Welcome to the October 18th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
The Story Of My Week
It’s good to be home
After almost 3 weeks on the road, the warmth of home never felt so welcoming
It’s not easy staying in hotels with limited people contact after a busy day
Sometimes, seeing other faces other than the people you spent the whole day with can be the winding down routine the mind needs
This was something I didn’t get to do
I end the day in the hotel room. Not speaking the common language in the country didn’t encourage seeking new conversations
The best I did was do a bit of solo walking to “feel” a part of the place
It’s good to be home
I don’t miss the multiple COVID tests I had to do.
All in all, I did tests in 3 different countries and I can write a short thesis of the differences - the one that tickles the nose, the one that makes you cry, the one that makes you remember you came there, and so on
I got a front-row seat on how different countries are behaving in the new COVID lifestyle. Different codes - wear your face mask or else, no need to wear ‘cos we won’t bother you, is COVID still a thing for you to wear a mask?
I learnt to use polite actions to protect myself when people didn’t seem to be bothered
I am coming home to my family. I can’t afford to be the reason they fall sick
Hugs, cuddles, and happy meals
It’s good to be back home
Things I Learnt
1-Always Keep the Door Closed: One of the things I was taught about the road to sexual sin is that it sometimes starts with a minor detour
I almost had one of those detour moments
I was working on my laptop at the hotel and took one of those timeouts
It started with checking a wiki page on a particular movie. From there, I clicked a link on the page to another movie.
Many clicks later, I hit the wiki page of an actress. Going through her filmography, one movie of hers seems to call me to click - it was the one she was paid the most by any actor at that time.
Click and the plot of the film was that she had to play some scenes naked to get in character.
I searched for the movie on YouTube and the video clips of the aforementioned scenes were the top results.
It was at this point I stopped myself
How did I get here?
I have to stop curiosity from getting the best of me. I closed the YouTube page
It’s so easy to tell myself that I can click and have no issues
One of the easiest ways to overcome some temptations is to avoid them.
And save my strength for temptations that I can’t avoid
Every temptation that I chose to face when I could avoid reduces my fighting power for temptations that I don’t want to face but can’t avoid
I’m saving my fight for the fight I can’t run from
For now, I run from this one
2-Forgetting Labors Long Done: My home country is witnessing protests in different cities. The big point is the near-universal complaints about the activities of a special unit of the police.
There are horror stories from everyday people of how they harass, extort, and in tragic situations kill innocent people for no just cause
The protests are led by young people crying for justice.
In truth, the protests are led by social media with young people participating.
I was reading somewhere that the young people are having a jab at the older generation that they are doing a better job with their protests.
The strength of the protests is that it has no main leaders. In the past, the government could easily round up the main actors and protests would fizzle out.
That was when the only way to be heard was to get on TV, radio, or newspapers.
Social media has simplified the process. People are protesting in their corners, getting attention and coordination through social media.
I am one that sees the success of the current protest as building on the lessons of the protests of previous generations
The labors of the older generation built the success of the current protests.
The organic nature of these current protests has sustained their momentum. People from everywhere are contributing towards feeding, medical bills, and legal representation of protesters - all made easier through modern technology
Honestly, I wouldn’t be concerned if the “we are better than your generation” cries were coming from only non-Christians
I see Christians getting into the same argument.
Unfortunately, this greatly impacts our ability to bring spiritual power to bear in the transformation that we seek in our society.
Because God is timeless and lives in eternity, He sees all generations in one breathe. This is one of the reasons Jesus said "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." Luke 20:38.
No matter the errors of generations before, we must identify with them. We identify with their labors and their sins. We don't say "they sinned" rather "we sinned".
Have a read of the prayers made by Nehemiah and Daniel for their nations when they were trying to bring change.
Listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! - Nehemiah 1:6
I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. Daniel 9:4-6
The current generation must stand as the people that bow in repentance for the generations before. Else they would be making prayers like the Pharisee in Jesus' parable (Luke 18:9-14) - “I tell you that this man (tax collector), rather than the other (Pharisee), went home justified before God." v14a
It's how we bring God's transformation power into action and live as agents of change for our nations
We cannot be like the world
We represent God on the earth
Postscript
I pray that you will live your lives with discernment to bring God's transformation power to the people you engage with and the problems you face (Amen)
Tata,
Tola
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