Monthly Archives: September 2014

Nothing is Hidden From God

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Every night before I go to sleep, I try to read a psalm.  Surprisingly, I have gained more understanding this time than the few times I have read over the years. Last night just happened to be one of those days where I read Psalm 73, and the words would not leave me alone. The next block of words from the Psalms describes almost everyone’s feelings concerning what they see in governments around them. I don’t think that anybody can tell me that they have not felt jealous towards people who prosper. We see them driving big cars, seeming to have everything going for them. No struggles at all. They are free from common human burdens and tend to cure their diseases. However, the Bible describes them as  prideful, arrogant and people who clothe themselves with violence.

From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits. they scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, ‘How would God know? Does the Most High know anything? This is what they wicked are like – always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. Psalm 73:7-12

As I read this Psalms, a conversation I had had with some of my flatmates,  flashed through my mind. We had been talking about jobs and payments in Latvia. My flatmate from Latvia said that the highest paid people in Latvia are those people who work for the government, and even cleaners who work for the government get paid more than the average working citizen. How do these people get these jobs? They get the jobs through their relatives who work in government. In my course on African Politics, we discussed the patron client networks within Africa, that are putting our governments in jeopardy. Listening from this young man from Latvia, made me understand that Africa is not the only country with this problem.

From their hearts come iniquity, their evil imaginations have no limits. These words are taken out of the Bible, and they were written thousands of years ago. What we see today within our governments is exactly what the Psalmist wrote about. Our leaders stand in front of the screens and lie to our faces. They go around making promises which they will never fulfill, signing documents in the International Community that will never be carried out. The only people they higher are those related to them, while those with qualifications end up earning minimum wages lower than their qualifications. They treat those who have no jobs with spite, insults and hate. Where then is God in all these? Does he not know or see what is happening? Does the Most high know anything?

So many times I have had people ask me where God is in their lives. Based on their circumstances, they have declared that God does not care for them and have refused to have God play any part in their lives. How do I tell them that God cares and loves them without making them feel that I am just saying it? How do I tell a mother of two children that everything will be alright, when all she sees is her house disappearing and she would become homeless in a few weeks? Her claims for child care support have been denied and she has no job. Where is God in this?

The Psalmist had the same complains that we have today. The Bible is not a new book, but an old one. Everything that happens to us today is not hidden, and our thoughts echo the thoughts of those who had lived before us.  He continues to identify with our daily struggles by saying, “surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. All day long i have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments”. How many of us have asked God for a miracle in the past few years and he has not answered? How many of us have pondered over these same issues and have had no answers? We seem to be the ones changing, and everything around us stays the same. The Psalmist stresses his frustrations over the circumstances around him, and is baffled by all that surrounds him. All I would like to ask you right now is to stop nodding your head and agreeing with all the questions and all that has been discussed. If we stopped at just asking questions, then our journey in life would be meaningless.

As I was reading the Psalms, I kept telling myself, surely there’s got to be more to this complaining. Please tell me there’s something more than just complaining. Sure enough, there was, for the Psalmist said “When I tried to understand all this it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God: then I understood their final destiny” Psalm 73:16-17.  One of the reasons I chose to read the Psalms again was because I really wanted to understand the feelings and emotions. How did they do it? How did they have a personal relationship with God? How was their life different from mine? How did God react to their complains and yet still maintain the relationship between them?

The Psalmist had struggles just like we do today. He didn’t pretend to have everything going well for him. He brought his thoughts out in an open conversation with God. He expressed himself in all his confusion and chaos, but he didn’t complain like someone without hope. He realized that for him to get the answers he needed, he would have to go straight to the source, who was The Creator. He went to meet God and ask him all the questions. “Then I understood their final destiny”.  In as much as these people would get away with the things they do in power, they will not escape what God has prepared for them. Nothing was hidden from God in the times of Noah, Abraham and the Psalmist. When the people built the Tower of Babel, God said “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other” Genesis 11:6-7. In the same way, God sees all that happens on earth today. Nothing is new under the sun for him as Solomon pointed out. God sees everything that our governments do, and the pain they inflict on the people.

