Of Morning Walks & 'Man of His Word' Reminders
February 01, 2025 |
| Monday Morning Walk - January 2025 |
Good morning Sunshine,
I am not sure why my Premier League calendar showed that the Arsenal v Man City game was today instead of tomorrow...anyway, I have 'gained' two hours which I decided to use to work on a post I started on Monday but did not finish because of client meetings and related activities.
As you all know, I spent last weekend watching two back to back Premier League games (Man City won their game against Chelsea, and if they beat us, things will get really hairy, especially since we do not have a good striker and the season is at a critical time), besides football, I spent my weekend dreaming about Europe (shared those dreams on this post) - and by Monday morning, I had a list of potential schools that I could apply to for my PhD.
Because God and I are in a partnership, I decided to start the week with a morning prayer walk, just to 'get a pulse' on this 'Europe thing'. Sorta-kinda poke Him…do you remember when Facebook was new and you actually poked people? Like we did not say hi or anything, we just poked...like instead of talking in terms of views and shares and impressions, we talked about how many pokes we got and how many people we poked...and yes sometimes we poked the same person over and over...I think that would be classified as something bordering criminal activity today.
On second thoughts, I withdraw that poking statement...I was not trying to poke Him. I just wanted to 'float the idea and get some feedback'. Before I could start the small talk, the buttering part before the ask, the Adoration part for those who use the ACTS prayer formula, I started singing.
For those hearing about ACTS for the first time, it is a 'how to pray' guide which stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. According to this formula, you start by adoring God (that is what I am loosely referring to as small talk and buttering), then move to confession of sins, followed by gratitude for what He has done, and finally making your requests known.
There are many other 'prayer formulas' out there, and various ways to do prayer besides one on one convo - I also do prayer journaling, prayer walks and have a prayer wall...but this post is not about 'how to pray' (since I just outlined points for such a post, I will put one together).
Kama mvua ishukavyo, toka mbinguni kwenye ardhi
(As the rain pours, from heaven on earth)
Na neno lake kwa kinywa chake, halitarudi bure
(So his words from his mouth, will not return in vain)
Litatimiza mapenzi yake, litatenda alivyo sema
(It will accomplish his will,it will do as he says)
Aliahidi atatenda, mtumainie Bwana
(If he promises he will do it, trust in the Lord)
Lyrics from African Gospel Lyrics
This lyrics are from Ahadi Zake by Marion Shako (watch on Youtube), which is an old school Swahili gospel song, 2009 old, based on Isaiah 55:10-11 and God's promises.
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
~ Isaiah 55:10-11BibleGateWay (NIV)
After singing the chorus over and over again, and reaching the end of the trail, I used the walk back asking God what it all means. I just wanted to float an idea and before I made my introduction, I was thrown to the deep end with this song. The last time I had sang this song over and over was when I was working as a volunteer Mathematics teacher for Mama Zipporah's Huruma Children's Home in Mataasai (clearly my Professor dreams started back in the day). This was a few years after dropping out of the University of Nairobi (was an Actuarial Science Major), and was looking for ways to keep myself busy in between my health ups and downs.
I was trusting God for a lot, and I mean a lot... not just for myself , but also for the kids I taught, most of whom had been left without parents due to HIV/AIDs. As the story goes, my health did not improve, I was more indoors than outdoors, and ended up starting a blog, that went to win a Google award (currently archived), leading me to start my country's first support line and seeing me travel the world, do a TED talk, speak at the UN...and after a little over a decade, take a Sabbatical and move to the US, restart my academic journey, part of which I have been documenting on this blog.
All of these things are x10, x100 of what I was trusting Him for as I prepared lesson plans for my Mathematics classes. I have a scrap book back home with all the notes that 'my kids' (my students) would leave for me, including the days i could not make it to class because I had had a seizure or some health related issue that made it hard for me to be with them. My prayers were for health and strength to be there for them, and He decided that instead of just being there for my class of handful of students, why not be there for the thousands of people across Kenya who are struggling with their mental health - through your writing, and innovation, and advocacy?
And now, here I am, on this morning prayer walk, having lived in the US for 6 years, looking to spread my wings to Europe and being reminded that He is a Man of His Word that Aliahidi atatenda, mtumainie Bwana (If he promises he will do it, trust in the Lord)...as an aside Man of His Word by Maverick City Choir is another song I sang over and over...it was one of my pandemic songs as I debated whether to go back home or continue staying in the US.
When I got back to my apartment, I played Marion Shako's song, followed by Man of Your Word by Maverick City, before reading about Balaam and Balak in Numbers 22-24. In a nutshell, Balak is the King of Moab, which is the last stop before Canaan (the promised land - where the Israelites were heading to). Balak feels some type of way about the Israelites and decides to curse them before they get to their final destination. To do this, he employees Balaam who is a local diviner, they build altars and make sacrifices, trying to get God to curse the Israelites but God tells Balaam that that wont be happening (there is a whole talking donkey scene that I will skip for now).
Way back in Genesis, God had said He will bless Abraham and his descendants, and though there were some ups and downs along the way between then and at this point, He never went back on His word, and He was not going to do it, just because King Balak was having one of those days.
Beside the need to jump on a client meeting and work on some things, I think I did not get round to posting because I did not have an answer for this question - should I try Europe for my PhD, should reapply here in the US, or try an African country (maybe South Africa?)…ok I didn’t hear anything until this morning when I woke up to the phrase 'when the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen' which is also an Isaiah verse.
That still does not answer the question, but it reminded me to go through the promises that God had made in the past, the visions, instructions and confirmations, and hold them against my current poking (because I am officially poking). I know that this is such an anticlimax (compared to a solid Yes or No), but such is the faith journey...and sometimes the journey is on and on and on and on, before we get to the destination...mine has been ongoing for 6 years...but I know for sure, when the time is right, He will make it come to pass...He will make that which He promised me to come to pass.
Nafsi yangu usichoke, roho yangu msifu Bwana
(My self do not tire, my spirit praise the Lord)
Alihadi atatenda, mtumanie Bwana
(He promised he will do it, trust in the Lord)
Ahadi zake ni za milele, akiahidi atatenda
(His promises are forever, if he promises he will do it)
Roho yangu nafsi yangu, mtumainie Bwana
(My spirit my self, trust in the Lord)
Chorus: Shared above
Verse 2:
Mawazo yake sio yetu, njia zake si kama zetu
(His thoughts are not ours, his ways are not like ours)
Mbingu zilivyo juu ya nchi,mawazo yake ni makuu
(As the heavens are above, his thoughts are great)
Ataagiza fadhili zake, wimbo wake kwangu usiku
(He will instruct his mercies, his song to me at night)
Sifadhaike usiiname, mtumainie bwana
(Do not despair do not falter, trust in the Lord)
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