HIS MISSION; YOUR MISSION

I once studied the story of Jonah and it actually became the first sermon I preached at a youth service.  Jonah was a man who could hear the voice of God but then when He heard what God had instructed him to do, Jonah chose to run away from the presence of the Lord. The All Seeing God!

Jonah 1:3 (NLT)But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

Don’t we also sometimes get to that point where we choose the ‘easy’ way out? When we get our own fare and go to where we feel is the right place and even get comfortable on the journey? When we believe all is okay because God isn't saying anything yet to show we are in the wrong? When His Mission, ceases to be our Mission? Thing is, much as we rebel or become disobedient, deep down in our hearts we know and we know that that is not what God requires of us. We may even find “rest” on our journey to wherever, just like how Jonah had the time to sleep and believe God is in it but then the “big fish” is always waiting!

When we walk in disobedience, we tend to bring turbulence to the people around us unknowingly. Have you ever been thrown into the raging waters by the same people who helped you on your “self appointed” journey? Child of God, don’t blame them! They are not the problem, but you are! God’s mission has to manifest despite your disobedience. We are here for His pleasure and not for our own! One thing that Jonah did after being swallowed was to focus on God. No, he didn’t blame anyone for being swallowed, but decided to speak to God alone who could rescue him.

Jonah 2:7 (NLT) As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to You in Your holy Temple.

Child of God, when you know that the “belly” you’re in is because of your own doing, the best thing is to go back to Him who sent you. To humble yourself and allow Him to use you as He pleases. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Unlike Jonah, you can choose to obey and avoid that place where the waters compass you to the soul: where the depth closes you round about, and weeds wrap about your head (Jonah 2:5) 

See, in your sincerity to God, and without putting the blame on others, that’s when you’ll have an experience with Him. That’s when He will speak to that “fish” you’re in to vomit you. That's the place Divinity overtakes humanity and His Mission, becomes yours too. And like Jonah, that’s when you’ll pay your vow to God and above all, acknowledge that Salvation is of the Lord!

Jonah 2:9 (NLT)But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

Shalom…

THE PAIN OF LOSING A LOVED ONE

Me: Hello my favorite and best uncle in the world? (I loved telling him that)

Him: (Deep Laughter) My Darling, I’m fine, good to hear from you...

After some chit chat about how everyone was, I had to end the call...

Me: Love you!

Him: Love you too Darling!

Less than 2 weeks later, (17th May) on my way to work, I got a message that the man who I cherished so much was sick and in need of medical attention. Being on a motorbike, I said a short prayer and said to myself that I’ll call him once I reached the office. I did.

Me: Hello

Silence.

Me: Hello

Female voice: Hello, who’s this?

Me: I want to talk to my uncle!

Her: Who’s this?

Me: I’m one of his daughters in Kenya, and I want to talk to him! ( I was now running out of patience)

Her: Uncle has just died!

Me: What? NO! How? What happened? No! Let me call you back!

Just then my phone bleeps. It’s a text message from my brother. He’s Dead! That’s all it said! I get my phone and look for my uncle’s second number. I call it expecting to hear his voice from the other side.

Me: Hello. Uncle...

Female voice: He has just died. (she starts crying)

Me: Where is he? Is he at home or at the hospital?

Her: At home. The doc was on his way but couldn’t make it in time...

I hung up. I called my mum, she was speechless. Just then, my dad called me, and I burst out crying. He didn’t know what to do and just told me he’ll call me later. My phone was busy with incoming calls. It felt so unreal. Many relatives knew how close he and I were and they called to console and encourage me.  Bleep, bleep! Another text message! “He will be buried tomorrow!” Everything was moving so fast that I couldn’t think straight. Asked my boss for a compassionate leave and here I was in the house, parking my clothes, making seat reservations and doing everything else that comes with confusion.

The number of times I sobbed uncontrollably in the bus, the questions I asked him ...Why couldn’t he wait? Was he happy leaving me in this pain that seemed to tear me into tiny little pieces? Why didn’t he just go with me? Who would genuinely call me darling, sweetheart or his sunflower and mean it like he did? He was to walk me down the aisle, now why couldn't he just wait till we did? He always wanted to see  me preach and lead prayers, and I longed to see his face when he saw me do it, but why now? The pain was beyond my control! Notice I am saying him and not HIM. It was hard to question God our Creator in all this, but I felt Uncle could hear and answer me. In the bus, we all acted like we had it all together, we wanted to be strong for each other, but it was hard! 

Fast forward when we arrived at his place. People were all over and this time, he wasn’t there to hug and sweep me off my feet as he usually carried me! He wasn’t there to hold my hand and make me feel like the little girl he always made me feel like!  All I wanted was to get to him. Fast! Got to the door, and I saw him! I saw him laid down on a mattress; Him with cotton wool on his head and in his nose. I rushed to him, calling him all this time. "Uncle! Uncle!" But for the first time, he didn’t respond to my call! He didn’t laugh and hug me either, he lay there. I was torn! I was dying inside! The painful reality had set in! They tried telling me it was okay, but no, it wasn’t! They advised me to at least go outside abit, but no, I wanted to be with MY uncle.

