You can run and hide in Him……

You can run and hide in Him……

That was one of my biggest takeaways from Bible study a few nights ago. 

I have notoriously been a flight girlie, meaning between fight or flight, I tend to choose flight, and I mean that literally, I will book a flight when things get hard….so when I found myself chatgpting a 40-day-long trip to Bali at 3 am the other day, I knew that something was up 😅. 

So let me paint a picture; it’s been a season of the “messy middle.” Knowing that I live in Lagos now, after almost 20 years in Canada, is such a mind F…my life looks very different from what it has looked like in the past and grappling with this new reality hasn’t been easy. It doesn’t help that there has been so much inconsistency with electricity in this country….like we don’t have light, and I have never prayed for light as I have in the last couple of days. It’s funny how this stupid war is affecting everyone around the world. 

What I realized is when there is no light, it's hot AF, and that heat, ehn, it makes you prone to anger and irritation, and that’s how everyone in this house has been getting on everyone’s nerves. The heat makes you dehydrated and interrupts your sleep. I’ve been up 3-4 times in the middle of the night because it’s tooooooo hot, which means my whole day is thrown off, etc. This light situation is obviously not my biggest issue its just an ever-present annoyance that maybe one day I will get used to….but light is not why I’m writing this blog.

In a few days, my first ever podcast, "entrepreneurship unfiltered,” will be launching and woooow the testing has been REAL. This podcasting journey has been easy in the ways I expected it to be hard and hard in the most unexpected ways. My hesitation with podcasting was never about what I would say or what people would think; my hesitation was always the cost and the setting. I got it in my head that podcasting would cost $10K because I watched one youtube video about the production process, and the woman in the video charged that much for her services. I thought it would be sooo expensive to hire a videographer, an editor, a producer, a social media crew, a partnerships & sponsorships person, etc. I always saw it as basically a whole other venture that required ample capital and manpower because I knew I didn’t want to just record on my phone and post the audio; I knew I wanted to do it properly. I was pleasantly surprised that when I embarked on this journey, God’s favour just stepped in! I found a free studio space courtesy of family members, a production company through a quick DM to a friend, and did the social media and content production in-house. What I thought was going to be 4-5 people working around the clock and a HUGE financial investment turned out to be completely doable. 

Now what I didn’t expect to grapple with at all was the content….I write, I coach, and I speak for a living, so words, storytelling and using vulnerability as a strength have NEVER been an issue for me. But this topic? Well, it has exposed just how much I still need to heal. The focus of the podcast is to share mistakes and unfiltered thoughts from my experience as an entrepreneur. I talk about mistakes I’ve made with finances, hiring the wrong people, launching products that don’t sell, dealing with mental health from being your own boss and just the rollercoaster of emotions when you’re self-employed. The idea is that I share my failures in hopes that people can learn from them. I also wanted to show a different side of entrepreneurship than just the wins, milestones, pretty photos and announcements of products. WELL, getting on the mic and admitting all those mistakes, failures, and shortcomings turned out to be deeply intense LOL….who knew? 🤷🏾‍♀️

At the same time, God has been calling me to strip away certain parts of my business over the last couple of weeks. The parts that no one sees, looking from the outside, the parts that I have ignored for a while, because “what exactly do you mean lord?” I'll give you 1 one example. It has taken me a LOOOONG time to talk about it, but I think it’s important to share. 

A while back, I partnered with an organization from a coaching perspective, and I just started realizing that in the middle of the work they do, the community started leaning towards new-age spirituality and the practices that come with it. As a Christian, I’m very aware of the concept of “opening doors” that seem harmless – oh its just meditation, a way to calm your mind, or a bit of yoga, just to stretch, or we are just speaking these mantras to promote positivity, it’s not that deep…until it is. In my industry as a coach, I’m going to be honest, there is a lot of witchcraft going on, and as a Christian, I knew I shouldn’t be part of that kind of organization, but as an entrepreneur, I also knew it was a lucrative partnership because they were funnelling me clients. 

