Behind What You See

By Dlova Nomagugu Cynthia

Growing up can be challenging and it demands faith to hold on. Today, I’m grateful for those hard times in my life that God allowed me to go through. I’m talking about challenges that made me the person I am today; challenges that made me realize that I really need Him in my life. Looking back on all those challenges I went through; I’m convinced that there’s a purpose behind the pain. What you see today is nothing compared to what God is planning behind your challenges. I have one word for all the challenges I went through and that is “preparation”. Bear in mind that God doesn’t just prepare – He prepares with a purpose that will glorify His name.

Be positive towards your challenges when those hard times come. Instead of pulling away from God, focus on what God is preparing you for – what He is trying to say in your life, what is behind what you see. Your questions might be answered later and that is why you need to be positive knowing that God is at work in your life. God will never give the impossible. He will never give you what you cannot handle as you go through challenges in your life. God has given you strength before He allowed the challenges in your life. You are the only one who feels how heavy your challenges are, but I want to assure you that, that’s how much God trusts you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dlova Nomagugu Cynthia
• Release date: Sep 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005904685

Book preview

Introduction

This book is all about nothing but the truth from the part of me that no one else can see and tell. The book talks about my journey from the time when I was young up until this very moment in my life. Of course, this book doesn’t cover everything about myself, but only the challenges that I went through thus far in my life and also how I’ve seen the power of God in my life, using my family and friends in my life. As you read on, you will understand that whatever you are going through, God is at work for your salvation, your happiness and your maturity. I have experienced a few things in my life and indeed all things work together for good. Sometimes, it takes a long time to see the reason behind the pain, the reason behind what you see in your life today, nevertheless our God is not a liar. He would not have said it in the Bible if it wasn’t true. Through all my experiences I have seen God; I didn’t really see Him that time, it’s only now that I got to look back that I can say yes, He was with me all the way.

I took a decision to share my story from my heart because I feel like there’s a lot of young –and even older people – who are going through similar situations that I went through. I believe that as you go through my journey, my challenges and my thoughts, your spirit will be uplifted, your faith will grow and you will see life in a different way. You will understand that it’s never too late to change. If it’s God’s will, well, everything will be fine because God’s will comes with wisdom and prosperity.

Dedication

Beloved reader, young and old. I dedicate this book to you. This book is dedicated to everyone. Above all, I dedicate this book to God. I’d like to thank God for comforting me in hard times, it could have been worse if God was not by my side. God has been faithful to me on this journey. Once again, I’d like to thank God for protecting me and giving me the strength to hold on. I believe we all had or are going through challenges in this universe. I’m very honoured for this opportunity to take you through the most challenging moments I had in my life as a young woman so far and of course, to share my thoughts and my believes with you. I have not seen it all in life but the little experience I had, which is right here in this book, I believe will revive your hopes in your life and know that whatever you’re going through in your life, you’re not alone. With this book, I testify that through it all, God will never leave us; He will always go before us.

We all hate getting hurt. We don’t like to experience pain and we don’t want to see other people hurting. Unfortunately, it’s part of our journey. Even so, we need to find ways of how to deal with everything we come across, we can’t do it on our own, we need wisdom and strength from God. Again, with this book, I testify to you that as we all usually plan for the future, so does God. And, at the end of it all, His plans in our lives stand. His plans give peace. God’s ‘no’ is prosperity. God’s ‘no’ is out of love.

I have noticed that pain fades over time and it doesn’t leave you empty, it leaves you with love, which is what made me take the decision to share about what I saw behind my pain. Pain leaves you stronger for the next obstacle, it leaves

you with hope to say the One who never forsook me in the past will never forsake me in the future. Above all, pain leaves you with knowing who God is. When the pain has faded, you will ask yourself how you made it through it all. Then you will know you were not alone, as He promised in the Bible. As you go through my challenges by reading this book, be comforted, be encouraged and appreciate your blessings.

My Journey

I Cannot stress enough the issue of not putting much effort in everything I had to do in the past, whatever you do, you’re doing it for yourself. A journey is one of the special gifts and we are all assigned to walk it individually. So, if you decide to stop, no one can continue for you. Unfortunately, it’s a personal gift. People around us may try to show us the right path to take and can support us in major ways, but it only takes one person to walk the journey.

There are principles that we should consider as we walk our day-to-day journey. Firstly, it is important to begin any movement in our lives with God as we are the ones who will go on the journey. We need to humble ourselves before the Lord and allow Him to be the leader of our journey. It can be very long and dark when we don’t involve God in our lives. The process of the journey requires a person who is well principled. As you walk, a lot will happen – some people will be against your journey and at times you will fall. It’s okay to fall but what matters is that you get up and continue with your journey. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall. What matters is how many times you get up.

