Uncommon Path Network

Dear Path Finder,

I pray you find your purposeful path, walk audaciously in it, and inspire others to find theirs too.

I’ve noticed something beautiful and humbling in your engagements with the newsletters. Your feedback is becoming more vulnerable, more reflective, almost as though you are reading these letters with your whole heart. Many of you are finding your own story hidden between the lines. And that blesses me deeply.

For a long time, I thought my life was unusually complex, until I began to realize that you too, Path Finder, are carrying a life full of peculiar twists, grace-stretched seasons, and lessons wrapped in mystery. 

In today’s article, allow me to sit with you in some of those realities we rarely speak about openly and explore how we can navigate them with courage and faith.

The pressure to shine publicly and suffer privately

It’s no secret – the world celebrates public victories and hides private valleys.

We showcase the wins, the highlights, the accolades, the mountaintop moments.
But the rejections, the self-doubt, the failures, the unbelief, the detours, the separations, the “I thought God said…” moments?
Those we tuck away. We fold them under the mattress of silence.

Why? Because people judge. Because they misunderstand. Because the internet never forgets.

I want to gently challenge this thinking from two angles.

Your “Man in the Arena” story might be someone’s permission to believe again

I’ve learnt that the impact of sharing your journey, even the imperfect parts, far outweighs the noise of critics who were never brave enough to step into the arena themselves.

Your trembling steps, your shaking hands, your uncertainties, they are often the courage another person needs to try.

I admire anyone who attempted, even with a sweaty forehead and shaking knees, with no guarantee of applause.
Because often, when we finally reach the top, we highlight the arrival and hide the process. And in doing so, we deprive others of learning the true cost of the climb.

Someone needs to know you tried, even when you didn’t win.

When God chooses you to “Fail” publicly

Some of us are living out a calling we did not fully understand.
To be shaped by God in real time.
To be trusted with visions that don’t yet have funding.
To walk out processes without clarity.
To live a life that unfolds publicly before witnesses and critics alike.

This is not punishment. It is election.

God is sovereign. He sees the end from the beginning. And if He has allowed your journey to be visible, even the uncomfortable parts, it is because your testimony carries weight.
Not everyone can steward public becoming.
Not everyone can withstand being misunderstood while still obeying God.

But to those who are chosen for this path, you are trusted with much, and therefore you will reap much. Do not despise this assignment.

Winning Privately: Choosing the Uncommon Path

Some people intentionally choose to win privately, not because they are hiding, but because they are grounded.

There is a quiet confidence that needs no announcement.
A rootedness that says, “I do not need to be seen to be effective.”

To you who have chosen this path intentionally, keep going.
Your work is meaningful, even if hidden.
Your impact is real, even if unposted.

The world has confused visibility with purpose, but you have not.
And that posture will sustain you.

Winning Privately: When it wasn’t your choice

There is also a harder experience.
Wanting to share your wins, your progress, your impact, yet finding your work hidden behind others who fear your light.

Sometimes managers, leaders, or colleagues withhold recognition because your excellence threatens their comfort.
Sometimes you do the work, but the credit is intercepted.
Sometimes the truth of what you have built is held only between you, God, and the evidence.

And sometimes, you simply struggle to package your story, not out of insecurity, but because you haven’t yet learned how to step into visibility.

If this is you, hear me clearly.
Stay the course.
Remain faithful.
Keep showing up.

When it is your time, you will not have enough jars to carry the favour God will pour out publicly.
You are not forgotten.
You are being preserved.

Stay the Path

These experiences, failing publicly and winning privately, look different in each of our lives. But I want to invite you to zoom in on what is uncommon, sacred, and God ordained about your path.

Stay on your portion.
Run your lane.
Walk confidently in what God has called you to steward, seen or unseen.

Let me leave you with my favourite lines from a poem that has shaped my life:

“And as we let our own light shine,
we consciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”

What has been hard for you, Path Finder, failing publicly or winning privately?

Shalom,
Oyena