There are three dimensions to every problem you face in life.
1. What you see
2. What you cannot see
3. What is yet to come
It is hard to see all these three dimensions when the problem is still fresh.
What you see is always unpleasant. It causes pain, frustration, and hopelessness. No one likes pain. Yet, pain is the glaring emotion you have to deal with when you face a problem.
What you cannot see are the many unanswered questions connected to the problem. Every problem sparks a question of doubt or uncertainty; some of which includes:
- Why did this thing happen to me?
- Who is behind this?
- Why at this time?
- Why me?
- Who did this to me?
- How can this be possible?
- When is this going to stop?
Lastly, what is yet to come is what God is cooking up for you behind the scene.
You may not know what it is, how it looks like, and when it will materialize. But knowing that God is working out something for you, although you cannot see it, is the grain of hope you need in hold onto in every challenge you face in life.
Let me share with you a personal story to illustrate the three-dimensional phase of a problem I encountered a few months ago.
At the peak of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, I lost my job. It was easy for me to see pain, vile, bitterness, lack, betrayal, injustice and manipulation. But I decided not to focus on these obvious emotions because I knew that there were things I couldn’t see and there were better things yet to come.
I didn’t let my emotions cloud my thinking, my attitude, and my aptitude.
I remember telling the Human Resource personnel this statement when he delivered the termination letter to me;
“You can’t hire or fire me. God does!” If the Board or senior leadership team has decided to terminate my contract, it means God allowed it to happen for a reason. So never mind feeling empathetic for me.”
I said this to him respectfully and with a smile on my face.
I had one thing left with me: Hope in God and my last salary, which was almost threatened to be withheld.
I stepped out in faith and used that money to reinforce the website you are currently viewing.
Late in September 2020, I launched my ghostwriting business.
In the first six weeks, three clients came knocking at my door. The first client was a young lady who wanted me to publish her book on Amazon.
Guess what happened?
She dubbed me. My very first consignment!
The two other clients worked with me, and I delivered their books satisfactorily.
As time went on, I started getting more requests from people to write and publish their books.
By the end of November, a friend of mine got a raise in a tech institution and they asked him to recommend someone to fill his gap.
He stepped up to me with the offer to serve as a digital marketing instructor.
I was an experienced school teacher, but I had never taught any tech-related course before.
Contrarily, I had planned to take a digital marketing course to improve on my digital marketing skills as a blogger and a ghostwriter.
I embraced the opportunity as an instructor, although I knew I wasn’t experienced and would spend a great deal of time learning on task. So my friend convinced her boss that I was the right pick for the job.
Few weeks later, they hired me as a digital marketing instructor with a salary almost the same as my previous job and with better working conditions.
Before then, I had read a lot of articles, books and blogs on digital marketing. Among some notable gurus in the field were vloggers and bloggers like Dan LOK, Grant Condor, and Neil Patel. So I had some leverage, being my first experience, to begin the tasks with confidence.
I had never taught digital marketing before. However, with the experience I had in planning lessons and in online teaching, I had to learn on the job.
I worked like a Trojan horse. I would study overnight and practiced digital marketing skills on my website before presenting a practical lesson to my students.
It was worth it.
Why?
Because they paid me to offer a service that I ought to have paid them to serve me.
Three months later, I did a great job and the CEO of the Teach institution cornered me for the position of the Dean of studies in the said tech institution.
Oooh! “Sounds interesting,” I said to myself.
But this is not what I had planned to do or to be. I needed tech skills for growth and experience in digital marketing, and not for a post of duty.
After so much tussle with the CEO, I turned down the offer. I guess she disappointed with my decision.
Not long, she gave me an ultimatum to either take the job or hold on for a while.
She was a kind lady with a tender heart, but she was also smart in taking decisions regarding her company.
So I lost the job again, although to my satisfaction.
In less than a month, a prestigious learning institution called me for an interview for a second time after they had turned me down two years ago. What I could not see two years ago was: “why did they turn me down?”
This time around, I went for the interview with an ultimatum in mind. I told the employer I needed a straight answer in less than one week.
Guess what!
One week later, I was called to resume duty in the most prestigious school in town.
God had reserved that position for me two years ago. That was yet to come, but I couldn’t see it coming.
To cut the long story short, you will face challenges in life, but the fire will not consume you if you trust God. Isaiah 43:1-2.
Likewise, there is a season to every problem you face in life. Tomorrow will be different no matter how soar it looks like today.
I tell friends all the time: Never give in to manipulation or compromise your values due to lack of money.
“So long as God is on the throne, there is a season for everything under the sun.”
Every problem in life has three dimensions:
- What you see
- What you don’t see
- And what is yet to come.
God is faithful. He will vindicate you. Wait and see what is yet to come.
With Love from,
Shei Jini
