No matter how many times I tried, I was
continually inconsistent at putting in intravenous lines –
difficult when it has become a part of day-to-day duty. Moreover,
each time failed is another time causing someone discomfort while you
try...yet again. Few times successful sometimes almost getting in,
but “almost” deems never enough, as a misplaced cannula is used
just as much as one that was never inserted.
Frustrated, I concluded this was not my
skill or strength, and God needed to help me pass these lines. It is
not the first time I knew I was not going to be succeeding on my own.
God has shown me before, that the things I am deemed unqualified for,
if woven to His purpose, He will be my qualification. It had been a
praise for 2014 – the opportunity to study and graduate from
Liverpool Tropical Nursing, when I was entering an already-filled
classroom with people of far superior experience; and if He wanted me
to succeed here, it would be His own working. A simple request for a
small task. Therefore, I prayed. Then no longer frustrated but
expectant, I passed the next six intravenous lines of the morning,
from young boys, to bigger mothers, to chubby toddlers. I dare say, I
almost did not believe it due to my inconsistent record, but it shows
that God is consistent and
does not hesitate to be the qualification of the my “almost”
areas and the strength in the middle of my weaknesses.
Following
work, Mardi, Kevin and I caught a bodaboda down to the main road, where
we flagged a taxi and headed for Kampala's Rugby grounds. Watoto
holds a yearly Christian
music festival there -
some African and some African
American artists.
 |
| Riding the Matato - Mardi, Kevin and I |
 |
| "Da' Truth" |
It was
a classic evening. Chipates, pork sticks and coca-cola being sold on
the side-lines. Thousands of people excited, clamping and dancing,
leaving not many square inches on the grass. A mass gathering under
the East African sky to a stage, lights, sounds, music and hopefully
with hearts for Christ. A classic evening, while half-way through the
performance the power cut. Darkness. Silence. Then people yelling for
more of Jesus, while the media crew determined the generator
situation. A classic evening, where a man walked strangely close to Kelly,
and she swung around and caught his arm, just as a bright spotlight
suddenly shown directly on the stunned stranger, who dropped her phone to the ground.
In all this, one man stood out
centre stage. Not by what he
wore, how he looked or the attention he received, yet by words he
spoke:
“one
of the most dangerous terms in English diction...
two
words designed and strategically combined
to
form the biggest oxymoron in the history of mankind
ALL-MOST...
see,
'almost' is no stranger to Satan. Here's proof:
he
only tells lies when they're almost the truth
and
it's amazing in our incompleteness we find complacence
but
if almost is one of Lucifer's many traits
then
we are inadvertently good Satan impersonations
But
on the contrary, Christ did his job fully
and
he proved he was God when he died on the cross like it was his duty
and
to pardon my iniquities that I committed rudely
he
resurrected from the grave just to tell death to excuse me
...
See,
an almost Christian looks right but lives wrong
Can't
stand the conviction in Romans so they sit down to be comforted in
Psalms
Never
understood worship but loved to sing songs like I surrender all. .
.MOST
...
So
now all God sees is a pile of ISHmael's when he intended for Isaac's
...even
by earthly standards it would be highly insane
to
start spending all of your money days before you almost get paid
like
parents, you wouldn't send your kids to a school that's almost safe
and
ladies, would you really date a man who claims he's almost straight?
and
this is the very thing about God that we all try to get around
but
his standards are like between two mountains--no middle ground
so
a halfway life is unprofitable to you
cuz
after all the Sunday service, Bible studies, and prayer meetings
and
everything that goes between, God will say I never knew you
But
that's not even the worst part of living your life as neutral
it's
that you were once arctic but it is your lukewarmness that is causing
him to spew you
and
this is the very thing that had me
I
was bound and held down by the unforgiving gravity of my spiritual
reality
I
was a Christian, or at least I portrayed the fantasy
With
a filthy personal life but a "God bless you brother, how you
doin' sister?" personality
I
was a male enveloped by guilt because I was stamped a sinner
My
message couldn't be received because I didn't represent the sender
yet I was almost delivered
Till
that one day when I totally, absolutely and completely surrendered
...
You
can ask Umar Abdul Mutallab, he'll tell you the same--
you
don't almost go to jail when you almost blow up a plane
like
you don't almost go to hell when you almost get saved
despised
the cross that he was slain and thus the cause for which he came
but
don't worry i'm almost done, but before i leave this stage
we
have all worked in sin and death was minimum wage
but
if it wasn't for Christ we would have almost got paid”
-Almost:
By Ezekiel Azonwu
Truth
is, I was never qualified to be the person I am now. Not even almost.
I was born unqualified through sin's curse, but God knew this long
ago and ordained to change that through His Perfect Son. And if He
cares about my very soul, does He not follow through in detail,
filling any empty jars of surrender I offer, to qualify what I alone lack. As
Paul would say, “By the grace of God, I am what I am.” An
unqualified man in sinful deed and in character, yet Paul knew best that God's Strength is made perfect in weakness. We sing about
God turning ashes into beauty. Yet when even the ashes are gone, God
views our lack as quality – a void that God fills and enables,
being the perfect qualification through us. “Now unto Him
who is able...”
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