Terrorism

I have been burdened by all the talk and concern about terrorism, especially in our country and Nigeria, especially because this is the first time we have had it so ‘consistently’.

But I have also been praying for revelation, especially to get God’s take on the whole topic.

I can say that it has cost me a few days of sleep, not because of fear but in prayer and reflection on the same. I am not scared of the terrorist and that not because I will not die when a bomb explodes in my face, though that is also possible. The reason I am not scared is because the God I serve is in charge of everything and everyone without any exceptions. And God can protect me from all evil.

I have been hit also, though not by terrorists. A mugger once hit me and knocked me dead until the nurses were wondering why I did not die as even my skull had even dented. Do you know the verse God gave me at that time? Psalm 34:7. I have mentioned that in a book and blog.

Another time gun-toting thugs accosted me. The interesting thing is that the thing of worth they took from me were the books I have written, leaving the money I had and even cell phones. Then God told me that those guys were the ones in greater need and that I should start praying for them, a thing I occasionally remember to do.

But I have also seen God’s hand of protection. Like in the case of the armed thugs I remember them taking off as if they were running away from death itself as I was taking the cell phone from the pocket to give them. Another thing was the peace I experienced as I was being harassed was beyond normal. Only God knows why they fled in the kind of hurry I saw as there was nobody else around, unless an angel showed up. I once worked in a place where the journey was riddled with heavily armed robbers called shifta. They robbed trucks almost every day, yet that was the only available mode of transportation. Yet for the over four years I was there I never once encountered them. They would attack trucks in front of the one I was in and leave before we came around. The first time I went that route I remember pleading with one truck to take me, even offering to pay three times the normal ‘fare’ because I was going to report to my new station but they arrogantly and rudely refused. I was to later find them really stranded as all of them had been robbed of everything, including shoes. And to imagine I was carrying everything, including emptying my bank account as I was transferring! During the same time the road at times was so bad that people could stay for over a week on the road when the trucks got stuck. Yet the longest I stayed on the road was overnight.

I once was in an accident where anyone seeing the vehicle wondered whether anyone had lived, yet none of us was hurt. But I remember God prompting me to pray again and again for a miracle as I prayed for the journey. Even as it was happening I remember seeing it all in slow motion and feeling funny that others were screaming at seeing death approaching so fast.

I am not therefore speaking in a vacuum.

We must understand what terrorism stands for to be able to know what God expects of us as His people.

Terrorism is a great tool in the hands of the devil because he is able with it to really shake the faith of saints who are not properly focused on God. But even those with focus are a little rattled. Terrorism makes people nervous where they should feel secure in God’s hands.

Among the things it is able to accomplish is create suspicion. I am saddened to see a whole church membership being treated as terror suspects as they go through rigorous security checks before they can be allowed to worship though for decades the same people have built the same church to the point that it is too big for their sincerity to be trusted. I know that many argue that it is to make a statement to the terrorists that we are waiting for them. But tell me who is making a stronger statement between them and you? Whose agenda is running the show? How does a minute minority determine the way a church is run? Can such a church preach the Gospel to these people they are so scared of that they change their operations?

I am picking on the church because it is the one institution where death is profitable, especially a death occasioned by pursuing God’s call and doing His will. Whatever happened to Psalm 116:15, John 12:24, Acts 21:13 and Philippians 1:21? Imagine pastors asking for guns to protect themselves? Can they then be called shepherds or is a gun similar to a rod or staff?

We can therefore conclude that the church either has lost her connection to the Lord or maybe worse, that they probably did not have the connection in the first place (2 Timothy 3:15). Or maybe they became too familiar with God to the point that He lost His power in their eyes and so they must assist Him run ‘their’ world and church.

But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. (Numbers 33:55)

The Israelites refused to clear those pricks when they refused to deal with the nations as God had ordered them. We encounter them because we have refused to clear them by sharing the Gospel with them, an order we are proud to call our commission, even elevating it to the level of ‘The Great Commission’ so that we show how serious we take it but we refuse to take heed as if it was just a suggestion or humble request from our contemporary. No wonder those pricks are so troubling.

