I believe that you can be too! Friend, today, why don’t we commit ourselves to be men and women that are fully genuine workers who are unashamed of our life’s missions, and guides that are capable of leading others along the correct paths – paths that are defined by the Word of Truth!

If you are struggling to find a defined path in your life, I encourage you to consider Jesus!

What Darth Vader taught me about perspective

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

April 29, 2016

0

What Darth Vader taught me about perspective

I remember being a child walking into the Old Dutch Reformed Church that my parents had bought in the inner city of Pietermaritzburg. I remember how big everything seemed.

They redecorated the church, I grew up, and it eventually became our kids church building because it was way too small and all the people couldn’t fit inside – it would take three services for that to happen.

One day I sat back, amazed at how small the church seemed for me now. I couldn’t get over it. It used to be so big, didn’t it? No… I saw it as big because I was small, and now because I was “bigger” it seemed smaller – the same size the adults around me saw it as. It was also around a time that I started to understand a whole lot of things differently from “before”. It was like my brain had opened up to the sky and was seeing through its eyes.

I gained something very valuable that would change my life forever – something called perspective.

Perspective.

The appearance of things relative to one another as determined by the distance from the viewer;
A way of regarding situations or topics;
A view embracing various distances (mental retrospect or prospect).

Now, the word relative stood out for me in that definition and so I also looked it up – one of the definitions were, not involving absolute existence but rather, a conditioned existence (i.e. beauty is in the eye of the beholder).

I learned very quickly that if the way that I spoke to myself inside wasn’t positive when things didn’t go according to plan, then I would slip into something that I later pinpointed as depression. Sometimes, in the beginning, something would go disastrously wrong and I would grasp at problem-solving straws to try and make sense of the situation, then spend another two days talking to myself about all the ways that the sun couldn’t shine in this situation. It was like a deep and dark valley that I walked through (on the inside). I couldn’t explain it to friends or family, because I couldn’t fully understand it myself.

One day, something big happened and I went into that valley for about three months. I can’t remember a day during that period that I didn’t cry. Sometimes I would wake up crying, sometimes I would find myself crying as I walked down the passage way. It was weird.

As much as there were a ton of negative voices in my head, there were also voices telling me that when I eventually got out of this place, I never wanted to go back. I learnt very quickly that I needed to grab on to a different perspective – I needed to condition my mind to another reality; something other than what I saw right in front of me. I was done with the unreasonable stress, and there was no way that I could have another blackout. I was done with fear.

Even though I had been a Christian for nearly my whole life, I realised that it was during that time that I had let go of His perspective in my life and had allowed my inner voice to take control. These are a few verses that really helped me out of the slouch:

“You, beloved are worth so much more than a whole flock of sparrows. God knows everything about you, even the hairs on your head. So do not fear”

(Matthew 10:30)

“The tongue is a blazing fire seeking to ignite an entire world of vices. The tongue is unique among all parts of the body because it is capable of corrupting the whole body. If that were not enough, it ignites and consumes the course of creation with a fuel that originates in hell itself.”

(James 3:5)

“Do away with any talk that twists and distorts the truth. Have nothing to do with any verbal trickery. Keep your head up, your eyes straight ahead, and your focus fixed on what is in front of you. Take care that you don’t stray from the straight path, the way of truth, and you will safely reach the end of your road. Do not veer off course to the left or to the right, step away from evil and leave it behind.”

(Proverbs 4:24-26)

“Stay focused on Jesus who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross, and ignored the shame of that death because he focused on the joy set before him, and now he is seated beside God on the throne, in the place of honour.”

(Hebrews 12:2)

“Above all, you must live as citizens of Heaven”

(Philippians 1:27)

Instalments I, II and III of the Star Wars Saga are incredibly interesting (I personally think that the Star Wars Saga will change your life if you let it), and it is especially tragic to follow the life of Anakin Skywalker, the force sensitive slave boy who was found by the Jedi Order, born to Shmi Skywalker on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine. The Jedi Order discovered Anakin, freed him from slavery, and brought him into their community, saying that he was the chosen one of the Jedi Prophecy – the one who was destined to defeat the Sith (the bad guys) and bring balance to the Force. All of that was squashed when Anakin became the infamous Sith Lord, Darth Vader – the Ultimate Baddy.

There were many years in between Anakin being found as a boy and then becoming Darth Vader. And I feel that things could have been so different for him if he had allowed them to be. Throughout his childhood and then adulthood, Master Yoda warned him of embracing the fear that he knew that Anakin harboured: “Train yourself to let go of all that you’re scared to lose,” was something that he had said to Anakin while Anakin was still deciding whether to embrace his inner turmoil or not.

