by By John Mwazemba
I have come close to full-blown disasters several times in my life. I have been on that metaphorical cliff of disaster, on that dangerous edge, closing my eyes waiting for the thud of my own fall.
I imagine the way a soldier knows it’s over in those few seconds after a shot has been fired, no time to hear the whizz of the bullet or the smell of gun powder.
I have been in situations when I have had the adrenaline rush preceeding a major crisis, heard my own heartbeat in my ears as I prepared for a full-scale disaster.
Somehow, however, the crisis ebbed and disaster disappeared.
The verse quoted above is from Nehemiah, a man who knew what a crisis was. Nehemiah, a Jewish man with a sad story who lived in 5 BC, had been taken to exile in Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was in ruins, the walls having been burnt down and the beautiful temple ransacked and razed to the ground.
Someone reported to Nehemiah the sorry state of Jerusalem: “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
Nehemiah was a cupbearer for King Artaxerxes of Babylon. The cupbearer’s job was to taste any wine brought to the king, in case it was poisoned. Ancient Babylonian kings were powerful men and they trusted no one. One mistake and in a short shrift, there was blood on the carpet and someone’s head was lying dismembered at the snap of the king’s fingers. The king’s word was law. And they cared little about small people’s problems.
It was in this situation that Nehemiah was one day sad as he served and the king noticed it and asked, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
Nehemiah reported, “I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
The king obviously inspired fear. But he asked Nehemiah, “What is it you want?”
And Nehemiah said he wanted to be allowed to travel to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. And he was given permission. The tide turned.
It was a 24-hr turnaround. And I understand that. I know what it means to wait with bated breath for a whip to fall on me but it becomes a pat on the back.
Like Nehemiah, I can also tell “about the gracious hand of my God on me”. It cannot be anything else.
As the US General Colin Powell once wrote, “It worked for me”. It works for me. There is a hand that can keep trouble at bay. That hand that was raised over the troubled waters of the sea of Galilee when Jesus commanded the waves, “peace, be still”.
The disciples had been in the boat when a furious storm broke out. The waves raged and fumed and threatened to swamp the vessel. It looked like the disciples’ worst moment. But when that hand was raised and a command given, the waves saw the hand and heard the voice of the Master and they became became harmless and docile.
Our own storms
There are furious storms blowing right now and some people could be at their wits’ end. Apostle Paul knew what peril was and what storms life could bring. He wrote, “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” 1 Corinthians 11:25-28.
Yet… the Apostle soldiered on… because, there is a hand.
Job reveals that God told the sea, “This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt” Job 38:15.
Yes, there is a gracious hand that stops the proud waves. Invisible but no less real.
The good hand of the Lord. May that hand calm your storm. Yes, your storm is real. And that hand is also real. I know that hand.
John Mwazemba is a book publisher based in Nairobi.