Terrorism is like those pricks. It might actually be those pricks. It is in their unpredictable and uncomfortable consistency that they get their efficacy. They are not dangerous enough to accomplish much. The fact that you do not know where they will prick next is enough to give you ulcers, especially as you can’t get rid of them. For those of you who have lived in grass thatched houses on a rainy season you have probably experienced a raid of red ants. Even after you are able to get rid of them, you will not easily go to sleep as once in a while you will get a bite from one that you did not see. Then another after say ten minutes. You might eventually decide to stay awake and chat because of those very small bites, bites that are not even painful or have any effect on the skin. Mosquitoes do not trouble me for their bite but for the little noise they make around my ears before they bite.

That is the efficacy of terrorism. A daily attack in a million square mile nation is actually nothing compared to the rest of the nation that is untouched. But then you do not know where they will prick next. Ten deaths in a city of five million are actually too small to register in any view of the city, but then again you do not know where or when next they will attack.

But terrorism takes advantage of the media to balloon two deaths in the eyes of its residents to appear like the whole nation is burning. Media is terrorism’s greatest ally, and I doubt whether they are paid to be so though it also won’t surprise me if some are.

It is important to look at this scourge logically to be able to deal with it. This is because we might be fuelling a fire in our attempt to quench it. We might like the media be playing according to the rules they have set instead of setting our own rules to counter them.

What are we praying when we are praying against terrorism and terrorists? Who do we hold accountable for terror attacks? Who really is the greatest enemy when we think about matters terror?

I ask that because as I hear people praying, as I listen to prayer requests being given, as I read the headlines, I realize that most people are looking in the wrong direction. They are fighting against the wrong enemy. They are looking for the wrong criminals.

The guy who carries the explosive or fires the gun might be the least guilty in the whole terror network. In fact he might be as innocent as you or I who are in business as he does what he does to make a living. Lynching him may be similar to being lynched for running a funeral home or even hospital. You see both of you are benefitting from the misery of others. The only difference is that they come on opposite sides of the misery. He kills and injures and you get some business.

The actual hands of terrorism are hirelings, whether they are called radicalized Muslims or not. They do not derive pleasure from killing their fellow humans. They are simply funded and taught to push someone’s agenda. Like the crooks who robbed me at gunpoint they are more in need of our mercy than condemnation. They many times will be desperate cases who have been offered hope, only that their hope involves destruction to others. And suicide bombers fall under that same category.

The real terrorists are those who fund it. They have an agenda that requires insecurity to function. They are like the drug barons and breweries. Converting a person into a zombie is what will make them stinking rich. Many times I think they may be the same people as one normally feeds the other. A normal businessman would not derive much excitement in insecurity or be interested in pouring the kind of money terror barons spend to cause panic in nations. Business will rarely make such astronomical profits as would be available for terrorism. Unless they are forced to contribute; something like terror within terror. But even then there would have to be brains who will do the compelling.

The person we ought to direct our focus and prayers on is the one who avails the resources to make terrorism possible. Of course there would be none if nobody takes that role. And you will find it even in the small armed groups and vigilantes. They will not achieve much for long unless there is one Mr. Moneybags to fund and manage their operations, even if they are robbers.

Why fund terrorism or insecurity? There are many reasons. The primary one is the devil. He will raise people who are sold out to his demented agenda to levels that are almost unimaginable so that they have more money than they care to know. But they will be people he has been slowly selling to his agenda to ensure that conversion or change for them is impossible. Then he knows that he will pull the strings for as long as this slave is living. Then he will so pervert this person’s heart in such a way that like during Noah’s time his heart will be only evil continually to an extent that thinking something good will be contrary to his nature. And that is at the heart level. He might be the epitome of virtue in the society. I remember recently reading about these wanted terrorists who sponsored football teams as a cover for their real business.

This person will delight in evil and the gorier the better. He will be so full of evil that good becomes evil in his experience. I had one such boss. Any good news even of colleagues so far from where he worked made him literally sick. On the contrary any news of someone being sacked or interdicted would so lift his spirits that he could take whoever was around for lunch. I suspect people like Herod and Hitler among many other leaders had such levels of demon control.