At first, I was kinda like hmmmm that’s weird, just be a Christian in this space, be vocal about your christianity and just don’t engage with the new-agey stuff and that worked for a while until halloween of 2025, when the organization released a newsletter that was UNdeniable. I will spare you the details, but they basically drew a line in the sand for where they stood, and well, it wasn’t neutral or even “secular”, it was blatant…. I wish I could say that’s when I ended the partnership, but that’s not true. I spoke to my close friends about it, and they all said it was clear and that I should basically find a way to either back away or just find a way to be the light in those spaces. I was basically struck with that scripture that says “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul,” but in real time. How can I be praying to God to bless my business and the works of my hand, if I am knowingly profiting from people who are dabbling in all sorts. I justified it by saying well its not that bad, or not everyone in the organization, or its just a strategic relationship or XYZ, but I had no peace. So after the last client wrapped up her coaching, I severed the partnership. 

This is just one of a few business relationships I’ve had to re-examine. I thought integrity in business looked like not stealing, undercharging someone or defrauding your audience. I didn’t account for witchcraft….and truthfully, that’s how the enemy can get a foothold into your life because you have open doors and now you need deliverance. BUT God in His infinite mercy has been highlighting those areas, going before me and making the crooked places straight. As christians we cannot afford to be silent on this matter ohhhhhhh….dabbling with all these things directly or indirectly is not right. You might be thinking Ibiyemi, is it that deep? It's just a cute horoscope or a pretty crystal or a nonchalant affirmation, “you know manifesting and all”….my DEAR, it’s NOT! Stop it. Ask the holy spirit to shine a light on any area in your life that is hiding in the shadows, abeg. 

So I ended a few partnerships and found myself asking, what’s next? And truthfully, I have NO idea, and that has been stressing me out hahah. I really wish I could say, I know God will take care of me, but the math is not mathing, and every time I open my bank account, I’m just like God abegggggg, and then I went to church today, and wow the word was soooo timely. 

The pastor talked about Gideon and how he was supposed to defeat the Midianites, but his self-esteem was super low and he didn’t have the skills. So he did what any sane person would do: he started training an army of 30,000 men to go and fight. God took one good look at him and basically stripped that army down to 300 men. And then God gave him the most nonsensical instructions (from man’s perspective). He told Gideon to take only 1 guy (Purah) and go into the middle of the Midianite camp to get “encouraged”....like wahhhh, go into the place you're afraid of confronting for comfort? Make it make sense. But Gideon obeyed; he went to the edge of the camp, and he overheard 2 midianites talking about a dream. Basically, in that dream, they were scared that Gideon was going to come and attack them. Gideon heard this, realized that his enemy was just as scared of him as he was scared of them and basically got strengthened. It's giving, they seem scared of me, surely I can overtake them. So he went back to his own camp, gathered the 300 men with trumpets and jars (NOT weapons & shields), trumpetssssss for gooosake, and they went back. They played the trumpets and the Midianites heard the sound and got scared and started running, crying and killing themselves….you literally can’t make this sh*t up. Gideon and his men didn’t even need to fight….Like God fought the battle for them. Now if that’s not a word, I don’t know what it.

Meanwhile im over here trying to strategize my way through the next season of my business, trying to devise my own ways to fight the enemy and also remain sane…as how please? God is literally fighting on my behalf, and all He requires from me is obedience? Nahhhhh, it can’t be that simple. I left church just feeling super grateful and slightly annoyed that I’ve spent all this time expending energy taking 3 steps forward and 4 steps back, only to find out I just need to take 1 step towards Jesus. It’s so simple guysssss “focus on Jesus”. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added on to you. It doesn't just apply for when you want something, it applies to when you don’t even know the enemy you’re fighting! Bruuuuuuh what a revelation. 

So here’s my declaration….I need to take it to God first before rushing in to solve, figure out, plan, strategize and so on. God is actually the creator of the universe, as in, the earth is His footstool. Why would I go to anything or anyone less than God to guide my path? 

If you are at a crossroads, and things are changing left, right and centre, and you’re wondering what to do next, or who can help, or how to navigate, just take it to God. Like, just take it to Him! He is the author and finisher of our faith, He is the beginning and the end, He is the all knowing, all encompassing one, like He has the whole thing figured out and He knew you and your quirks and weirdness before you were formed in your mother’s womb and He brought you in this world for such a time as this, you can TRUST that He has your back….so stop striving, stop flailing and stop trying to figure it out. Just surrender to Him and be obedient to His will, and all things will work together for those who believe and are called according to His purpose. 

I feel sooooo encouraged today, and I can’t wait to start the next season of my business, my life, and my journey with God. 

That’s it, that’s all I got…have a lovely Sunday and I'll see you in the next one! 

Ibiyemi