Naked and Not Ashamed Finding Hope in Trials

By Bola Musiwa

The story of abuse and restoration. Abuse is a no, no and no one ever deserves to go through it. Naked and Not Ashamed is a book targeting the way society, culture, and religion treats the vulnerable and how they are stigmatized.

Naked and Not Ashamed is my personal story of God leading me through the dark paths, helping me navigate life challenges, and above all helping me recover and giving me the grace and strength to move on.

It is about God being present in your mistake, and holding your hands through the journey of life. The life of being single and trying to figure out what’s next. It’s about the process of having to parent my two children on my own and God granting me the wisdom and knowledge all the way.

You will be challenged, you will be strengthened, and you will be hopeful after reading Naked and Not Ashamed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669851691

Book preview

Dedication

This book is first and foremost dedicated to God, who

has kept and sustained me through the years.

To my sons, Joseph and Joshua, with whom I am well

pleased, you made parenting easy for me. I am eternally

grateful for the spirit of God inside of you.

To my mum ,Chief (Mrs) Christiana O. Ogundare, for her

support, prayers, and visits throughout the years.

FOREWORD

O mobola’s story is very telling. In this emotional and spiritually loaded testimony, Omobola bares out her personal life and her vast experiences over many decades. As these reflections coincide with the 49th birthday of this woman of God, she consciously, cautiously, carefully, meticulously, graciously, and lovingly takes us through her journey. In many ways, through her sharing, Omobola and her journey exemplify the harsh realities of being chosen by God, and that while the calling of God is admirable and glorious, the walk and process in itself is lonely, tiring, and frustrating. She shares with us her fault-lines, her missteps, and her wrong turns. In the process, she makes the reader possibly uncomfortable as we discover how difficult it is to be naked and not ashamed in a world and church that are glossed over with hypocrisy. Many of us will discover our shared humanity with Omobola as we recognize her battles, troubles, traumas, and even her victories. At other moments in her journey, we would also be tempted to envy her walk with her Lord and the blessings of being chosen and belonging to God. Especially important is the fact that our woman of God tells us how God has made and is making all things beautiful for her. It is my expectation that the reader will encounter Jehovah through the simplicity, courage, and love of Omobola’s testimony. Let us take a walk with Omobola and sigh at different twists and turns, while we also gleefully celebrate her numerous wins. Let us be rejuvenated by the love of Christ, who gave Himself for us.

Dr. Ola-Kris Akinola (Church planter, author, actor, playwright, dramatist, and University Professor). 

Naked and not ashamed is a testament to Bola’s choice to look up, arise, learn, reposition, and grow. This book says no one is beyond God’s arm of grace if they permit God to be God; that failure is not final unless you decide to remain in the fallen state. This book has successfully shown that Bola, a professional therapist, believes that your life is not over; the narrative of your life journey must match that which God has written before you were born. You may be staggering, confused, maybe even flat on your back, but not out; she believes that God can bring the dead back to life, offer beauty for ashes, and turn trash into treasure. This book is saying, ever so loudly, that if you fall, to fall forward; if you are down, keep your eyes up. You will arrive at your destination. If you fall forward, you will rise a few steps ahead. Bola has candidly opened her life to help you look up, get up, and move forward because your destination is not where you fall; it is where the author of your life’s journey is waiting with a smile and a warm embrace for you and to cover your nakedness with his glory. The author, who is also a seasoned minister of the Gospel with impeccable moral standards, did not pull punches in calling on the Church to assume responsibility for the vulnerable within her, to do more in her advocacy for the needy, and to be better equipped to meet needs promptly. This is a fantastic read, and I can anticipate the revolution it will bring to every reader who applies the principles outlined here.

Pastor Jerry Samuels

New World Ministries Inc

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

To Be Naked and Not Ashamed

CHAPTER 1

A Girl So Envisioned

CHAPTER 2

Family Dynamics

CHAPTER 3

Then My Journey Began

CHAPTER 4

Visions and Warnings

CHAPTER 5

Identity: People Began to Define My Life by My Circumstance

CHAPTER 6

Struggles with Forgiveness

CHAPTER 7

My shelter experience.

CHAPTER 8

My Recovery

CONCLUSION

Stripped but dreams are still intact

AUTHOR’S BIO

Professional Profile

INTRODUCTION

To Be Naked and Not Ashamed

W ill you choose to confront negative issues in your life, or be defeated and wallow in the pain? There is always a choice of how you react to disasters or unexpected circumstances in your life. You could choose to treat these unscripted life events as a victor’s ladder by which you climb up or you could choose to be a victim all your life. It all depends on what side of life you view things from. Again, you could also choose to treat those unexpected situations as a gift, a fresh start, and a healing process. At times, we go through life crises and transitions, and because of the pain we experience, we refuse to see how that pain can be turned into hope, and not only hope but also something that will launch us into a better space in life. The aim of this book is to encourage someone that you are never lost, you haven’t lost your purpose as well as to let those who went through abuse know that abuse is never okay, and that they deserve much more, in addition to this, I bring hope, love, faith, and peace to all homes going through any storm, my prayer is that God will visit every situation and circumstance bring himself glory. I hope that you will find my journey similar to yours or even different. In any case, I hope that my testimony brings to your heart the courage you need to overcome, just as I have and continue to.

A Girl So Envisioned

G rowing up as a young girl, I used to envision how my marriage would be and how I would live happily ever after with my prince charming. At that age, I looked forward to marriage to one man I would and can call my best friend. Even as I grew up to understand myself and where God was taking me, I knew that I just couldn’t afford to marry anyone.

Our identity can be affected by our experiences, those experiences in life often become part of us. When we get hurt over and over again in life, we get to a stage where we try as much as possible to protect ourselves from getting hurt again. Those experiences become our realities, and many times, we hide those experiences because we fear being vulnerable, being criticized, being ashamed, being stigmatized, and being ostracized from certain communities and groups.

In Genesis 2:25, Adam and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. What that means is that they were their true selves, they didn’t care about what others felt about them and neither did they care about others’ opinions. They owned their identities and their true selves. Adam and Eve were at that point because they had never experienced any hurt in their lives, and as such, there was actually nothing to lose. But Adam and Eve would later experience hurt, trauma and shame, and they would have something to cover. They would have something to be ashamed of, they