The way that I see it, Anakin embraced his new identity as Darth Vader because of great fear and a lack of perspective. Fear told him that he should scramble to protect what he loved – but because he walked in fear, he lost all that he loved anyway.

I am not an expert, nor am I the authority on anything other than what I have experienced, but my experience shows that I have been driven to dark places of despair because I have embraced the perspective of fear. Fear scrambles; fear embraced hopelessness; fear is mindful of the future at the expense of the moment.

It has been a few years for me now. And I am learning to walk and see the world through love’s eyes.

Honestly, sometimes I fail… But I’ll never allow myself to go back into total despair. Never. Allowing myself to walk in fear again would ruin me, and it can ruin you too if you allow it.

If you are like me or have been like me, and also have the problem of thinking that the world is sometimes too overwhelming, that your situation is way too dark, and that there is no solution, I encourage you friend, to please read a little more by clicking on the banner below!

Are you a game changer?

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

April 22, 2016

0

“Anyone who ever did anything worth doing was a trouble maker. Steve Jobs – trouble maker. Albert Einstein – trouble maker. Emelia Eckhart – trouble maker. It’s alright to be a trouble maker and break free from the status quo.”

– Anon. (Someone’s Facebook status)

I sat in a church I had never been to amongst people that I had never met, contemplating all of the things that were happening in my life.

I needed the company of people who believed the same as me, I needed the uplifting worship and, most importantly, I needed the words that were going to be preached from that podium. So many things were changing really fast that I hardly had any time to come to grips with anything. I was experiencing a jump into all that I had ever wanted but at the same time, didn’t know how to handle it.

“If you could a spend a day with anyone in history, who would you spend it with?” said the person preaching. They went on to explain that, in their experience, they were always asked that question in interviews. It was one of those senseless questions that meant nothing but somehow told the interviewer something important (or not) about the person that they were interviewing.

“Steve Jobs. Emelia Eckhart. Muhad Mahghandi. Julius Caesar. Hitler. Jesus…”

The list could go on and on, always highlighting the people who changed the proverbial game forever by walking in the opposite direction to society, making the tough decisions and committing to them.

I’ve been encouraged by the following while looking at the story of four young men that were documented in the biblical book of Daniel:

1. Game changers are obedient to God in all areas, finding favour with God and man

“Although the king ate only the finest Babylonian fare, Daniel was determined not to violate God’s law and defile himself by eating the food and drinking the wine that came from the king’s table; so he asked the chief of the royal eunuchs for permission not to eat the food. Now God had given Daniel special favour and fondness in the eyes of the kings chief eunuch.” – Daniel 1:8-9

At this time Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had just been seized by king Nebuchadnezzar and deported to Babylon after their nation had been conquered. They were amongst some of the wisest, most handsome guys in the land. When they arrived in Babylon they were supposed to just get on and change how they did things to the Babylonian way of life but they decided that if they did that, it would go against their belief in God. They found favour with the person in charge of them and asked to be given a diet of vegetables and water. God honoured them, and they found that they performed much better than any of the other young men under the king’s watch – they were stronger, wiser and just better!

2. Game changers put their faith in God, leading to promotion for them and others

The book of Daniel (3:16, 27-30) shares the story of these amazing young men refusing to worship any other gods when the king of that time demanded that they all do it at a certain time. They did not strike, make a huge noise, or throw their toys out of the cot. All they did was quietly retreat to pray the God that they knew as the one true God! They were found out and were sent to the furnace, where they not only survived, but not a single hair on their head was scorched, plus they didn’t even smell of fire! This led to the proclamation by the king that their God was the true God, and subsequently a decree that the whole nation must worship the true God.

3. Game changers trust God to intervene and He never disappoints

In Daniel 6 we read about Daniel being thrown into the lions’ den because of a decree that was put into place by the king in power and some other power hungry men. Again, Daniel trusted God to intervene. God did not disappoint! Daniel didn’t change what he believed because of the circumstance or the consequence.

4. Game changers are willing to do what the rest of the world isn’t willing to do

Today, thousands of years later, we read about the legacy left by these brave young men willing to risk everything for who they believed in. The thing that I love most about the story of Daniel is the fact that Daniel (as well as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) wasn’t some small-time guy. This guy had the ear and the heart of three different Babylonian kings at different times. He was well versed in the knowledge, magic, and languages of the kingdom – but the difference was that he was clearly led by God, submitted to God’s guidance, and readily spoke out!

