JUST PRAY…

It is a beautiful thing when God walks you through situations you may be facing. Nothing uplifts your spirit like knowing God is interested in the things you once felt reluctant to pray about.

Yesterday, I had someone say some awfully untrue things about me and it hurt so bad for one too many reasons. As I lay in bed trying to get some sleep, the heaviness in my heart was unbearable. The hurt, anger and disappointment was indeed overwhelming and within a short space of time I was already picturing out how I could get back at this person and indeed I know enough to give me a satisfying dose of payback but for a minute I thought to pray about it.

As I tried to pray, I could not find the right words to say how I was feeling let alone know how to direct my prayers. I lay there just saying “Lord take the heaviness, anger, disappointment and hurt away”; I repeatedly said these words and gradually I found more words to convey what I was feeling and slowly the feeling faded away. I slept a lot lighter than I thought possible (that night).

Hurt, anger, disappointment are all natural emotions that we as humans are prone to. And so, it is so easy to let anger eat deep into your heart but, when you feel the anger or the hurt overwhelming you, it is time to submit it to the one who has asked you to cast your cares on Him. Even if you cannot find the words to pray because your heart is heavy, God is not unaware of the way you feel.

Sit there in His presence and enjoy the warmth that His presence gives, He understands the words you can’t seem to form, He understands the tears and even more the silence. Sit there and let Him soothe your heart and fill you with peace and the grace to forgive and let go.

 

Love Always,

Sitamka.

 

AMBASSADORS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

Generally speaking, an ambassador is a respected official acting as a representative of a nation. Sent to a foreign land, the ambassadors’ role is to reflect the official position of the sovereign body that gave him authority. Every country in the world has ambassadors that stand as a representatives of such country and in most cases act on behalf of such country. 

In same vain, we as Christians are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God and as such our words and actions and even sometimes our inactions say something about the Kingdom we represent.

Just so you do understand me appropriately, let us work with a scenario that would help make this concept a lot clearer.

A young lady goes out to her network providers office to lodge a complaint about unnecessarily exorbitant rates charged on her cell phone. When she walks to the help desk, you try to explain certain transactions that may have occurred on her cell without her knowledge but she is too upset because she feels cheated and all she wants to hear is that she will be refunded, so she flips out on you and she notices the shock on your face but ignores it (because she doesn’t see why you should be shocked), she keeps venting and when she is done, without letting you finish, she stomps away. Unknown to her, since you have to work even on Sundays sometimes, you join an online fellowship where she sometimes ministers (hence the earlier surprise on your face as you could not match the nice lady you watch online with the woman who just left your office). When the next Sunday comes and you are working, would you have same enthusiasm to join in that online fellowship? Your guess is as good as mine.

Given the directly opposite scenario, the lady though upset was polite and courteous to you, and even in the event she was rude to you because anger or frustration got the best of her, she quickly apologizes for her attitude and thanks you for your service. When you have another opportunity to join in that fellowship it will be with more excitement because she left you with a good impression.

Evangelism is our supreme task and some times, the life you live is all the evangelism you need, to draw an onlooker to Christ. No words spoken, no songs or hymns sang, no big deed just the tiny little details that make up your lifestyle.

What does your life say about the Kingdom you represent?

Does your lifestyle reflect the values the Kingdom of God promotes? Does it reflect love,  kindness,  mercy, charity, peace,  forgiveness,  patience,  righteousness, joy,  humility,  truthfulness, perseverance and all the other virtues the Holy Bible speaks of?

Or does your lifestyle reflect the direct opposite of all these virtues?

Does your character as well as your words show off your integrity, honesty,loyalty and more importantly, love for your King?

When your neighbour discusses you with someone, do they speak of your godliness and yearn to draw closer to God because of you?

Can your co-workers and staff speak of your Christian values and want to know God just because he/she has been blessed being in your company?

What testimony do your family, friends, and acquaintances have of you?

Can random people whom you met in the course of the day thank God because you treated them nicely with love and kindness?

A simple smile to a someone who is having a bad day, simple kind word to lift a person’s spirit, a simple apology when you hurt your neighbour or even a simple thank you to the cab driver who got you to your destination (even though you paid for his services) goes a long way.

