3 tips for having a well-balanced life

A well-balanced life is a life that is based on the right priorities. A person is living a well-balanced life if such a person has found and committed him/herself to only the things that matter most in life. In this video, I share the three most important areas of life you can focus on to have a well-balanced life. It is not enough to only focus on only one of these areas, it takes the three areas to enjoy a balanced life. Click READ MORE below to watch the video!

My first encounter with God's power

My first encounter with God happened when I was about 11 years old, when I was in darkness, not knowing who I was and what the future holds for me.

As a child I grew up to find out that I have no parents. What I was told was that my parents passed two (dad) and three (mom) years after my birth. And from then on I had been living with my parents' relatives, from one house to another. The home I was when I was about 11 was my second foster home, I think. The person that I was living with was my great uncle - my father's elder brother. I called him 'Bami' (my father). He was a very old man and spent most time in the village-town due to his farm work. So I had to live with him in the village instead of our hometown.

The village-town is one of the various farm settlements (camp) where people from our hometown do their farm work. Most people live there, working from Monday to Friday or on monthly basis and then spend their weekends in the hometown city for relaxation and enjoyment. Those who have nowhere else to go would stay in the village-town all through week days or several months before visiting hometown. I was always there most days of the years. I only visited hometown with Bami whenever he was visiting for a long time and there was no one I could stay with in the village before he returns to the village.

Most times, there were always enough food available in the village. But the numbers of my clothes were few. I would wear whatever clothes and shoes were provided and slept on leaf mat or plastic sheets meant for drying cacao. There was no luxuries, no birthdays, and no toys. But sometimes I do get gifts from people when I run errand for them. Though I was enrolled in a Village School at the back of my foster home, I didn't understand anything being taught there, and I always got the last position in my class. I couldn't recite ABC. I couldn't read or write nor understood any simple arithmetic, even though I was over 11 years old. Moreover, no one was really there to care about my performance in school. Bami was too old to undergo the stress of homeschooling me. 

However, when I was a little bit above 11 years old God showed up and changed my life. He came through my (now late) brother Wilson Akinrinlola to take me from the village-town (Omilifon Camp) to our hometown (Odode Idanre) and enrolled me into a better Primary School. There I was enrolled into Pry 3, instead of Pry 6, because I couldn't read or write - not even able spell out my own name. Afterwards, my brother would come to my foster home every evening to teach me how to read and write. He would teach me the Yoruba Alphabets and show me how to form syllables, to pronounce simple letter words. He did that almost every evening for many days.

Coincidentally it was during this period that I happened to come to know about God - about His ability and willingness to give wisdom and understanding to people that ask Him. And I remember one day, I prayed to God asking Him to Give me knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. I told Him to make me The Head and not The Tail, that I too want to be known for excellence among my peers. And God heard me and answered my prayers requests that day. 

Not too long from that day, I was able to read and understand everything I was taught, both at home and in school. It appeared to me that my eyes were just opened. I understood things clearly and could remember whatever we were taught in schools, even without having to read my notes. I can learn anything and do them excellently. I became very good that I became the best student in my class and got First Position starting from that term. And by the time we got to Pry 4 I was selected by our class teacher to replace our Class Captain, who was removed from office for stealing another student's item. Some of my duty was to maintain order in class and collect homework from my class mates for submission to our class teacher and vice versa. I maintained my status as the best student and Class Captain till my final year in Primary school, and also served as the School Senior Prefect Boy (Senior Boy) in the final year. Truly, my status was changed from being The Tail to become The Head as I requested from God. 

This experience - how God used people (especially my late brother) to change my life and grant my prayers request, giving me knowledge, wisdom, and understanding - was the beginning of my journey and encounter with God. It was the first encounter that changed my life forever, and it was over 20 years ago! But there are still many more encounters I have had with God that is left to be written another day, hopefully. 

My hope is that this story will inspire faith in your heart to put you trust in God through Jesus Christ, His Son! May God bless  you!

The impossibles are for God

1. Do the possibles 

Many things are possible for man, but there are many things which are impossible for man (Note: man here refers to both men and women). Actually, the things that are impossible for man are not meant to be done by man - they are meant to be accomplished by God, and must be given to God. 

2. There is a division of labor 

The impossibles are for God. There are things which man can handle, and they must be handled by man alone - not God. The responsibility of life is shared between God and man. God has done, is doing, and will continue to do His own part. Man as well has his own part that he must do. Problems come when a man wants God to play his roles, and when some want to play God's role. 

3. The unstoppable man gives work to God

As a man we are meant to be unstoppable in life. Nothing should be able to stop us. We should be able to accomplish all that we want in life: we should be able to do the possibles and give (not leave) the impossibles to God. In every situation, when we have done all we could do, we should allow God to do the remaining tasks, and make them possible for us. We should be unstoppable because we share tasks with God.

4. The free access to God: Jesus Christ

There is a way to give the impossibles to God. This way is available for all, but not everyone has learn the way. The free access to God is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. To give the impossibles to God by Christ, go into your room or a separate place anywhere or in your heart and pray to God using Jesus Christ Name. Jesus Christ in the Bible promised us that whatever we ask God (His Father) in prayers through His name, will be done by God (John 16:23-24). So this means we are free to give everything that is IMPOSSIBLE for us to God through Jesus Christ. 

5. How to pray

This is how to it: you may say, "God of heaven and earth, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. I come to you today in the name of Jesus Christ your Son. Please make ____________ possible in my life by so so time. Amen!" I have done this several times and saw God turned impossibilities into possibilities. 

6. My personal experience 

I remember praying to God when I was about 12 years old. I was in primary school then. I was doing very poorly in school because I was not smart: I could not read and write, not even my own name, and I always got the poorest grade in my class. Then I prayed that God should give me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, to make me become a better student.  Afterward, from few days after I had prayed to God, my brother (late now) who was living in another neighborhood started coming to our house every evening to teach me how to read and write. After teaching me for a few weeks, my understanding opened up, and I was able to read and write. That same year, I became one of the best students in my class. That was God turning my impossibility into possibility because I gave Him permission to do so. God can do the same for you too if you can learn to give your impossibilities to Him. 

Please, do the possible you can do today and give the impossibilities to God in prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord. God bless you and stay blessed.