I touched his hands for the last time.The hands that held me a few minutes after I was born, and always held me till now, were now cold! The man who believed in me more than anyone on this earth ever did, lay there like someone who was sound asleep. I wished I could just see his eyes move and prove to everyone that he was still alive! For a moment I thought I saw it happen! But I guess I was just fighting; fighting with nature!

We laid him to rest. Each day becomes harder but the Comforter is with us. For HE will never leave nor forsake us! Selah! I miss him; I tell myself he’s still alive and we’ll meet; but then a time comes when I realize we’ll only meet in paradise! The first person I’d want to meet in heaven!

Grieving is a process. It’s a day at a time thing; no rush about it. Sometimes I smile knowing he’s watching over me; while other times I sob knowing a part of me was taken away. One thing that I am always happy about, is the fact that while he lived, I made sure I told him how important he was in my life. I never ended a call without telling him how much I loved him and fortunately, that was the last thing we told each other!

Life is too short. Treat people right for you don’t know about tomorrow! It’s never guaranteed to anyone! Appreciate people when they’re still alive such that even when God takes them, you will be fulfilled that while they lived, you did the best you could for them. Sometimes we wait until that brother, sister, parent, fiancée, spouse or friend dies, then we remember the good things they did and regret the things we never did and run to post on social media where they can’t read.

Live as if today is your last day. Don’t take people that God brought your way for granted, for God had a reason of connecting you and not others. Appreciate people, Love people! I thank God that He put that heart in me, that by His Grace, I normally appreciate people in my life, be it through text messages, calls or gifts. The day I get to go, I will be glad that I let you all know that you were important and I thanked God for you! I will be glad that I did the best I could for the people around me; But if you go first, may I never regret for not telling you how much you meant to me.

And when that day comes, the day I breathe my last, these are the words I long to hear from my Master: 

 Matt 25:21: His Master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little;I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your Master.

 Shalom

FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

Some time last year, I woke up as usual, and while in the bathroom, my leg just stiffened. I could feel it getting paralyzed from my toes to my feet and way up! I couldn’t do a single thing to stop it, so I stood there calling on God and started massaging it slowly until I felt it slowly going back to normal.

Night time became a time I never looked forward to, for my leg would get paralyzed as I slept and it was always hard to have to “carry” it up, so as to change my sleeping position. It would get better, but it was always like the moment I’d go take a shower, the process would repeat itself. It reached a point that I could tell that it’s about to get paralyzed and I would sit and massage it before it would get serious.

You may ask why I never went to hospital, but fact is I was too scared to even try. I never wanted to be told I was so sick or anything of the sort and hence I never shared with anyone.  I felt I wasn’t strong enough to face whatever the doctors would tell me. How it stopped, only God knows and I thank Him!

Many are the times we have the fear of the unknown. When you fear to know whether your sick parent is still in the ICU or not; Whether any person who cares about you is just after something else or not; Whether the step you want to take in regards to your purpose will work or not; whether the pregnancy test will come out negative again after trying for years; or even whether the person you are in a relationship with is really the one or not!

Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

These are the times when your faith seems to have divorced you and you just need someone to tell you that things will be alright. That reassurance that God is still faithful and has good plans for you; That He’s going to do what He said He would do for you.

What about taking that bold step and leaving it all to God? Or yes going to that sick ward and speak life? What about just going for that test again or even allowing yourself to love again? God is faithful! If only we can put our trust in Him, then we will no longer be slaves to fear. Try Trusting Him today. No matter the situation, choose to look UP to the Author and Finisher of your faith!

Side Note: Today I've felt the pain in my leg again, after so long! I’ve felt it slowly going numb but one thing is I’m no longer afraid! As Michael W. Smith sung: Healing Rain is Falling Down...

God bless you as you take that bold step child of God!

A MYSTERY IT REMAINS...

The month of Love, so they call it. I happened to bump into this song again and well it goes out to my Forever Love <3 That unique, awesome, humble and super loving hunk of a man who is never attracted to the superficial things that so easily distracts the average man, but is focused for he knows it’s not just about us, but the One who binds us; The third Person in our union; The One who's made ALL things beautiful in His time; Our God! Love you honey, not just for a day, but till my last breath!

(Courtesy of Ed Sheeran’s **Thinking Out Loud**)

When your legs don't work like they used to before,
And I can't sweep you off of your feet,
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?

And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70 (Forever boo!Forever :-) )

And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23!
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways,
Maybe just the touch of a hand.
Oh me I fall in love with you every single day,
And I just wanna tell you I am.

So honey now,
Take me into your loving arms,
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars.
Place your head on my beating heart,
I'm thinking out loud,
Maybe we found love right where we are!