Unfortunately it is not restricted to the world. I have seen enough samples in church leadership, leaders who derive joy from the suffering of others. These are not even wolves in sheep’s skins; they are wolves who are always walking in the shadows so that they are rarely recognized. And many times the mega church has enough shadows to shelter them. But lack of genuine fellowship is the real culprit. You will know who they are once they have taken over the leadership.

These are evil for evil’s sake and will therefore fund terrorism simply to see and hear the screams of the agony they have caused.

The other group is the business type. These fund terrorism because it will create a demand for what they offer. By the way that is legal in capitalistic terms since profit is the end of the game. Just like an epidemic will make a health provider’s profits to shoot through the roof, the insecurity that terror brings does the same to people in that field. The brightest of them might therefore hasten those profits by funding a little of it. Among them are those who deal with weapons. Terrorism provides a market for their merchandise. And they can barter them for something more valuable like minerals and slaves. Of course we are leaving out those who sponsor insecurity to scare their competitors away.

The other group is the ideological one. These fund terrorism to make a statement. To them death is a small price to pay to make an ideological or religious statement. Many times this might the most destructive as anybody on the other side of their ideology or religion is an enemy worthy of the most painful of deaths. Worse is the fact that even one on their side who tries to ‘understand’ the other side is treated as a worse enemy. That is why you will see more deaths where they are than elsewhere as the traitors need to be dealt with. And they have the easiest time getting volunteers for their ‘ministry’ of causing terror.

Then there are politicians who will fund terror to create a vacuum so that they can either win an election or overthrow a government so that they can take power in the ensuing vacuum. But the politicians are so fluid that they will move from one group to another before you realize it. And in this group are international political (more accurately greedy) interests who will fund terrorism to be able to advance their narrow interests when their subtle means are unsuccessful. And that is the reason DRC has never had peace, simply because it might be the richest nation on earth where natural resources are concerned and trading with that wealth fairly is costly. Why then not fund insecurity so that they will simply pick that wealth? Colonialism was one such but I continue to see more and more international interference in nations especially when they see a global competitor getting more connections that the meddling nations had taken fore granted. And that is why rebels are always well armed, however bankrupt their agenda or inhuman their methods are. Then the international political terrorists can push for their own strategic negotiations where they will place themselves as the rescuers of the situation they had created. They will then be hailed as heroes because they rescued those people from the terror they had created for that single purpose. They will then entrench their interests in the new government because they are the ones who have created it. I suspect this is what is happening in most countries of Africa today. And they will always find an abundance of local accomplices to further their agenda.

I need to repeat that the real villains of terrorism are these funders. There would be no terrorism or insecurity if there is nobody who is willing or benefitting from it. That is where we should be directing our prayers and intervention as the hands of terrorism will not be able to do much, however convicted they are about their cause unless there is a boss and funder somewhere.

The next pivotal group is the strategists. These are the ones who draw up the strategy for the most effective impact of their terror. They are the ones who draw up the plans, map out the areas of maximum impact and identify the best brains to design and build whatever weapons they will need for their terror. They are the key link between the funders and the implementers. They are the ones who shield the funders from publicity as the knowledge of that group will effectively kill terrorism. Osama bin Laden was in that group though he may easily have been just a face for the network who was created to make terror visible to the world. They are the most protected and prized group in the terror network.

The next is the scientists. These are the ones who design and build the weapons. They will look for ones to buy where possible as building has its own risks.

The rest are those who do the real dirty work, the ones our prayers are always directed against. But we need to realize that these are simply people who are like you looking for food to fend for their own. They do not have many options at times. And many times they do not have much moral strength as we may have or the options they are given are dire should they refuse those offers. And we see the same with drugs.

Many of them have no issues with those people they are sent to kill and maim. They may be friends for all they care. But the incentives to kill are too attractive to reject. Or the cost of refusing the order is too high. And this is where religious fanaticism comes in. This is where oathing comes into play. The masterminds are simply connecting these initiates to the demonic order the leaders are operating under. They must bring these initiates as close to the devil’s control as possible, yet without linking them to the devil enough to access the resources or the big picture. Their connection to the evil one must of necessity comprise more of ignorance and guess work than knowledge. They are supposed to know as little as possible concerning the cause they are fighting for or the enemy they are against for obvious reasons. The main one being they might realize that they are not as evil leaning as the cause requires and therefore cop out. They must also not realize that they are in the employ of the devil as I doubt any of them will want to get into that kind of trap. That blindness also helps the cause because fighting without knowing the reasons and objects of why you must fight sets different goals, among them being inflicting as much senseless injury as possible.

