DeMotivated

If you’re life’s tailor made to make you thrive, have everything figured out, make no mistakes, have no regrets, always chart your way forward every morn with laser guided precision, accomplish every task with pin prick detail, going to bed satisfied of all you’ve achieved, then this isn’t for you.
This is for those, like me, who have tripped (and fell), are aware of their blunders, recognize their fears and know that the world isn’t perfect, partly because of their erroneous contributions.
“It’s all in your hands. You can change your destiny today”, the man hollered. His was a perfect rags to riches story. His royal blue Italian suit and the glare from his polished shoes concealed the fact that his childhood and teenage years were traumatic. From separated parents, to a crime ridden neighborhood to going to bed with nothing to satisfy the biting hunger pangs, he had once believed that his tunnel didn’t have an end.
Now he stood in front of an attentive corporate audience illustrating the inability of circumstances to change a determined man’s destiny.”Through belief in ability to change my world, and the tenacious pursuit of my dreams, I have succeeded against all odds”. I soaked in his every word like parched earth drinking the rain. His formula was no different from most other motivational speakers, but his enthusiasm lit a fire inside me. I embarked on a mission to turn my vision into action.
What followed was a week of goal setting, daily planning and target charts. I started seeing fruits of my now organized life. Days later I started slowly slipping out of this rigorous schedule. I performed badly in a task, but I quickly made amends. I didn’t quickly bounce back when I missed an important appointment, delayed important projects or when I made stupid blunders at work.
“How could you make such mistakes?” A raspy voice whispered in my ears. “And this with all the knowledge that you have!” And the corporate money spent on inspirational seminars? And you thought you were intelligent?” Fear stealthily crept in. Fear turned into worry, worry into depression. The result of this was more mistakes. Nobody seemed to understand. I could as well give up on this goal setting thing, I thought.I was demotivated.
At the depth of my valley there was no other way to look but up. My Creator knows all about this, I figured out. In my darkness I thought I heard a still voice saying, “You’ll make more mistakes despite your determination not to”. “This isn’t encouraging”, I retorted. The Voice, now more audible, replied,” You’ve heard about the successes of great men but little of their failures. The world over glorifies their successes while readily forgiving their failures, but the truth is each of these people have their own fears and big time messes. No one always does it right, that’s why keyboards come with delete keys, pencils with erasers and white-out is ordered along with office stationery.
I've always known your shortcomings. The only way is to look up to me for wisdom on how you’ll steer your course. Men always make mistakes, but they fulfill their destiny despite their issues.”
Now I realize that failing makes me the perfect candidate as a vessel to give hope to real people, struggling with real issues in an imperfect world. I hope that one day, when I’ll write my story someone will look and say, he messed around, but he still made it. He was not a Superman, but he trusted in One who was. God held his hand and led him through out of all the muddles he was in, therefore I can make it because like him, I’m an ordinary human with an extraordinary destiny.

Kama Mbaya Mbaya Part 2

It was a time of famine. Food prices were soaring and the only solution the political leadership was offering was to kill the messenger who predicted the famine, as if that would help. Death crept into the Samaritan city. The besieged residents had no hope left because stepping out meant slaughter by the Aramean army which surrounded the city walls.
Enter the four men with a terminal illness. They were left at the gates condemned to a life of seclusion and despair, begging for every meal. They had leprosy, which at that time had a stigma greater than HIV has today. This crisis pushed them to the limit. They had to act, or die.
Should they risk their lives and go to the enemy’s camp to beg for mercy, hoping that they would get some food? Better to be a fed slave than a starved man fighting for his freedom, they reasoned. Kama mbaya, mbaya, they arose and marched to the enemy’s camp. They had nothing left worth protecting. They were damned if they went and damned if they didn’t.
You can imagine the amazement imprinted on their faces when they discovered the camp deserted and tables laid before them laden with food they had craved.”He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies”, they must have thought. God had magnified their feeble steps and spread terror among the enemy.No sooner had they fed than they discovered the real purpose they were there, to save a city enveloped by despair. They didn’t hesitate to run back and share the good news.
Within one day, a city on the brink of death bounced back to life. Overnight , four men condemned to lurk in the lowest echelons of society became celebrities. All because they took those feeble steps.All because they took a risk which even the king was afraid of taking.Even after being being told of the empty camp, he still was reluctant to step out.
You too can save a city, you could be the solution to this present crisis. Only take those feeble steps, which God’ll then use. He used Moses’s rod because that’s what he had. He doesn’t ask for what we don’t have.That he’ll create.Only let him work with what you have.Kama mbaya, mbaya...he won’t forsake you when you act on His word. He has a name to protect, a name called I AM.I AM the answer to every question, the solution to every matter.
Elisha had predicted this deliverance. A royal official scoffed at his words. He paid a high price for his unbelief, death. Beware lest the same fate befalls you.

Background: 2 Kings 7

Kama Mbaya, Mbaya!

Kama Mbaya, Mbaya!
These words were prominent in conversations of young Nairobians some time back. Too bad they disappeared from the lips of youth due to the rapidly evolving nature of urban slang. But did you know, they were uttered back in the days before Kenya existed? You don’t believe it? Read on and see two instances they unexpectedly shaped the destiny of a nation.
Its somewhere between 450-500 B.C. By what men thought was a strange twist of fate but we now know was divine destiny, a Babylonian beauty of Jewish descent rises from obscurity to be queen of one of the greatest empires ever, that of the Persian “King of Kings” Artaxerxes. A prominent member of the King’s ‘kitchen cabinet’ had hatched a plot to destroy Queen Esther’s people, by making him sign a bill that couldn’t be amended, which gave an order for the extermination of the Jews.
The fate of the Israelis was in Esther’s hands. It had finally dawned on her that she hadn’t been appointed to “exchange cultures” as this king was fond of, but to rescue her people. She had to take action, kama mbaya,mbaya. If I perish, I perish. Those were the words she uttered to show the determination with which she would fight for her people, knowing that what she had in mind could result in certain death for she wanted to enter the king’s court against Persian protocol.
From where did she get the courage to defy the norms of the state? Dear reader, let me point out a historical fact that you may have overlooked.
This king had several queens and an array of concubines. That’s why she couldn’t enter his court as she pleased for she wasn’t indispensable. In light of this, the position left vacant when queen Vashti was dethroned didn’t have to be filled. The kingdom affairs could continue normally, as the king continued enjoying the “services” of his queens and concubines, who were undoubtedly the most beautiful women in the civilized world which he controlled.
It was for a different reason that she was there. A king higher than Artaxerxes pulled the strings behind the scenes. She knew who he was, she was closer to him than she was to Xerxes. She totally trusted Him. She knew he couldn’t create such a position for her then dump her when she needed him the most. Xerxes is long gone but this king still reigns. He is the Almighty God. If you know Him personally, learn from Esther and act on his word without fear, and follow the path of your purpose He’s crafted out for you.
If you don’t know Him, I believe it’s wise to be close to power.
And the second instance of kama mbaya, mbaya?It happened earlier, but will expound on it in a later article.