Set Apart SPOTLIGHT ft. Neeta Manohar

My Life never turned out as I expected it to. And boy, am I glad that it didn’t. To many today  I come across as a person who don’t know what it is to feel pain, to feel broken , to feel unworthy or to feel alone , I guess the constant smile on my face gives me away! (Praise God for the smile today)

As I look back at my life, I feel God’s hand on it to turn every plan of mine into a purpose to help me get closer to Him. I was a person to have it all planned. I was blessed to be a natural at tennis and be good at it, so I planned to play in the Wimbledon one day. That was more than a plan, it was a dream , a desire I worked toward . Unfortunately, it didn’t work out because God had bigger plans for me.

I learned that when I saw God using me in my friends lives and using me as a vessel.  I went to college and studied , something that wouldn’t happen if I played tennis professionally. I would not be able to attend college regularly and miss out on life’s teachings that enabled me to be the person I am today.


The journey that God had set me on was certainly not an easy one. I guess that was the first sign that made me realize  I was on the right track. I was on the narrow road.

As I grew up I read the Bible every day,  and was surrounded by good and caring people I began to believe it would always remain that way. But just when you get too comfortable with it, God places you in a different scenario with different people. People who may not live up to your expectations or worse,  people who you might have not expected to be the way they are. God placed me in many of these scenarios. He likes giving you a different backdrop! It goes with the colors that bring out the best in you!

Having to go through pain and trials you feel you’re not ready for, is God’s way of proving  you are wrong. There was this long period of trials and brokenness. I was most often compared to Job, which is not really the best to be compared with.  It wasn’t easy to learn a good lesson , when you feel that coping up with pain every day was all the strength you had in you to do and that’s all you could do. As time went by I learned I do not need to do it in my own strength but simply rely on God. It was not easy to accept people with their mistakes and yet love them.  It seemed impossible to me.  Accepting seemed to be a mountain I couldn’t climb, it didn’t feel worth the effort then. Loving could only come when I see things from top of the mountain and learn to appreciate the view from there. 

But as I failed to do so, I learned  I am not perfect enough to be loved or accepted by the Lord who died for me. I was not! I still am not!

I learned that we could never live up to one’s expectations, be it in your family or out in the world, we fail, we fall, but what helps us get up is – even though you might settle for staying down at the foot of the mountain, you are still wondering what might the view be from the top of it.  You know there is a higher ground for you, because His purpose and plan is not you for you to stay down, but to help you get to the top of it.

I am filled with so much joy today to be able to say my plans have failed, but His purpose is fulfilled.
Trials could be your daily life or a phase in your life.  It is not to tell you or show you what you deserve, it is to simply show you what’s beyond this- is better!  If where  you are in right now is clouding your view, don’t worry, once it clears, you will like what you see.  Hope for it! Put that Hope in the Lord, He can never let you down! I can testify to that!

Neeta Manohar loves the Lord and enjoys having  him as a best friend because it makes every experience her life worth cherishing!  She is a published writer of a book called, “Reflections of a Changed Life” published by OM Books.  Currently she works as a finance Analyst for Deloitte in India. She has a heart  for broken people and the brokenness they struggle with. You can connect with her via email.