There is something happening in the world, and I don’t think it is only “the world being the world.” It feels deeper than that. Fear has become normal. Negativity has become normal. Rushing, worrying, complaining, scrolling, comparing, surviving — all normal. And then hope walks into the room and suddenly it feels strange. Almost naive. Almost too soft for a world this hard. But I don’t think hope is soft. I think hope is one of the strongest things we can carry. Because to hope in a world that keeps training us to fear is not weakness. It is rebellion.

And I don’t mean rebellion in the loud, angry, look-at-me kind of way.

I mean the quiet kind.

The kind that says: I will not let the world teach me how to live without faith.

That is what has been sitting in my heart.

Because everywhere we look, there is something pulling us down. Something telling us to worry. Something telling us to be afraid. Something telling us to hurry, react, compare, complain, panic, and call it being realistic.

But what if being realistic has become another word for being led by fear?

What if we have become so used to talking about everything that is wrong, that we no longer know how to speak about what is still good?

What if hope feels strange now because we do not practise it enough?

Galatians 5 says we must walk by the Spirit and not be led by the desires of the flesh.

And then it speaks about the works of the flesh.

And honestly, when I look around, I cannot unsee it.

So much of what we consume, speak about, scroll through, watch, and accept as normal feels like flesh.

Fear.
Gossip.
Drama.
Money stress.
Sickness.
Complaining.
Comparison.
Anger.
Being offended.
Being rushed.
Being tired.
Being negative and calling it truth.

And please hear my heart here.

I am not saying life is not hard.

Life is hard.

People are carrying real things. People are sick. Money is tight. Families are tired. Businesses are under pressure. Many people are quietly trying to hold things together with both hands and a prayer.

So this is not me saying, “Just be positive.”

I don’t like that.

Because fake positivity helps no one.

But I do think there is a difference between being honest and being led by fear.

There is a difference between speaking about what is hard and building your whole life around what is hard.

There is a difference between saying, “This is difficult,” and saying, “This is all there is.”

And that is the part that makes me sad.

We can sit at a braai, on a phone call, at coffee, at church, at school, anywhere really, and talk for hours about what is wrong.

We can talk about sickness.

We can talk about money.

We can talk about prices.

We can talk about people.

We can talk about the country.

We can talk about how unfair everything is.

But try to turn the conversation towards hope.

Try to say, “But God is still good.”

Try to say, “Maybe there is another way to look at this.”

Try to say, “Maybe we do not have to live in fear.”

And suddenly the conversation dies.

And I find that very sad.

Because have we forgotten how to speak hope?

Have we become so used to fear that faith feels uncomfortable?

Have we become so used to complaining that peace almost feels fake?

That is what I am wrestling with.

Not from a place of judgement.

From a place of, Lord, help me too.

Because I also get pulled into it.

I also worry.

I also complain.

I also scroll too long and then wonder why I feel heavy afterwards.

I also sometimes talk more about what is wrong than what is still possible.

But I do not want to stay there.

I do not want fear to become my normal.

I do not want negativity to become my language.

I do not want worry to become my personality.

And I do not want to say I trust God while living like every bad thing has the final say.

Galatians 5:22 speaks about the fruit of the Spirit.

Love.

Joy.

Peace.

Patience.

Kindness.

Goodness.

Faithfulness.

Gentleness.

Self-control.

And I keep asking myself: do I see this in my own life?

Not in a perfect way.

Not in a religious checklist way.

But honestly.

Do I see peace in how I speak?

Do I see patience in how I react?

Do I see kindness when I am tired?

Do I see self-control in what I allow into my mind?

Do I see joy?

Do I see faith?

Because it is easy to say we are led by the Spirit, but then allow fear to lead our whole day.

Our thoughts.

Our reactions.

Our conversations.

Our homes.

Our work.

Our rest.

Our decisions.

Something is always leading us.

Fear can lead.

Money can lead.

People’s opinions can lead.

The news can lead.

Social media can lead.

The flesh can lead.

Or the Spirit can lead.

And I think we need to become honest enough to ask: what is actually leading my life?

Not what do I say I believe.

Not what do I know in my head.

Not what do I post.

What is leading me?

Because if fear leads my thoughts all day, then fear is designing my life.

If comparison leads my choices, then comparison is designing my life.

If money stress leads every conversation, then money is designing my life.

If the world’s panic leads my peace, then the world is designing my life.

And I don’t want that.

I don’t want fear to design my life.

Which brings me back to something I say often: Design Your Life.

But I need to be very clear about what I mean.

Design Your Life does not mean do whatever you want.

It does not mean follow every feeling.

It does not mean make your life look pretty from the outside.

That is not design.

That is just chaos with better lighting.

Design is intentional.

