It’s that time again to hustle that last bit of school fees, organise school runs and be stuck in traffic by 7.30am on weekdays. This year certainly hasn’t been much easier than the last but despite the arm length of inconveniences the country hasn’t come to a grinding halt like we’ve feared. Babies are still being born, new companies are opening their doors for the very first time and people still have their crazy sense of humour while some have even ascended to heaven and back.
When I look at it all I think there’s got to be a reason why we have survived all manner of horrors that could have snuffed our light out today or even yesterday but we are here alive even if we are not entirely well. I know a God who preserves his people through every hardship, one whose wings we can hide under while He calms the storm. No matter what thing befalls the earth God’s goodness remains and it is available to us, a gift we only have to accept and be transformed by.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous
Today I am able to thank God that I went through all the things that I did because I have come into a revelation that giving thanks in ALL situations really works. It doesn’t follow the expected progression of the cavalry charging in making a huge noise and dramatically bringing down strongholds it follows a still, small voice that speaks even when we choose not to listen.
It follows a simple progression of giving due praise to the Redeemer and suddenly the situation becomes smaller and more still than the sound of His voice. I wasn’t always there though, at first I had beef about it and I wanted answers and when those answers didn’t come I took it upon myself to go Dora-the-Explorer on the spiritual realm.
I was drawn to touch on this today because this prophets and papa’s story is getting out of hand, we keep elevating and seeking out the man of God at the expense of God himself. The problem is that we have convinced ourselves that certain fates should not befall us just because we are Christian. We exonerate ourselves from our poor decisions and rebellion against God insisting that this is Africa and witchcraft is rife and then some guy in a suit recites your phone number or uses basic deductive reasoning and now he suddenly has all the answers.
I’m asking someone today where was Papa when death hung around for you at the street corner because of your own poor choices? Where was Papa when your parents did the best they could to give you what they never had? Where was Papa when God called you to a purpose from your mother’s womb? Please understand I’m not speaking against guidance from spiritual advisors, what I’m speaking against is the tendency to put these people on some kind of pedestal where they become untouchable even by the standards of God.
It is God who is faithful and not his man
I don’t know where you are right now or what your situation is but I have a small exercise for you. I want you to rewind to a particularly difficult situation in your life. A time when you thought this is it, ”just take me now Lord” because everything was so rough, a time of fear that you weren’t going to make it. I know it was probably not the most fantastic time of your life and you are glad that it’s in the past but if you’ll bear with me there’s something I’d like you to see.
Think of the You that you were during that time and compare them with the You that you are now. I guarantee you more than one thing has changed and not just for the sake of changing but for the better. You are stronger now than you were then and more than that you are still standing at the end of it. I want you to see that though you were slain in one way or another you were never destroyed. I want you to appreciate that your standing here today is a testimony that God means what He says, he never leaves or forsakes us and He turns things around for our good because we love Him.
You can’t predict the future because it’s none of your business
I wish someone would have shaken some sense into me when I spent so much time waiting on a prophet to point at me and give me some mind blowing news about my future. I went through my days miserable and feeling aimless on the earth because I thought that if God cared about me he would at least give his messenger some encouragement for me. I did some of this ridiculous religious junk because I had faith in it, more faith than I had in just going to God directly.
I finally met God face to face in His word where He made me in His image, where He promised to never leave me, where He promised that no weapon formed against me would prevail. God says that he will set a table for me before my enemies and my job is to seek His face so that all these and other things may be added to me. When I stopped seeking papa’s face God took over and changed my life almost in an instant.
The future belongs to God no man can speak a brighter future than God and if we spent enough time in the present we might actually allow His grace to do its work in us.
About the author
Sharon Rateiwa is a lover of art with a natural flair for the artistic. When she isn’t sharing inspirational pieces with the world, she designs and performs as a singer and poet. Sharon believes that we of God’s generation have a mandate to take up Godly arms in the fight for a meaningful existence. She gives encouragement by sharing her own colourful encounters.
