Flowing In Our Purpose (by Winnie Thuku)

It has been a while since I blogged (with good reason), but now I am back. I have had the privilege of interacting with some amazing people in this journey called life, and recently I thought that it would be great for you to hear from some of the people I glean from. The first person I spoke to is Winnie Thuku. She is an author and blogger in her own right (Echoes Of My Heart). Winnie's life has served as a reminder to me that God works in the most powerful and mysterious of ways. This dear friend is also the one who first encouraged me to start blogging, and even went ahead to help me set up my page. I will forever be grateful to God for using her in that way. Winnie and her family recently re-located to Australia, and this blog post allows you to take a peek into her experience in a new land and what God has been teaching her. Journey with her, will you?

From my heart to yours,

Kambua M.

"My family and I recently moved from Nairobi, Kenya to a small country town of Dorrigo in Australia. From a bustling city so vibrant and alive and sometimes chaotic, to a small, beautiful and very calm town with almost empty streets. The culture shock has been real– the food, weather, fashion, and even the language. Coming to my husband’s home country I expected some culture shock but I got more than I expected.

This was a new season for my family and I wanted to enter its gates with thanksgiving, and so I was ready and willing to embrace Dorrigo with all of me. However, the church culture completely broke me. Back home churches were full of worshipers but here I was in a mostly secular society with somewhat empty churches. I cried. I missed the Kenyan fellowship where people praised, worshiped and prayed like everything depended on it. I longed for fellowship– fiery fellowship. I felt alone in a far away land. Sometimes the pain in my heart would be so great that it translated to physical pain and the tears would keep falling as my heart ached for God.

Walking through the beautiful streets of Dorrigo I fell in love with this place that was now my home, even though I knew it was a spiritual desert. Amazingly, even in this mess, I felt how close God was, closer than I had ever felt Him in my life. Most times I would break down in tears, overwhelmed by the undeniable presence of God. Unlike my native home where God is mentioned in most conversations, I was now in a town where God is hardly part of the equation, unless of course it is a Sunday morning. Still in this wilderness, the presence of God was thick and heavy, I could almost touch it.

Several weeks down the line, God, through the writings of a seasoned worshipper, Steve Swanson, started to teach me about worship. I am not a musician, and so I seek more to understand the heart as opposed to the art of worship. I am completely wrecked by the beauty of God’s presence and I enjoy it because I was created for worship.

“…for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

Revelation 4: 11

Sadly, I meet people who tend to think that worship is something that only a select few are called to do- the talented, the gifted, and the skilled. The truth however is far from this since worship is for everyone. I do not know what it is that you are talented or skilled in, but the one thing I am sure you were created for, is worship. 

Dorrigo is a mountainous town which is home to an extensive rainforest, with many hills that seem to reach heaven. So imagine me, walking in the lonely streets of Dorrigo, with teary eyes overwhelmed by the presence of God! This is it. This is me joining nature’s choir! I may not have been in Kenya having a fiery worship session, but neither was I alone. I did not have the pleasure of a band or a choir with me, but I could still join in the eternal chorus of heaven, to effortlessly flow in my purpose and join them in worship!

In other words, I did not have to labour to create an atmosphere of worship since worship is not something that any man can initiate. No matter how talented or anointed, there is no man on the face of the earth who can start worship because worship is something that has been going on in heaven, and all we do when we come before God is simply join in with the rest of His creation. 

This blog post is not about me; it is an effort to encourage us all to desire to flow in our purpose– worship. Worship is not about a big stage, fancy lights, or making a crowd have goose bumps. Whether you can sing or not, whether you can talk or not. You are a worshipper whether you know it or not, created to exist and function in God’s presence. It is already in your spiritual DNA; Something that we ought to do effortlessly, yet many times we struggle so hard to worship instead of just flowing with and in The Spirit.

Our worship must be one that is separated from the world, one that is not based on false doctrines and hypocrisy. It must be a worship that is pure and holy, full of faith, and based on the living Word of God. True and spiritual worship is one that is offered by hearts that have been sanctified, hearts that have paid the price of waiting upon God; hearts that can connect in the spirit to the heavenly realm, enabling them to join in the very song that the heavenly hosts sing to the Lord.

This is the divine worship that accesses the heart of God and causes the heavens to open upon God’s people for a greater outpouring of His Spirit. It brings sanctification and transformation in the lives of people.

This is the kind of worship that prepares the way of the Lord, and ushers in revival in the church, in our homes, in our cities and in our nations, when His manifest glory has been released to us. 