Design has purpose.

Design solves something.

Design looks at what is not working and asks, what needs to change?

So when I say Design Your Life, I mean live intentionally.

With God.

With your eyes open.

Ask yourself:

What am I allowing into my life?

What am I allowing into my mind?

What am I speaking over my home?

What am I agreeing with?

What has become normal that should not be normal?

What is leading me?

That is design.

Not perfection.

Not control.

Not having every part of your life neatly planned out.

But living with intention.

And for me, that cannot be separate from God.

Because I do not want to design a life built on fear.

I do not want to design a life around what the world says is normal.

I do not want my life to be shaped by panic, hurry, comparison and negativity.

I want to be led by the Spirit.

I want God to lead the design.

And this is where faith becomes so important.

Because why do we live as if only the things we can see are real?

We say we believe in God.

We say we believe Jesus rose from the dead.

We say we believe He healed people.

We say we believe in miracles.

But then we live like the natural world has the final say.

Jesus rose from the dead.

That is supernatural.

He healed people.

That is supernatural.

He calmed storms.

That is supernatural.

He came to show us what it means to be made in the image of God.

So why do we make our lives so small?

Why do we only believe what we can see?

So much of who we are is unseen.

Faith is unseen.

Hope is unseen.

Peace is unseen.

Your spirit is unseen.

The work God is doing in you is often unseen before it becomes visible.

Hebrews 11 says faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Things not seen.

That is faith.

Faith is not having everything figured out.

Faith is not trusting God only once the plan makes sense.

Faith is saying, “I cannot see it yet, but I still believe God is working.”

And that is not naive.

That is strong.

That is different.

And different is rebellion.

Because in a world full of fear, to live with hope makes you different.

To carry peace makes you different.

To rest when everyone is rushing makes you different.

To speak life when everyone is complaining makes you different.

To believe God when the situation does not make sense makes you different.

And maybe different is exactly what we are called to be.

We are in this world, yes.

We live here.

We work here.

We raise children here.

We pay bills here.

We face real problems here.

But we are not meant to be led by the same things.

We are not meant to take our instructions from fear.

We are not meant to let the world decide what peace should look like.

And I think this also touches how rushed we have become.

Everything must be fast.

Everything must be now.

Everything must be productive.

If you rest, you feel guilty.

If you have a slow morning, you feel lazy.

If you are not busy, you feel behind.

But maybe rest is not lazy.

Maybe slow is not wrong.

Maybe peace is not irresponsible.

Maybe we have just become so used to hurry that anything else feels uncomfortable.

I believe in work.

I believe in showing up.

I believe in responsibility.

I believe in doing the small things right.

But I do not believe God created us to live constantly overwhelmed and call that success.

I do not believe we were made to rush through our lives and call that purpose.

I do not believe we were made to carry fear in our bodies every day and call that normal.

There has to be another way.

And I believe that way is being led by the Spirit.

Not by the world.

Not by fear.

Not by hurry.

Not by what everyone else says life must look like.

So where do we start?

I don’t think we start with a big dramatic life change.

I think we start small.

With one thought.

One conversation.

One habit.

One moment where we stop and ask:

Am I feeding fear here?

Or am I making space for faith?

Maybe you stop one conversation from going down the same negative road.

Maybe you put your phone down earlier.

Maybe you stop watching something that leaves you feeling heavy.

Maybe you pray before you panic.

Maybe you rest without explaining yourself.

Maybe you speak one hopeful sentence over your life.

Maybe you simply ask God:

What is leading me right now?

And then you listen.

Because I think many of us are desperate for peace, but we are too noisy to hear it.

And I include myself in that.

I need to slow down too.

I need to listen better.

I need to stop giving fear so much room.

I need to open my eyes again to the fruit of the Spirit.

Love.

Joy.

Peace.

Patience.

Kindness.

Goodness.

Faithfulness.

Gentleness.

Self-control.

Not as pretty words.

As evidence.

As evidence of what is leading me.

Because hope is not soft.

Faith is not small.

Peace is not laziness.

And being led by the Spirit is not just a nice idea.

It is the way we are called to live.

Not a perfect life.

Not a problem-free life.

But a life that is not ruled by fear.

A life with God.

A life with purpose.

A life that is intentional.

That is what Design Your Life means to me.

Not self-made.

Not selfish.

Not my way.

But surrendered.

Intentional.

Led by the Spirit.

So maybe today the question is simple:

What is leading me?

Fear?

Or faith?

The world?

Or the Spirit?

Because something is shaping our lives.

And I don’t want fear to shape mine.

I want God to lead.

I want hope to rise again.

I want faith to become louder than fear.

I want to be awake enough to follow.

Because in a world full of fear, hope really is rebellion.