But let me explain why I say our prayer and investigation concerning terrorism must change. As a minister I normally use the Bible for my examples. And that is where I want us to go.

The Jews killed Jesus. They are the ones who shouted to Plate to crucify Him. Yet do we realize that most, probably all of them really loved Jesus? They did not have issues with Him. The only people who had issues with Him were the spiritual leaders, especially the Sadducees who were in charge of the temple and Sanhedrin. The reason was that He was baring their greed and empty religious rhetoric for all to see. But even worse for them was that people were listening and taking it to heart. In effect this meant that going by the trends they could see the temple would be a thing of the past in a few years, which would mean the end of their spiritual authority and hence opportunities. They would then be without a job if Christ was left unchecked. And that is why they paid Judas to do what was contrary to the scriptures they pretended to teach. That is why we see them even agreeing with Herod to fight the emerging church. The normal Jews were therefore pawns in the game of life.

One other clear incident is this.

Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought, …(Acts 19:25 – 27)

We see them starting a commotion of gigantic scales. The whole city then is in uproar, yet

Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. (Acts 19:32)

A few people’s business is threatened by the Gospel and they realize that they will be unable to counter it logically as it made more sense than their business, probably even to them. They therefore start a riot so that in the chaos resulting they will be able to hit a deadly blow at their competitor and threat.

I do not see any incident where a prophet was killed by the people. It is the kings who either did or organized it. Stephen was stoned by the people yet it was the spiritual leaders who pulled the strings. We see the same when Jezebel deals with Naboth to get his vineyard.

Of course the clearest is Samson. I suspect that Delilah really loved him as she was approached when they were already in a relationship. It is only that she was introduced to the game where the stakes were astronomical. I think she knew or was told that his first girlfriend was burnt with all her extended family to sober her up. Then she was given the offer of several lifetimes. Imagine negotiating with five kings! Judas was given thirty pieces of silver to sell Jesus. Abraham bought his first portion of land in Canaan for four hundred shekels of silver. Even the hill where Samaria was built cost two talents of silver. Now imagine the offer of five thousand and five hundred silver pieces? I think she really had no other option.

That is what terrorism is for your information. There is a clique at the top of the pyramid who are the real terrorists. The guys at the bottom who are the ones called terrorists are just disposable toys playing in the hands of this clique. You see even if you killed or jailed a thousand of them you will not have done anything because the financiers and strategists have not been touched. They will just look for other people as desperate as those others and the game continues.

How do we pray then? I am sure you are asking. How do we counter it then? Some concerned nations are wondering. Hit at the head of the problem. Hitting at the suicide bombers will not dent terrorism. Killing one financier or strategist might kill it especially if it is done properly. Forget about the terrorism cells. Kill the head and the whole beast is yours. Cut the tail and the best you can get is a fly whisk if it is an animal with such a tail. That is what we do when we go for the small fry.

Pray for God to remove those financiers, even if it is by killing them or destroying their empires. Most times those guys are so sold out to the devil that repentance and submitting to Christ are out of reach. They know and are proudly heading to hell. It is actually mercy for them to die before making their punishment in hell more torturous through continual evil.

It is so bad especially because the three groups that facilitate terrorism are themselves very safely protected. Many may be even more protected than an army general, if not than some heads of state. They have hordes of bodyguards and live in the most secure of wherever they choose to live due to the amount of money the devil has placed at their disposal. They therefore have no excuse for visiting terror on anyone as apart from saying that the devil made them do it they really have no reason for the kind of thing they do because the people they harass have no connection to their agenda.

