Looking back over my own life, I can now clearly see the fingerprints of the Lord all over it; even those darkest, hardest times of tears and despair, as well as the wonderful blessings.
Some people might say that because of my privileged upbringing and societal background as a white, middle class male from England, that I’ve (by default) always lived a blessed life compared to so many others in the world, when compared to those who don’t even have refrigeration or clean, running water as a normality. Yet in spite of this seeming privilege, I think it’s becoming more and more obvious to those who study these things that in the West we deal with very different, far more sinister issues than just mere ‘material lack’, issues that deeply affect the psyche and emotional temperament on a soul level, rather than the inconveniences of not having all these simple physical needs right at hand (that we all seem to take for granted in the West).
It has to be said that I have met some of the happiest, most joyous people on my travels to ‘third world’ countries, like Kenya. These people who I met there (and other places) certainly don’t have the latest smart phone or even far more trivial, everyday material items like a washing machine or a hot shower, for they were not the greedy Kenyan politicians or wealthy Kenyan big businessmen who are accustomed to the ways of the West; these were the simple country folk, some of whom may have moved to the city in search of a better life (usually seeking to also gain the stuff we have in the West, for all of their conveniences), but whom still nevertheless lack most of the things that cause Westerners to live the way we like to do. Laptops and iPads may be nowhere to be seen, but among the Kenyan Christians at least, there is usually an obvious spiritual radiance of joy and genuine happiness and contentment with life that is virtually unheard of in London or New York. It has been so clear to me that what people in their situation may lack physically, they instead have a great abundance of the soul, spiritually speaking! And I know which one I would rather have, given the choice. However, in spite of the temptation to think so, they are NOT mutually exclusive from each other; but when one analyses the facts, the trend is that the more ‘stuff’ one has, the greater the responsibilities, social pressure, lack of time in a day to use them and the worry for the security over them, the less happiness or contentment one has. The need for ‘more’ comes with a tormenting thirst, which is confirmed by the rising depression and suicide rates in all the ‘civilised’ societies across the world.
I have seen children in that part of the world who are quite content playing with a simple hoop and stick for hours among the trash and open sewers, or with a broken football on some scrub land with their mates; and there are those little ones who are enamoured and endlessly entertained by blowing bubbles or playing with a balloon until it bursts. There is so often a great community vibe amongst them all, and although it must be said that kids will be kids wherever you go in the world (including behaviours like exclusions, bullying and so on, for we are all born sinners), generally my experiences of places like in Africa has been that the local people, young and old, and their children, still very much work and play together, and that there is way less fear of loss or crime for more (outside of the cities), because there is less ‘stuff’ to worry about and get in the way. They have not lost the old human community tendency for sharing with others, and there is a respect for age rather than a disdain. Because life there is quite a struggle, people work hard all day simply just to survive, rather than having the time to waste on the internet all day and pigging out on immediate fast food like McDonalds, and this causes their bodies to become hardy against the elements and their souls to be more generous and compassionate to others who are in the same predicament as them – all of which is essentially healthy, even though they might not actually live nearly as long. Abundance so often produces apathy and stinginess, which I think we can clearly see in our Western culture, if we’re honest; and that is very unhealthy for the soul. For example, someone living in a small African mud hut the size of my bedroom, along with his wife and 5 children, has way less to worry about than some very rich person with a fleet of cars and the responsibilities of a large company (or even a nation) under them. At least, they might have different, more wholesome worries. Don’t get me wrong, we arguably need people to take on such work as leaders of nations and big businessmen (or is that my Westernised conditioning speaking?), but the way the system works (which at the end of the day always boils down to being satanic in some way) means that stress, anxiety and even loneliness and ‘workaholism’ are commonplace with such work, which are the miserable wages of having such large assets and social status. Maybe this is one of the reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ told us how it is virtually impossible for a rich man to go to heaven! Yet, we all seem to aspire to have ‘more’, for convenience, for ease, for higher social acceptance.
