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Praising Him in All Seasons

 

When we fall on hard times, often times, we ask, ‘Why me?’ When death calls or illness visits, sometimes we are moved to curse God. When we lose our prestigious jobs, worries crease our brows, as our lives are upended. But when we believe in His bounty, when we believe that we are just upon another season, that the sun rises tomorrow, then, we praise him:

Nitakusifu, nitakuinua
Nitakuchezea, nitakuimbia
Nitakutangaza, nitakutabiri
Ewe Jemedari, mmiliki wa yote.

(I will praise and exalt You
I will sing and dance in Your honour
I will proclaim and profess You
Oh Great General, Sovereign over all.)

2020. Covid-19. The year the world stood still.  I had quit my job in mid-2018, intending to do business. And business I did, a start-up of sorts. Well, as statistics go, that a majority of business fails in their formative years, mine was no exception. Meaning I resorted to odd jobs here and there to survive. Well, come February 2020, I managed to finagle into a management job… A month later… Boom! The president initiated the country’s lockdown.

Fast forward to 2023… So many people have I lost… peers, colleagues, relatives, neighbours, acquaintances… The greatest lesson in all this? I have learnt to count my blessings: good health, the gift of life, God’s mysterious providence, time… I have also learnt to let go… of people, some dreams, love that was never meant to be… I have also learned to trust more in Him… to let Him direct my life, what I do, say, think… Finally, the tunnel has been obliterated and all around me is light.

Elohi tembea, tembea nami
Usiku wa kiza, tembea nami
Jua kucha-kutwa, tembea nami
Nikiwa nayo pumzi, tembea nami.

(Elohim walk with me
In the dark of night, walk with me
As the sun shines and sets, walk with me
As long as I have breath in me, walk with me).

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