God's got jokes!

Has God ever said something to you that made you go “say what now?” or “you’ve got jokes!”

(Gen 6) God tells Noah to build an ark because He was planning to destroy the earth with rain. Up until this point, the bible doesn’t mention rain so Noah has no idea what God was talking about. He had never heard of or seen rain. He must have looked like a fool, building something that had never been seen before, because something called ‘rain’ was coming. I can imagine how people mocked him, they probably said he was on weed or sumthn’, well until it rained.

(Gen 12:1) Abram was asked to leave his folks and his home country and go to where God would show him (God didn’t say where He was taking him, He just said go and I’ll show you). I wonder how Abram decided on which route to take. I imagine Abram informing his folks, “I’m leaving”, and they’re like “where are you going”, and he’s like “I don’t know.”

(Gen 12:2) God then tell 75yr old Abram, that He would make him into a great nation. God didn’t say when. (Gen 15) Abram asks for kids, God tells him to count the stars, and tells him that his descendants will be that many. (Gen 17) twenty four years later, Abram is still faithfully waiting and makes another enquiry about the descendants that God promised. God tells him that he’d have a son the following year. 99yr old Abraham laughs (Gen 17:17) and probably goes “you’ve got jokes!”

(Luke 1:26-38) An angel appears to Mary and tells her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she’ll conceive a child that she’s to call Jesus. Imagine her trying to explain to her mother and to Joseph her fiancé. An angel had to appear to Joseph for Joseph to believe (Matthew 1:20).   

(John 2:1-12) Jesus and his disciples were at wedding ceremony. They ran out of wine, Jesus told the servants to fill up the water pots with water and serve. The servants must have gone like “huh?”

There are many examples throughout the bible where God has given instructions that make no sense at all. Even in the present day, God is still speaking and giving instructions that only make sense to him. These instructions require faith and obedience for the God-desired results to come about. Some like Abraham’s require a lot of patience.

I’ve had my share of strange instructions from God. Here’s one that was one of the hardest for me to obey….. I am one person who likes to plan ahead, I like knowing what will happen and how way before.

Like I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I used to work in Dubai for two, sister five star hotels, concurrently. Compared to other hotels then, our hotel was paying out good salaries. I started working there in 2007. Around Christmas 2009, God spoke to me and said that 2010 would be my last year in Dubai. What He conveniently didn’t tell me was, when I’d leave and where I’d be going to. 2010 began: Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June….. God said nothing!  In July, I made vacation plans for August and left for Germany on 1^st August. I thought to myself, “Maybe this is where God’s bringing me”. But every open door I saw (in terms of work opportunity) shut in my face. During one of the bible studies I attended there, someone prophesied over my life saying that I’d leave Dubai and I was to trust God with the directive He’d give me, as it would be a tough one. Vacation ended, I headed back to work on the 1^st of September. September, October… God said nothing. On 11^th November 2010, I got home at around 3am from work. I decided to listen to an online sermon, pray and sleep. The sermon made emphasis on my moving and I kept having visions of me packing up my suitcase. I then heard God saying to pack up and go back to Kenya and He’d show me something that I would do for two years. I was like “God you’ve got jokes! You want me to go back to Kenya and do what?” and He was like “I’ll show you when you get there” Now being the kinda person who likes to plan ahead, this didn’t quite sit well with me. I battled with it in prayer for hours and hours, I even tried to reason with God on other places where I thought would be better or on the time I thought it would be convenient for me to resign.

I’d just come back from a vacation meaning I didn’t have enough money saved up. But God kept his instruction clear “resign and go back to Kenya and I’ll show you what you’ll do.” After a lot of crying and praying, I decided to obey. I typed up my resignation letter, and decided that I’d print and submit it during my next shift on 12^th Nov. I then informed my roommate (big mistake), who then called my mum to talk some sense into me. My mum called and gave me a piece of her mind and hung up, my dad then called and blasted me. I went back to God and was like “see what you did!” He repeated his instruction on resigning. Beginning of the shift, I handed in my one month notice. It came as a shock to my whole department, especially my immediate boss (who was informed via email by the supervisor as he was on vacation). He called and tried to talk me out of it by as much as I was tempted to take it back, I stood my ground. The letter was then forwarded up the ladder. Each of the managers that it passed through called me into their office to ask why, and to advise me to rethink. The director of F&B even offered to move me to another department but I painfully declined. I then felt an indescribable peace come over me that even though the road ahead was blurry, and even though my parents weren’t going to support me, God would be with me. I tried applying for jobs in Kenya in advance but nothing came through.

I landed in Kenya on 20^th of December 2010. I kept praying that God would reveal His plan and would direct me to a church where I’d grow spiritually. On 8^th January 2011 as I was looking for directions to a certain church on the net, the Joshua generation Trust website kept popping up, so I decided to check it out. Under the ministry is a church ‘The Eagles’ nest church’. I decided to attend their service the following day and look for the other one some other time. During the announcement period, they placed an announcement on their school of ministry that runs for two years ‘The Kingdom Academy’, and I heard God say “that’s it”. I then applied, passed the interview and began. My parents declined on paying the fees as they couldn’t understand how I’d quit work in a foreign country to join Bible school. God then made it clear that for the two years I wouldn’t be working but concentrating on school. I seriously thought I heard wrong so I still applied for jobs and went for interviews but nothing came through. The best part of it is that I never asked anyone for financial help, God provided for my fees, transport and for whatever else I needed. I went through school of ministry and finished, obeying God every step of the way. And even though my parents thought I was nuts, they now understand why I had to do what I did. Friends and extended family members still think I was nuts to have come back, but because of that obedience, I have found favour with God and with man. (These very same people come to me for counsel, and I’m grateful to God that He uses me to reach out to them).

This is only one of the incidents where God has turned my plans, and hence my life, upside down. I’m currently going through one of those crazy instructions period. But it’s all been worth it. I don’t regret obeying him no matter how stupid it makes me look. I’d rather be a fool for God than be a fool!

 I’ll quote one of the lines from the movie “Not Easily Broken’… “Sometimes we’ve got to be turned upside down, so that we can learn how to live right side up”. Sometimes God has to mess with our plans so that His perfect plans for us work out in our life for our good.

So, what has God asked you to do today? Are you going to listen to the voices of men, the voice of reason, the voice of the devil or are you going to obey? It is in stepping out in obedience by faith that pleases God and brings us joy. He has a good plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11), He doesn’t always answer our prayers as we expect but following his seemingly foolish directives is our key to accessing His purpose for us.

Dr. Mark Chironna says “It takes a leap of faith to step out of the boat when all in the boat believe you’re a fool. Faith never walks on water; it boldly steps out of the boat and risks sinking and stands on a promise that grows with every successive step”

Step out in obedience by faith and you will not regret it. God backs His directives and provides his grace to keep you where He takes you. Step out!