Maybe it can be said that our African friend has so much to do just to survive and provide for his family, that he is constantly outdoors (not much to do inside a small mud hut with no electricity!), working hard with his hands as he is working the seasons, planting and harvesting, ‘feeling’ the soil and being ‘connected’ to the earth; difficult, but romantically wholesome. Whereas, a Westerner may rarely even go outside the large house he has for weeks, because pizza can be delivered to his door, as he works (and plays) all day on his laptop, and can afford electricity to help him stay awake until the small hours of the morning perusing Facebook as his pastime, easing any boredom he might have. In one sense, the Westerner may SEEM to have a better quality of life; it’s certainly easier on the body, and seems more comfortable. But our ‘have-not’ African friend SPIRITUALLY speaking is in a much better position, for being connected with the earth and working by the sweat of his brow is in fact God-ordained from the start of Genesis, and the likelihood is that he is far more connected to Him by simply being on that level. Maybe this is why atheism is epidemic in the West to the point of overwhelmingly depressing existential crisis, and yet Africans for the most part remain very spiritual (even if it is the wrong kind of spiritual). And the arrogance of the West is to view others with such spirituality and lifestyle as ‘primitive’ and superstitious; how lamentable is their cause…
God is totally sovereign. Do you really believe that? If you do, that means we must take the bad and the ugly alongside the good He gives, and have a sort of holy fear behind us before we even question why it is like this. In the KJV, Isaiah 45:7 tells us that God ‘creates evil’, as well as giving us blessings or peace. This can be a source of a lot of confusion for many people, mainly because of the false idol they have created in their minds about God’s character, desiring Him to be perhaps something He isn’t, or overemphasising part of His character over others, simply because it’s more palatable; but the truth is the truth, whether one likes it or not.
It’s pretty certain that we may never fully fathom His eternal wisdom, but we can nevertheless be sure of a few things this side of the grave, thanks to the revelations we can glean through scripture; firstly, that He loves to test the human heart, most of the time with hardships and suffering. Both of these painful and difficult things try the soul like the purification of gold, for the dross and impurities rise to the surface in the intense molten heat, to then be skimmed off and discarded as waste, leaving behind it the highest quality of precious metal. It is written that He ‘chastises’ those He loves, for this very reason; He’ll heavily prune the branches back in the winter in order for them to produce even more fruit during the summer. Secondly, He actually literally created things many human beings would consider evil, not only to test people’s hearts like I mentioned in the first point, but many a time as a response to people’s collective tendencies for continually doing evil themselves, as a form of earthly judgement. An example: as a result of Adam’s initial sin, we are plagued with thorns and briars, and hard dusty ground to till by the sweat of our brows. The ‘god of this world’ is now also that rebellious cherub, all because of that one great sin that brought death to the earth; but never forget that God created Lucifer whilst being fully aware that He would ‘lose’ most of mankind to his devices, even having to eternally send them to the same terrible place of judgement as satan, as a response to their rejection of His Son’s sacrifice. Many people find the eternal lake of fire an abhorrent thought, that a loving God would never instigate; yet as a scriptural and literal reality, it still stands. Thirdly, and I think finally, He created animals and plants that are toxic, venomous and just generally dangerous to human beings; perhaps it is simply just a part of the fall of man, and the resulting curse upon the earth and its inhabitants as a judgement against sinners; perhaps He displays His powerfully ‘untamed wildness’ in order to cause that healthy needed fear of Him in us; perhaps He simply wanted to show us through these things how fragile and weak we are. Maybe it’s all of the above, but whatever the reason, even looking honestly at our dangerous world shows us that He, the Creator of these things, is not to be messed with. For God didn’t even spare His one and only Son, but gave Him up for us all. Think long and hard about that truth for a while, for it will sober you up!
Maybe I saw a select part of African living; surely I did. What I saw there in Kenya was as a Christian myself, and therefore with some spiritual discernment seeing other Christians from a different part of the world overcome their life issues in humility and grace, and most of all with joy. No doubt it was by the spiritual strength and peace of knowing Christ personally that there was such a radiance of joy and contentment in them, even when there was still such a severe lack and hardship in everyday life. I can testify that knowing the Lord’s Spirit helps one overcome even the most adverse of conditions, for even though I might not have personally experienced such events, testimonies from other strong believers around the world about enduring prisons, beatings, stonings, lashes of the whip etc that I have read and heard for myself, have edified my own mindset and helped me to think with the kind of strength that they had to learn the hard way in Christ, during their own trials. Surely I will face MY own trials in the future (you can bet on it), but I have thankfully been prepared by those who have gone before me. It is wisdom to do so, for the Spirit flows in this way. It is written that God is no respecter of persons; He will dish out what is best for the soul at any given time, and many a time, they are lessons and not blessings (even though the lessons turn out to be blessings in the end).
Yes, there is a human sin factor in the midst of all this, that isn’t in the divine plan of God; but He nevertheless makes allowances for them, and uses any evil against us for His grander design. This should cause us to both fear and trust Him at the same time, for ultimately, none of us should ever forget that HE is in control of it all, no matter how bad it gets; and believe me, it can get ugly.
Let’s do the right thing, and be prepared for the worst, for the tribulation of Jacob looms in the near future, and we might very well be here for it; it will only be in the secret place where we will be able to overcome, so let’s learn to know Him deeply there, as we ‘man up’ to face such times.