“It shouldn’t be easy to be amazing. Then everything would be. It’s the things that you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something is difficult to come by, you’ll do that much more to make sure it’s even harder – or important to loose.” – Sarah Dessen, Along For The Ride

I really just felt to encourage those who are in the doing stage of doing something that is changing the game! It is in the doing stage that one almost always realises that they won’t always be liked, appreciated, or supported, or be perfect or full of understanding. It is in the doing stage that one has the opportunity to hold on tight or let go of their relationship with Jesus, and I am encouraging you that if you find yourself in a compromising position – hold on! Trust God to intervene when you are willing to do what the rest of the world isn’t willing to do.

If you do not have a relationship with Jesus and are interested in knowing a bit more, I encourage you to click on the banner below! He was the greatest-game changer of all time – the only one who changed the game and left a legacy that was purely about others!

It’s not about being religious

Eden Myrrh Toohey

-

April 11, 2016

0

“A good reputation is preferable to riches, and the approval of others is better than precious silver or gold… A humble person who fears the Eternal can expect to receive wealth, honor and life. Thorny branches and traps lie ahead for those who follow perverse paths; those who want to preserve themselves will steer clear of them…”

(Proverbs 22:1,4-5 The Voice)

It’s been a long time coming for South African business moguls, the Guptas. Two of the Gupta brothers, Ajay and Atul, their wives, five assistants, and a “mountain of luggage” reportedly left the country for Dubai in their private jet on Thursday night.

All of this after a few rocky weeks following accusations that the family had offered ministerial posts in the country’s cabinet to ruling party (ANC) politicians, which subsequently led to companies such as KPMG (their auditors), FNB and ABSA (banks), as well as their sponsor, Sasfin Capital, cutting ties with the family’s businesses.

Matthew Lester, a financial analyst, had an interesting take on the affair – he is adamant that it is reputation and whiffs of bad corporate governance that steered the business sector’s reaction to the family’s businesses.

“If your reputation gets knocked up, you have a major problem in business,” said Lester. “In our private sector, modern corporate governance standards are working; if you haven’t gotten (sic) your reputation right, your stakeholders will walk away…”

I love the idea of corporate governance in business. Basically, to prevent managers from making decisions that would only benefit themselves and that would be detrimental to others, a system of checks and balances has to be put in place. This system is called corporate governance – making sure that management behaves appropriately. A board of directors and an external auditor are all hired by this governance system and other constituents such as creditors, suppliers, labour unions, the media, and regulators play a role in this. It also suggests the company should run itself for the good of the people (its environment) rather than solely for its own profit.

To me, the gospel – the good news about Jesus – is basically a system of corporate governance in our own lives. Just as corporate governance is a “set of protocols and institutional systems meant to ensure accountability and sound ethics,” the gospel and our acceptance of it in our life, is the acceptance of a set of protocols and institutional systems that ensure our soundness. I swear, the rules were made for us to be free. And I, as a young person, feel the most free when I am submitting to and am found under the protection of accountability.

I was speaking to my parents (who also happen to be my spiritual leaders) about a specific thing that I was going through in my life right now, and how I’ve tried to be honest and open about it all. Mom and I laughed, because we knew that this wasn’t in my nature, but rather something that I had forced myself to do – under the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Not only does bad company corrupt good character (the Bible says so in 1 Corinthians 15:33) but also, wisdom is shown to be right by the fruits of all of her decisions (Luke 7:35), and her reputation is at stake.

For me, spiritual governance, and living by a set of protocols and systems that are meant to ensure my accountability and sound ethics, is not so much about impressing people as it is doing what I know would make God happy. It isn’t about religion and being religious as much as about living a life inspired by a love for God.

I love God, and so I do what He says!

The amount of profitability that stems out of that relationship is more than I could have ever wanted or imagined, and if you don’t experience that today or have no idea what I am speaking about, I encourage you, friend, to lend us your time to learn a bit more by clicking on the banner below!

If you already live your life out of a love for God, but don’t necessarily find yourself walking the course set out by him, I encourage you to employ wisdom and love today.

“You see, to love God means that we keep his commands, and his commands don’t weigh us down. Everything that has been fathered by God overcomes the corrupt world. The victory that has conquered the world: our faith”

(1 John 3-4, The Voice)

Eden Myrrh Toohey

Connect with us