That is the reason I am not saying that we pray for them to repent. We should pray repentance for the small fish who many times will get blown up accidentally or by design as they look to lift the standards of their families. Even some who choose to die to further those ideologies or religion do so because they have been promised enough resources for the families they will leave. And it makes sense to them because their lives before then were simply miserable. Dying to uplift the standards of a hopeless existence will make sense to anyone who understands how low life can sink. I say that because I am involved with the disadvantaged. Someone who was on the verge of committing suicide due to the way life had turned will jump at the opportunity of helping his family in the process.

The bosses are different. They do not have any religion. They only use it to create a cause to draw the sacrificial lambs in. They do not belong to tribes. They only use tribe for the same purpose. Radicalism is only encouraged because it will easily provide a cover for their evil purposes as it kills more and more people as sacrifices to the devil.

Otherwise explain to me why none of the religious leaders send their children for suicide missions. Why are other people’s children dying for the cause they front for even as their children are acquiring advanced degrees in prestigious universities farthest from where the martyrs die? 

That is why we must pray them to death and destruction. And I am not saying that because I hate them. I find no other prayer befitting them. They have totally sold their souls to the devil that they have totally locked the door of repentance. We even see Christ saying something similar to that when He was asked about Herod. I believe it is possible to snatch the suicide bombers from hell, a thing I think we ought to be praying about. But I find no scriptural basis to do the same for the funders and planners of the terrorist acts. I think that is among the sins leading to death that is mentioned in 1 John 5: 16.

Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, Mujahidin, etc. are run by very few people. These are not even the face of the movements. In fact I doubt whether any member of those movements has seen them, leave alone knowing them. They are unknowable to these people who are fighting for a cause that is so far from what these owners are interested in and are using the warriors to work toward. I doubt whether there are ten people in the leadership of each. In fact they might all be one group, having branches in different nations for faster implementation of their program.

We know that we are in the last days, days when the devil will be enthroned on earth as God. It will be peaceful at first but later become compulsory to worship him. I believe terrorism is laying the ground for that eventuality. How? By using insecurity to change the constitutions of the world to allow the devil to be worshipped and gating most residents of the world to make the rule of the antichrist enforceable.

But we should not sit still and allow him to take over the rule of the world before our mandate is complete. We must preach the Gospel so that everybody living on earth has an opportunity to make a conscious decision for or against Christ. Again this is what terrorism seeks to forestall. We cannot advance unless we feel safe. We cannot pray progressively when we are praying defensively.

That is why our prayer must hit at the source of terror itself. The suicide bomber will then become a witnessing opportunity as he needs Christ as any other person whether he has a bomb or not. And that is what God told me about those guys who had robbed me at gunpoint.

But it is also important to realize that terrorism, like robbery is spiritual at its root. There are spiritual structures that operate with military precision following the orders of the principalities as we see in Ephesians 6 from verse 10. This was brought to my memory when I heard a scream.

At one time I lived at a place where robbery was commonplace. Being a light sleeper I noticed a trend. Dogs would start barking furiously and in about ten minutes there would be screams from where the robbers were attacking. I also realized another thing. That if I prayed after hearing the dogs bark there would be no screams. At one time they broke into the compound we lived and the watchman blew the whistle. I decided to pray before venturing out, not for a long time though. They fled, even leaving their shoes.

Dogs, like other animals, being without sin can see the spiritual as they are not endued with reason that makes us dismiss the visibility of the spiritual. Thus they can notice when a cloud of evil is approaching. By the way you will notice the same thing with infants. Again you will notice that most times when God wakes you to pray there is something in the spiritual He needs you to counter. Probably that is the reason most are woken at 3 am, the time most robbers attack. In fact I hear it said it is the time the human spirit is at its lowest and the time most people die.

Thus terrorism cannot be divorced from the spirit of oppression. The attacks and threats are meant to give place for the spirit to permeate every part of the world. And that is the spirit we ought to be praying against and the people it uses to advance its agenda.

I will close with this. When the serpent was cursed, where was he to be hit? Of course it was at the head. You do not expect to accomplish much when your prayer, investigations, intervention aims at the tail as it will continue striking you with that head. Only a strike to the head is needed. Hit the head and the snake dies. It might wriggle for long but as long as the head was sorted conclusively it will be just a matter of time.