As a Christian, you are in a position of great responsibility. So, before you act or speak, or even when you are faced with any task or duty or situation or responsibility, the most important thoughts to bear in mind include:

Would this be a good or bad representation of God’s Kingdom?

When this person leaves me, will this person want to know Jesus because of the way I spoke or acted?

Would Jesus Christ be proud of me for this?

If your answers are in the affirmative, by all means,  go ahead BUT if not ABORT MISSION! I repeat, ABORT MISSION!

Let your aim be to bring people to the knowledge of God in every way possible. Live as though, your life is an advertisement of the Kingdom of God.

The vices the devil can use to keep you from representing the Kingdom of God properly could can come in so many ways but I will mention two that are usually very regular hindrances- Pride and Guilt.

Pride in the sense that, sometimes in a bit to show off “who or what we are” we fail God. On the other hand guilt in the sense that, the devil can use literally anything and anyone to guilt trip you. Could be just magnifying your sins, shielding you from awareness of God’s unending gift of forgiveness or acquaintances who make you feel like “why bother, you know you will fall anyways?”

Whatever it is that hinders you, ask yourself- “Is that worth my place in heaven?” Your guess is as good as mine as to what the answer will be.

God’s grace as you seek to please Him and be a good ambassador of the Kingdom of God.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for choosing someone as insignificant as me, loving me and trusting me with the task of representing your Kingdom. Help me to be a good ambassador of your Kingdom and give me the grace to overcome everything that stands in the way of my pleasing you. Amen!

Love Always,

Sitamka.

BE STILL…

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Sometimes, in a bid to distract ourselves from the things that bother us the most, we spend quality time being busy, doing absolutely nothing (nothing useful, I mean). But in the silence of our room (or even in just random quiet moments), we are faced with our biggest fears, worries and challenges and that’s where we are faced with the decision to wallow in worry or trust God.

Recently, I had to deal with some intense level of sadness over things I felt were going wrong in my life- or do I say, the things that were just not going as I would have liked them to. I spent so much time worrying, being sad and even crying about them, but nothing I did seemed to make me feel better.

I had to chat up one of my closest friends and I gladly “unburdened” telling her how I felt at a stand still and how things weren’t going well and all. After listening to me complain for a considerable length of time, she simply counted some things which in her opinion where a sign of some not-so-small progress. These were things I had sincerely overlooked but hearing someone tell me, made me feel thankful and helped relax my troubled heart.

Yes, there will be times when you can not seem to find the right words to pray (good thing is even when words fail us, God knows our hearts desires and feels our hurt)  and tears are the only way to let out that sadness or anger, or even sharing with a friend, family member, colleague or even pastor but the most important thing to remember, is God’s instruction to us when we are going through various storms in our lives – “PEACE,BE STILL”.

In a world where there is a lot of priority on being busy as opposed to making progress, it seems almost impossible to just “BE STILL”. I am not opposed to you doing what outrightly needs to be done, as even the bible says in James 2:20& 26 that “… faith without works is dead”. There are so many things about your life that you will never be able to take care of, no matter how hard you work- the reason being that, it is just not your job to fix it. Only God can fix those things, at those times, all you need do is BE STILL.

We may never be able to admit it to anyone else, but the feeling of just waiting (being still) scares us so much, we will rather be busy doing anything just so we do not have to be still. Stillness in our world sometimes could be interpreted as being stagnant or lacking progress. But you can be rest assured, when God calls you to stillness and you respond, you will make more progress than you could have made on your own.

God’s call to us today, is for us to trust Him with all our fears, worries, cares and burdens and just be still- Yes, just be still.
When you feel like your heart’s so heavy and you are overwhelmed with anxiety, in that moment, hard as it may be, remember God’s word to you- “Peace, be still”.
Yes, that loud voice in your head will be screaming for you to act, to do something but if you can remember the comforting words of Psalm 94:19 you will find some bit of calm. King David says in Psalm 94:19- “When doubt fills my mind, you give me hope and keep me of renewed cheer”.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for the immense blessings you shower me with, day after day. Forgive my ingratitude, and teach me to count my blessings always. Today, whatever life throws my way, teach me to be still and know that you are the God who loves me and is constantly working towards bringing me to a predestined end. Amen.