When my hairs all but gone and my memory fades,
And the crowds don't remember my name,
When my hands don't play the strings the same way,

I know you will still love me the same!

'Cause honey your soul can never grow old, it's evergreen,
Baby your smile's forever in my mind and memory.

I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways,
Maybe it's all part of a plan,
I'll just keep on making the same mistakes,
Hoping that you'll understand.

But baby now,
Take me into your loving arms.
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars.
Place your head on my beating heart,
I'm thinking out loud,
That maybe we found love right where we are, oh

So baby now,
Take me into your loving arms.
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars.
Oh darling, place your head on my beating heart.
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are!

Oh maybe we found love right where we are!
And we found love right where we are!

MY BIOGRAPHY - A JOSEPH IN THE MAKING

In the early 1960’s, a baby boy whose lineage is from Tanzania was born in a village in Uganda.  Five years later, some few miles away, a baby girl was born.  The baby girl, whose maternal grandfather hailed from  Rwanda, but had relocated to Uganda, was adopted by her maternal aunt when she was 3 years old and they traveled all the way to Kenya for a new life. Years later, during Idi Amin’s reign, the baby boy, now a teenager, had to leave Uganda with his mother for security reasons and their destination was Kenya. The 2 families later met and as it were, with time, the youthful Mike and Sarah fell in love, and well I am their first daughter and second born child.

How God orchestrated to get someone from Tanzania to move to Uganda then to Kenya, and divinely connect him with a Ugandan with Rwandese blood in Kenya, is a mystery of His divine doing! That they may sire their children in this foreign land before going back to Uganda, shows how God orders our steps. That it might be fulfilled...(To be continued…)

THE PIERCED HAND

I smile, I laugh

I encourage, I pray

But will I make it?

Will I make it through the night?

I made it through the night

I tried to reach out,

To reach out, but they cared less.

The dark fog slowly eclipses me.

My vision is blocked.

My heart is gradually sinking

Sinking in this billowy blackness;

Where hope is a vacant phrase.

Father can You hear me?

Spirit hear the cries of my heart,

The cries I can’t communicate.

Pray to the Father for me.

I smile again!

For I see the Hand.

The hand that extends itself to lead me out...

The Pierced Hand!

REMIND ME OH GOD

Many are the times that we pray, but we sometimes see no results. Is it that God does not hear? Far be from it! He hears. As the Bible says in James 4:3, we ask amiss! When we fail to pray according to the will of God, we are praying amiss! We need to ask God to give us His desires because they will now become our desires as well and He will meet those desires! If there is one thing that puts God in “debt”, it’s to remind Him through prayer of what He says in His Word; for He now has to fulfill it. God is not a man that He should lie and He also says in Isa 55:11 that none of the words that go forth from His mouth will return to Him void. So we can pray using scripture!

There are times that we also feel discouraged and need Him to remind us His Word and promises towards us. Around last year, I happened to read some of those promises via social media and I made them into a prayer! I have decided to share it below so that it can be a blessing to many.

(Credit goes to one Timothy B.)

REMIND ME OH GOD!!

Remind me Oh God

That it’s Your word in Psalms 119:49 which I hope in.

Remember Your promise to me.

Remind me that man shall not live by bread alone

But by every word that proceeds from Your mouth.

Remind me of Thy word Oh God

That You’re the one who clothes the lilies of the valley

And provides for the birds of the air.

Remind me Oh God

That I got no faith of my own.

Even the faith I have, I draw it from thy word.

  

Remind me oh God

That it’s Your word in Psalms 119:11

Hidden in my heart that I may not sin against You.

Remind me that You’re Jehovah Rapha

That broken hearts are healed by thy word.

Teach me to remember that:

Relationships are sustained by Your word

And not our experience and expertise.

Remind me Oh Lord,

Of Your word in Psalms 68:6

That You are the one who sets the lonely in families.

Remind me not to worry

Because Your word in Isaiah 34:16 says;

None shall lack a mate.

And when I feel delayed Lord,

Remind me that it’s Your word in Psalms 119:25

That says You will quicken me.

Remind me that every good thing comes from You God.

Aren’t husbands and wives a heritage from thee?

Remind me Oh God

The word in Psalms 119:81,

That in my moments of giving up and fainting,

It is thy word that I hope in.

Remind me Lord,

That regardless of my circumstances

Your word in Jeremiah 29:11 says;

You have a good plan for me.

Remind me Oh God of Psalms 119:105

That in my moments of darkness,

When nothing makes sense;

Your word is a lamp unto my feet.

Remind me oh God

That I’m blessed not because I did anything good

But because the word says I’m blessed.

Remind me Lord that I’m at the top

Not because of my brains

But because thy word says;

I am the head and not the tail.

Like in Psalms 119:74

Let thy children rejoice when they see me Lord,

Because I have hoped in Thy word.

Lord, may I remember that the hope I have

I draw it from Your word.

AMEN.