As you walk, it makes sense to ask, Why does it feel like I’m walking in the dark? That’s why God says, ‘walk by faith’, – it takes faith to stand up and face the challenges of this world. As you walk some will be ahead of you, but this should not discourage you. Be courageous, for the same God who is giving them strength to stand up is the same God who has plans for you.

The Purpose Behind the Pain

One of the hardest things to do is to wake-up every day and live without faith. The only thing that sustains my faith are the moments I had in my life where I said, I don’t deserve this and that, but God gave it to me, when my prayers were not answered and I realized later on that it was for the best, when I judged myself, He treated me like a queen, when I said there’s no way, He led me. When I was heartbroken, I saw myself smiling again. Today, I’m convinced, if it wasn’t for the obstacles that God allowed me to go through in my life, I would not know Him for who He is. I noticed that most of the people that are generous are people who once suffered during their lifetime. That’s how amazing God is. Before God uses a person, He prepares them in different ways and one of those ways is to allow us to go through challenges so that we experience His power and know what it feels like to be in need. If you once slept with an empty stomach, it will be easier for you to understand someone who is in need of food because of your experience.

From painful experiences, we develop care and love, which leads us to be generous to other people in the future. When you see the power of God during challenging times, your faith grows and won’t be shaken by the challenges that are yet to come. As we know, the devil won’t stop trying us and drawing us into the worst moments in life. God is bigger than our problems. If He once nursed your wounds, He’s still capable of nursing your wounds today. God doesn’t change. One day, I was with a group of people, studying the word of God. The lady who was leading the study asked a very important question, Would you stop worshiping God if he did not answer your prayers? I didn’t say anything because at that time my faith was very fragile. I didn’t really know where I stood with God. I don’t even know how I found myself in church in the first place. That is why it’s very important to listen to that small and very calm voice when it speaks to you.

At the time, I said I’m not going to church, but there was this voice that kept on that I should go. One of the guys in the group answered, It depends. I got excited to know that I was not the only one who had such thoughts. We even laughed at him, but for me, I was shocked that he was so brave to say it aloud. Only to find out later that he had a very deep reason behind his answer, which left me feeling ashamed of myself.

It depends with the relationship you have with God, he continued, if God has been faithful before in your life, what makes you doubt him now? What makes you want to stop worshiping him? I looked at myself and said yes, God has been faithful in my life. In as much as we might not be where we want to be today, I believe that God took us somewhere and that we have no reason to doubt who He is in our lives.

What I Wish I Knew When I Was Younger

I wish I’d known more about self-love and self-worth. I wish I was empowered at a younger age. I wish I never changed for anyone. I wish I stood firm in my beliefs and that they were never taken away from me. Knowing your worth as a woman is vital. It hurts so much realising the fact that I lived so many years without knowing my worth. I didn’t live the life of a queen and didn’t treat myself like one. No doubt, at some point in my life, I tried to treat myself like a queen but later on, it all faded away when I chose to allow people to define me and tell me who I am. I looked around and believed them and that’s when everything went wrong. Being a queen doesn’t mean you need someone to tell you that you are one. You don’t need to marry to a king in order to be a queen. You don’t have to be born into a royal family to set high standards for yourself. You are a queen; you were born a queen. I call it self-love. Don’t wait for someone to label you. All you need to do is to stand in front of the mirror and declare, I am beautiful, I am powerful. Then, go out there and live what you have declared. Live like a queen.

One of the reasons why I was so obsessed with marriage was because I thought in order for me to be a queen, I needed to have a partner, someone who was going to treat me like a queen and compliment me every day. No doubt, men should treat us like queens but it is vital to understand that it does not begin with them. It should start from within you as a woman to treat yourself like one. When men come along, they will just add value to what you have already, to what you believe you are, to who you are. And this only happens when you know your worth, when you set high standards for yourself.

Those who really love you should add value to who you are. Be true to yourself, be yourself as much as you can. That’s the only time you are going to attract people who will appreciate you for the way you are, people who will value and respect you.

I used to believe that in order to be a queen you should have certain things like money, a house, cars, and a great job. This is not true. All these things are what everyone is chasing after. After all, we all need jobs and money to live. However, all these things don’t define a queen. Don’t allow people to tell you that you don’t have this and that, therefore you are not a queen. Bear in mind that you should work on being independent; be a hard-working queen. The only time when you’re not a queen is when you don’t treat yourself like one, when you don’t know your worth, when you don’t have standards.

In as much as I have set standards for myself, not so long ago, I wasn’t confident about my standards because somehow people would make me feel as if I thought I was better than other women. What was so special about me? Standards have nothing to do with ego, pride and all. The first thing you should do is research what it means to have standards as a woman just in case you’re not sure what I’m talking about, so that you don’t confuse