Dear God it’s me again
This makes such a good start to a letter don’t you think? I’ve used it a few times when I’ve actually written letters to God. (I’ve always been one of those types LOL, writing comes naturally to me and so does English..if you hear me giving a piece of my mind in English know that you have done me some grievous harm because the language rolls off my tongue like a pre-recording I can promise you that).
Moving swiftly away from my English biting tendencies Dear God it’s me again is a book written by Gail Ramsey and I have to say it’s one that has played a huge role in my journey. (my copy vanished and I can’t for the life of me remember whether I lent it out or it fell off the earth somewhere). Anyway she outlines a number of issues we face in the journey of seeking Him, from fear, forgiveness and moving forward in the right mindset.
What stuck out most to me in the book was how she emphasised in the early chapters that God wants to fellowship with us more than we think and even though He seems silent sometimes it’s really because our ears are tuned elsewhere. There are a lot of voices out there that claim to speak for God and unless we acquaint ourselves with the voice of the true shepherd we are going to be led off many cliffs and have spiritual deaths in the thousands.
The other day I was sitting at a restaurant and this one customer was really giving the waiter a hard time insisting that the waiter was on the same level because he didn’t go to this man’s church. He kept saying “ndinogara nichikuudza kuti huya kuchurch Mfana asi haudi kuterera, unoramba uri pasame level nazvo izvi, iye zvino mu account mangu mamuka mune $96 000 asi hona iwe ungori pasame level nekusada kutsvaga Mwari. Tsvaga Mwari life yako inochinja” (partly paraphrased).
I felt that though the man had a point it wasn’t necessary to embarrass the waiter like that. It was as if the secret formula to riches and success was found at the pews of the man’s church. This made me think of how often we market the gospel, package it like a blue pill or red pill scenario from the Matrix and it will all make sense once you pick the right pill. From openly sharing my own journey I now see how many cracks we leave to chance by highlighting the results and not the relationship with God.
I don’t think people are so anti-Christ I think they are so anti this flakiness that those who claim to be for Christ have. What’s especially sad is that these same culprits occupy positions of authority in society and the church and they teach their limited views based on their own experience or lack thereof. It then takes extensive renewing of the mind through scriptural rehabilitation to get the sheep back in tune with the voice of God but thankfully it can be done. (There’s more to discuss on this one another time)
The Human condition
A good portion of the time communion with God is taught as us having to initiate the conversation through long hours of prayer and good deeds that should be enticing enough to grab His attention as if He is a grumpy, over worked and underpaid bank teller who has to equally distribute a sack of bond coins between 8-3pm daily.
I heard a school of thought once that said the way we see figures of authority in life is the same way we see God and that is what influences the nature of our relationship with Him. So for example if authority has been presented to you as unapproachable, relentless in fault finding and quick to punish then you will likely perceive God in the same light and resentfully submit for lack of a better option.
So though He is good and just we submit to Him in fear that He may find fault with us and unjustly mete out some kind of discipline on us. There are actually people who believe that evil befalls them because they are not submitted to God or they are poor because God wills their poverty and in His typical fashion sad events are a sign that He is demanding that they return to their chains of dull existence. Could someone please tell me why we think the things of God have to be dull and colourless? (ever seen a gospel video on ZBC?) bland expressions slapped together on a two dollar budget in the name of spreading the gospel.
I think I’ve offended at least one gospel artist by that LOL but seriously why are we presenting half baked offerings when we can do so much better, is it because we are so not in this world that we have to detach from technology and other possible means of packaging the message better? Why can’t we dedicate our existence to being lights in the dark places? It’s because most of our lives are spent defending when God is our defence. We can’t muster the courage to step into our promised lands so we justify the complacency by calling it God’s will for our suffering because we are as grasshoppers in our own eyes.
Speaking what’s on your heart is a powerful thing and it can change the world if you are brave enough to let your words see the light of day. There are many game changers out there whose voices are silent at the sad expense of humanity. Lately I’ve been paying attention to the great people in the world who invented new technologies or gave their lives to causes that impacted the world over. I’ve suddenly fallen in love with making my life count for something so if you hear that I’ve published my first book it will be from this inspiration. I can no longer pretend that I am only able to react to the circumstances thrust upon me by a vengeful God. This is just wrong, God is many things but vengeful is not one of them
