As I was contemplating what to share on this blog piece in my small moments of prayer, reflection and introspection, I found myself thinking deeply about this specific movie and the fact that June is a men’s mental health month (To all the men who will read this post, you are cherished and loved by the writer of this blog piece). I thought about the mental space. Not just the cerebral cortices and the limbic systems of the world but also the level of consciousness. The intricate facets that encapsulate the concept of identity. And I realized that the biggest question most people ask themselves at this level in their day to day life is;
i)Who am I?
ii)What is my purpose and am I really sure I am on the right track to achieving it?
The worst part is that we live in an unforgiving world that will do anything to smack us straight in the face and have us question our identity no matter how secure we are. And it won’t get easier. Not just because of anything, but Jesus himself said so;
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
A life of knowing and walking in step with the father is not a ticket to a jail free card from the many arrows, trials and tests that life has to offer. It is an assurance that in the knowledge of the sovereignty of God and his intricate, intimate involvement with you on the inside, the carnal realm holds no water to your ultimate destiny which is eternal fellowship with our Lord, be it good or otherwise in our sight. God is good because he is good, not because our world feels good. We rest in the promise in Isaiah 41:10;
“Do not be afraid – I am with you!
I am your God – Let nothing terrify you!”
Our eyes may see and acknowledge the terrors of the carnal world we live in. But we are focused on the spiritual reality of an even bigger God who even in the fire, He will not just purify us and walk us through them, He will be right there as the extra man.
The realisation that we are of God and not of this world is such a joy to behold. How beautiful must it be to know that we are known by the one being that is beyond the confines of time, space and matter! However, comes the downside. And that is pride. Our identity in Christ is nor an earmark of carnal boasting. It is a realisation of the frail nature of the essence of our humanity and our need for complete dependence on our Lord and Master, in areas of strength and weakness. It is that understanding that triggers an unending well of humility in our hearts, because how then can you boast in the sight of the one who sees your carnal attempts of righteousness as filthy rags and establishes that without the insurance of the great advocate, we all have fallen short of his glory, no matter who we think we are? Without this wisdom and understanding it is utterly impossible to attain a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And as King David puts it;
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”
Psalms 51:17.
It draws me back to when Paul spoke of how he boasts of his weakness because when he is weak then he is strong. And I love the certain footnote that Steven Furtick places on this piece of scriptural revelation. Paul was not saying that he was comfortable in his weakness. In fact, he did want it out on several occasions. It was the understanding of this weakness that brought him back to the reality that no matter the heights of his relationship with God and its revelations thereafter, he is still a frail man in need of the master and as such he has to intentionally allow God to break him so he can access him. And for that to occur he had to trust that he has a good father who even in the pain, he will trust himself in His hands over and over again because what He has, no one else can offer better. It is in that hiding in the Lord and the fullness of His strength that we have full access to his infinite nature (Remember God is not bound by the rules of nature and physics). It is in that infiniteness that He is strong and outside it.
I also find it funny how we try to identify ourselves with so many things, be it our blessings or tribulations. Sometimes in a concerted effort to remind us that at the end of the day none of that really matters without him, He completely strips us of all we hold on dear to from time to time. Remember Naomi in the book of Ruth?
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
Ruth 1:20-21
I always find it so mind-blowing how Naomi didn’t just know she was going through it. She knew that the Lord allowed it. Despite her seeing, in her eyes that she did not do anything to warrant it. A good Lord, allowed her daughter to lose all she had to the point she questioned her identity to the point she gave herself a name that ensembles her misfortune. But in the midst of her troubles, God didn’t stop working. He gave Naomi Ruth as a new family. Ruth was a Moabite and we all know how Moabites came to be. So at first glance, this doesn’t look like a blessing because Moabites are a heathen nation in the site of Naomi’s people. But Ruth was devoted, loving, dedicated (She was willing to assimilate Naomi’s identity, as lost as she was to the grave; literally pulled the “till death do us part” card on her mother – in – law), and the most important of all, started the family line of two of the most important people in Israelite and Christian history, King David and the master Jesus. Naomi lost her sons and the husband that God gave her, but God in return gave her the GOAT descendant, his only son Jesus Christ. The main question I pose to you is this, who do you think was the greater and most eternal blessing, her first family that died or the family that God caused her to spark in her season of loss and tribulation?
God has nothing against what we gain in this world. He is the owner of cattle on 1000 hills after all. If anything, he would gladly bless you to overflow (Ask King Solomon. He has stories to tell on this matter). He just doesn’t want them to own you. He wants you to attune the blessings, trials and heart posture to him the owner and finisher of our faith. And one thing about God, He is a jealous God when it comes to your heart. If He has to break the man to reach the soul, He will not hesitate to do so, no matter the cost in your sight. He loves you THAT much.
”Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, [2] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2
I finish my subject with this question;
If God was to break you down completely to your last bone, can He still look at what is left of the dust and say “That one right there, that is my son/daughter”? Because when we walk into His throne room, we are either in the book of life where there is no condemnation because we are in Christ Jesus, or we are facing the throne of judgement because the dreaded words were said unto us; “Get away from me! I do not know you.” That it too big of a price to take it is, as one of the famous kenyan memes go, take it as child’s play and trade it for any pleasures this world has to offer.
Now let us take a chill pill in the Paul Literary Universe(PLU). Take time to marry the concepts I have brought home with the movie reference I used. It shall be revelationary!! (Oh and watch the movie while you’re at it. It will bring out all the emotions). Cheers.
With love,
Paul Adero Omondi.
Level V mbchb,
MSCU POIEMA writers club.