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
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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.
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.
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