My heart’s cry is that you my friend will be among those worshipers that the Lord is seeking; worshipers who will arise and join in the eternal chorus of heaven, because creation is eagerly waiting for the manifestation, the revealing of the sons and daughters of God, and you are one of them".  

Winnie Thuku-Craig

He's Got You!

I recently found myself in a seemingly impossible situation, caught between a rock and a hard place. The task ahead of me was so overwhelming standing in the face of the limited resources I had at the time. My head and heart felt so heavy because I had exhausted all possible options. I was completely and utterly stuck. So I went to my favorite 'spot' and talked to God. I remember telling Him that I  so desperately needed a solution, and it would have to be a miracle because my human mind could not come up with any.

Soon after I made that prayer, an overwhelming peace came over me. Everyday God allows me to experience a fresh revelation of what it means to have peace that passes all understanding. It is the ability to stand still, and calm when all around you is like quick sand.  It can be likened to being in the eye of a storm; the point at which a hurricane rotates. It's usually extremely chaotic all around, but there’s least pressure at the center of it. This is the kind of peace God gives when you are overwhelmed by the pressures of life.

Back to my story... 

I went home and decided that I would not continue to over-process that which I had no control over. As a matter of fact, I knew that since I had committed it to God, He would show me what to do in due time. What I did not anticipate was that God would answer my prayer before the end of that day. I got one phone call that changed everything around! One! Not two...just one. That’s the God I serve. He hears and answers me, and each time He does so in ways that blow my mind.

You see, sometimes our human frailty and limitations make us think that God is a reflection of us. Which means that when we are stuck, he is stuck too. When we are overwhelmed, we think he is overwhelmed too. When we are frazzled we think heaven is in a frenzy. But that could not be further from the truth. Gods’ nature is constant, and consistent. He is who He says He is. El-shaddai, God almighty. Jehovah Rapha, God who heals. Jehovah Jireh (we all know this one)- God our provider. El-Roi, the God who saw me in my distress.  He is not a fair-weather God whose nature is based on fleeting feelings. He is God of all times and seasons- keen on keeping his promises to His children, and He hasn’t broken one yet.

So this was a profound lesson and reminder for me, not to be anxious about anything because I am a child of the Most High God. Which means that my business is already handled. Everything that concerns me is taken care of. 

Don’t you ever wonder about the little things that happen as you go through life? When you have no money to buy food and someone drops by your house with a bag of groceries? When you are downcast and a song plays on radio that speaks directly to your situation? How about sitting in Church and thinking the preacher must have inside information on your life because they seem to be speaking directly at you? Or when you feel so lonely and a little child comes to hug you? 

Photography by Emmanuel Jambo

Did you think for a moment that it happened by chance? Beloved, that was a whisper from heaven. Your Father wanted you to know that He is still watching over you, meeting your every need.

Sometimes it takes faith and waiting on God to experience his blessings, and hard as it may be to understand, the strain pulls us closer to our source of life. As you go through your day, remember that God’s got you. As you lay down to sleep, remember that He watches over you. As you go about your business please remember that the things that matter to you (even the little ones), matter to Him too.

From my heart to yours,

Kambua M.

Dear God,

It seems that every time I try to do things that are outside your will for me, I end up falling flat on my face- Hurt. Broken. Busted. Disgusted. Wasted. Tired. It would also seem, that I never learn...sometimes I do actually, but only after making the same mistakes over and over again. 

It’s so ironical how I can go through pain, and then once the breakthrough comes, I forget all the drama, like it was never there! I forget that had I made different choices, I would not have walked that regrettable path in the first place. And yet here I am...again...in need of you. Healer...Mender...Redeemer. 

Photography by Emmanuel Jambo 

God you said that I should come boldly before your throne of grace that I may obtain mercy. So here I am, asking you to smooth out my rough ages. Praying that you will breathe new life into me. In the same way that you called Lazarus up from the grave, I ask that you call out the areas in my life that are in need of your resurrection. I pray that you restore my joy, and my peace.

In the toughest of times I will praise you, knowing that you are not only interested in what you have called me to do, but also in who I am becoming. My journey matters to you because the bends on the winding road all work together to point back to you- the way, the truth, and the life.

And finally God, I realize that I am not the only one who may be downcast, discouraged and feeling defeated. So I pray that as you do your work in me may you also extend your grace to anyone reading this. Make them fruitful in their affliction. Let them sense that you are moving even when they do not feel you. Give them the courage and humility to cry out for help when they lose their way.

At this moment, even though it may seem that my hope is intricately intertwined with despair, I know that you, Yahweh, are with me...walking beside me...singing songs of deliverance over me. 

In the strangest and stillest of nights you are right here with me.

Amen.

From my heart to yours,

Kambua M.