The Host
I have been there!!!
Everywhere we turn, we are confronted with the realities of life and its many challenges. These challenges can either make or break us, depending on how we respond to them. Many people are desperately searching for answers to their seemingly endless questions, and I can relate to this more than words can express.
I am Benny Shobo, an ordained Minister of the Gospel, motivational speaker, author and life coach. I am happily married to a wonderful man, and together we are blessed with three amazing children.
For over twenty years, I suffered severely from depression before I was miraculously healed by the Lord Jesus Christ one night in December 2019. Praise God! Throughout those prolonged years of depression and other personal challenges, I experienced many painful realities, including discovering who my true friends were and who were not. Those years were undeniably lonely, painful and difficult for both me and my household.
However, what kept me going and prevented me from giving up was my unwavering faith in God, my love for my husband and our children, and my genuine reverence and love for the Most High. By the grace of God, and following many years of persistent prayers from my household and me, I made a conscious decision to confront depression with every fibre of my being. Although I had no certainty that I would ever completely overcome it, I knew that I could no longer settle for merely existing when I was created to live. With God’s help, I gradually found the strength and determination to fight my way through depression.
Undoubtedly, it was a defining, refining and divinely orchestrated season of preparation in my life. The Lord Jesus Christ took the fragments of my brokenness and used them to compose a beautiful mosaic of who I am today. This may be difficult for some to comprehend, but I eventually reached a place of understanding where I recognised that even the most painful experiences of my life were not without purpose. Not once, throughout the torment, anguish and turbulence of those years, did the Lord abandon me. He remained faithful, even when the journey seemed unbearable.
Today, I have developed a profound sense of gratitude for the experiences I once struggled so desperately to overcome, particularly because they have positioned me to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others facing similar challenges. Our personal experiences can become powerful instruments through which we encourage, strengthen and positively impact others. Indeed, this is an important part of fulfilling our God given purpose on earth. We can only give from what we have received and learned through our own journeys.
Witnessing the positive transformation of my life after everything I endured has been both enlightening and deeply rewarding. More importantly, I now find myself in a position of greater strength, equipped to support and empower vulnerable young people and adults, as well as the young and elderly, through my teachings, motivational videos, seminars, events and other platforms. What I once endured in silence has become part of the experience and wisdom I can now use to encourage others.
I am living proof that it is possible to overcome and triumph over life’s challenges when we understand how to confront them and are willing to take the necessary steps towards overcoming them. We must develop resilience, cultivate an unyielding spirit and be prepared to fight for ourselves, with the help and grace of God. We must never allow our circumstances to define our destiny or convince us that our present struggles represent the conclusion of our story.
I firmly believe in the saying, “There is a way, even when there seems to be no way.” With God, hope is never lost, and no season of difficulty has to be the final chapter of our lives.
DO NOT GIVE UP! YOUR STORY IS NOT OVER.