The next words of the Psalmist gives me a new perspective on the lives of these people who trample on others to rise. “How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies” Psalm 73:19-20. In as much as we think it is unfair for these people to prosper, we should be grateful that we do not have to share in their fate. Their final destiny will not be as sweet as they had made their life on earth seem. Nothing is Hidden from God. Like the Psalmists, I do not consider wealth to be of great importance. I pray to God to grant me just enough to do his work here on earth, which he has called me to. It is hard to look someone in the eye who cannot see past their circumstance and tell them that God cares. But one thing I am sure of, is that he keeps his promises and we will not enjoy it unless we totally surrender who we are to him.

HOW DID I KNOW I WAS IN-LOVE WITH YOU?

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How did I know I was in love with you? I could say it was the first time that you called my name.  The sound of your voice was so sweet and musical when you called my name, making my heart wishing to hear it over and over. BUT NO! That wasn’t on our first encounter.

Again I could say it was the first day you wrote me that beautiful love letter declaring your love for me. I felt so special with my head in the clouds, smiling to myself, saying I was the luckiest woman on earth. BUT NO! That was not the day either.

It might have been on that fateful day that you saw me crying and said I was beautiful, although I had tear stains on my cheeks and puffy eyes. The warmth of your embrace gave me strength to smile, laugh and drop a tear of joy even when I had just finished all my tears of pain. BUT NO! That too was not the day.

All these glimpses of what was in our relationship could have been the perfect moments for me to love you forever. Yet those days to me were days of questions, anticipation and curiosity. My mind kept asking me what you wanted from me. I lived the moment with you because no one else had ever given me such attention. When you went silent and I felt alone, I called out your name. When you wouldn’t pick up my call to let me hear your voice, I became desperate. Days and weeks went by without as much as a word of comfort from you, giving me sleepless nights. I was frantic, not knowing why that bothered me so much. When the realization stroke that I was losing you, I knew without a doubt, that I had fallen in love with you.

That moment released assorted feelings within me. I knew you had been the one who sustained me. You had been my help. I had not realized how much I trusted in your unfailing love till you seemed to fade away. Your promises of love for ever echoed in my mind and I asked myself if you would still love me. With every passing day, I prayed and trusted in you. I prayed never to be a fool again. Your words of affirmation lingered in my heart and mind though you seemed so far away. I knew without a doubt that you loved me and still do. The things you taught me are coming back with each passing day as I hold onto your promises of love. The memories of us together give me renewed strength for you had carried me through those huddles that I could not go through. Now when I whisper my heart out to you, the sound of your voice lifts my spirit.

O that I had the wings of a dove; I would fly to you just to give you a big warm embrace. You had given me everything a woman could ever want, and that was YOU. You loved me despite my selfishness, arrogance and pride. Yet in my moments of need, you were there to fight by my side. Upon you now, I cast all my cares, because I know you will sustain me and never let me fall. You have given me you and I cannot help but say that I AM SO IN LOVE WITH YOU.

The above letter is to the one who holds my heart in every way. Yes. You alone know the issues of the heart and I will be a fool to not trust in your unfailing love Jesus. Thank you for loving me long before I knew you.

There are certain things you don’t just share with the public and expect them to believe you. It is not every day that you hear a genuine confession of love. Our lives have become so private that we are afraid to openly tell the ones we love and care for how we feel. We have become so arrogant and prideful in our affections for one another, that we have hidden our true feelings and mostly express what the other would like to see and hear from us. Being in a relationship has become more of a pass time situation, where you don’t see a need to tell the other how you truly feel. Don’t worry, I am not ruling out the fact that you might have been hurt badly and are only trying to protect yourself from the pain. Just remember that if you guard yourself too tightly, you will end up hurting yourself, when you lose The One. Do you only have to be in a romantic relationship to know that someone cares for you?