Commitment

Commitment. That's a strong word isn't it? Yes it is. Commitment is about your honour, your integrity. Putting your life on the line to see an issue through.

The other day I was travelling to Ibadan, Nigeria from Lokoja a town in central Nigeria. A journey of 6-7 hours on a good day. We had dropped off some passengers in a city just 2hrs from Ibadan and picked up some new ones to complete the journey. No sooner had we picked the two new passengers than we heard a snapping sound, followed by a scrapping sound that persisted as the vehicle continued on motion. The driver reckoned something had gone wrong with the back spring of the car. Nothing felt particularly wrong with the car to me, except for the scrapping noise of metal against the car frame.

The driver pulled over, assessed the situation and determined it was safe to drive on till we got to a mechanic workshop where it could be checked properly. He got in and drove on much more slowly. But as the sound persisted, passengers began to agitate to get off. Not the least, the two new addons. In fact they insisted they wanted to get off heatedly and presently were allowed to alight.

The rest of us were willing to persevere till at least we got a full diagnosis at the next mechanic workshop. I for one was contemplating dropping off at the next town where my grandmother lived if I felt the car wouldn't get me to my destination.

So were we just more risk averse than those other two passengers or were we plain silly to have continued such a journey on the highway with a faulty vehicle?

I'll tell you what, we were just committed. Lets look at the indicators.

1. We had paid our fares before we took off. If we got off now, we would most probably have to sort ourselves out.Those two hadn't paid as yet.
2. Most of us had heavy baggage. They had just a hand bag.
3. We had formed a kind of camaraderie having travelled together for over 5 hours experiencing the intrigues of the road together. They hadn't.
4. We had come a long way (5 hours). They were just starting out.

So yeah commitment was the difference. As silly and dangerous as it must have seemed, commitment saw us through and got us to our destination. Together we weathered the storm. As we drove on my thoughts kept flashing back to those two who had dropped off along a bushy, lonely highway. 'Did they get another lift quickly?', 'were they beaten by the rain that fell shortly after?', 'did they get home safe?'. Well, I'll never know. Just like they'll never know how we fared either.

It's always quite easy to jump off the boat. But count the cost. There'll always be 'what-ifs' both sides of the coin. Weight your commitment before you throw it all up in the air. Just a little patience might crown your commitment with results.

Selah

Image credits: jasaero.com

Death

Do you wake up everyday with the thought that the next moment you might be dead? I guess not. Especially if you are not waking up on a hospital bed!
As days, weeks and years roll by, we bubble with life, going about our 'business' without much of a thought about our frailty and the human eventuality - death.
Just like the day we are born can usually not be 100% predictable, even more so the day we die. That undated appointment that every person must keep.
Death must be the least understood experience of humans and yet, it's the most certain. Natural, accidental, self inflicted or assisted, death comes to all.
Like I was pointing out earlier, most of our life we rarely give a thought to death. It sounds so ominous, we cannot bear to keep the thought for a moment longer. However, should death continue to be a topic shrouded in darkness? Should it continue to elude us and catch us unaware?
The very nature of death makes such questions difficult to answer. Often unexpected, the grief that is communicated by the loss of a fellow human being hardly gives us any window to learn from it. Moreover, The dead is, well, dead! You cannot experience death and tell the story. Its the omega experience. Only the dead know how death feels - that's if they feel something . Those who live on only feel the impact of the death: the loss, the pain, the void.... I am reminded of a quote by a friend 'death is for the living'
Well, every once in a while, we are reminded, usually shockingly, that we are not immortal beings. At least not yet. The death of a loved one rattles through our being, shaking the very foundations of what we believe and hold dear. We give the thought to the fact that we too must go someday too. And hopefully, we learn some lessons, reorder our priorities and focus on our purpose. For this is the whole duty of man.

--- Inspired by the tragic death of Dr Myles Munroe 9/11/2014. May his blessed soul and those of the 8 others rest in peace.

Worshipping God

Do you sometimes attend a church service and all the while your mind keep wondering? You keep struggling to 'connect'. You see all the excitement and near ecstasy around you and you can't but wonder 'how do they do that?'.
When we come to worship God, its an interesting activity. It is an outward expression of an inner relationship. It is the overflowing of a spiritual life that is based on God.
The vibrancy of your worship bears quite a direct relationship to the vibrancy of your relationship and fellowship with God.
Yes of course, we have the actors... those sanguines that always seem to be excited! And of course we have the melancholies who struggle to leap for joy even on 'Christmas day'. Be that as it may, true worship moves beyond our circumstances and personalities. True worship brings the sanguine to tears on his knees and the makes the melancholy shout and leap for joy.
Worship is ignited by the Holy Spirit. So next time you are stuggling with worship, pray in the Holy Ghost, establish the connection and let the Spirit take over.

Its worship time. Selah.