(For your information I have gone through intense spiritual warfare since God started giving me this message. I trust it will be profitable to the saints)

God and the Process

Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. (Numbers 14:9)

I had a very interesting dream. We were walking with a pastor on a grassland discussing ministry when all of a sudden he asked me to hold something for him. I looked at what he meant and was shocked. I saw a 7 or 8 foot long snake stretched out and resting. Of course I jumped up as I can’t imagine even touching a snake, let alone a living one. He was very disappointed.

As we were walking on the wide path surrounded by very long grass the same snake started rolling very fast like snakes move over the desert sands. But it was followed by an even bigger one. Then the pastor started explaining his disappointment. Those snakes were meat. I had therefore let meat go away.

Then on the grass came three other snakes, much larger than the other ones, the largest being over a foot in girth. They rolled the same way over the grass and the pastor was very excited. Then they disappeared. And the pastor started looking for them, wondering how meat could disappear like that. By that time I was feeling enthralled by the idea of snake meat and was thinking of asking him to give me to taste when he made it.

I then got to think of a message God had been impressing in my spirit for some weeks. God is more interested with the process than He is in the product. It is when the process is completed that the product is ready. But we are different. The product is more important to us than the process. In fact we hate the process. We think it a waste of time and needless suffering. No wonder we take short cuts when we can.

What we fail to realize is that God as the creator does not need any process. He can create out of nothing. He does not need the process to create at all. Therefore the end to Him does not mean much unless it is the product of a process. He therefore invests in us more for the process than the product. Success for Him therefore looks at the process and not the end of the same. A success story for God is therefore gauged by our success in the process.

What does that have to do with my dream? An enemy is a tool God uses to take me through the process. The process can not be a process without challenges. You can’t be more than a conqueror without getting involved in many wars. Like Joshua and Caleb said, the enemies actually become food at the end of the process. It is only in the process that they are enemies.

When Israel came from Egypt, the Bible says that they could have taken eleven days to get to Canaan. They could very easily have walked the whole way without needing to pass through the Red Sea as the Suez Canal had not been dug. Why did God take them the roundabout route?

The Bible says that He wanted to teach them war. They needed to be transformed from a slave mentality to self determination. Using eleven days to take them home could have shortcut the process thereby producing a half baked nation. They needed to experience God and His dealings with them long enough to understand Him and how to relate with Him.

In God’s lesson scheme, two years was enough for Israel to have grown enough to take the land. That was the reason all who had experienced His dealings and refused to take the land were condemned to death. That was the reason for the extra thirty eight years they had to stay in the desert. Another team needed to go through their process as the rebellious one was exterminated. It was sad to God that only two of the initial team had gone through the process successfully.

But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. (Numbers 14: 21 – 24)

David is trained by God in the wilderness before being anointed. I believe God specifically sent the lion and bear for him to kill as that was the process that gave him preparation for facing Goliath. I say that because lions and bears stay in very different climatic zones and environments. He had to see God in action there to trust Him in the case of the giant.

But that was not enough preparation. He had to go through military training as a rebel to become an effective commander in chief. And no wonder he is the model king to this day. The process was so thorough that there were very few gaps. But even better is that his worship training process was so complete that the songs he sang continue impacting people millennia later yet he was not a priest or Levite whose existence depended on that.

The process therefore precedes the product. It is in the process that one is prepared to possess. It is the process that lays ground for the breakthrough. It is the process that lays the ground for maturity. But it is also the process that decides on the kind of judgment one receives when they make a breach on the expectation.

We see the judgment aspect in the Israelites who died in the wilderness. But we see the same with King Saul. It is very emphatic when David sins.

The process makes an enemy a friend as he is a tool that is used in the process. At the end of it this enemy will become food for me after the process ends. And no wonder Christ ordered us to love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. They are very useful in our process. A challenge is a very useful tool in our preparation.

Let me repeat that God does not require any process to deliver. He is the creator. When He wanted light He did not start a process or build a workshop. He just said and it became. We are the ones who need the process to become all He needs us to become.

I always say that before God there is no difference between a shilling and ten million shillings because He owns all and more. There is no difference between a small wound from a scratch and advanced cancer or AIDS as He does not require anything to heal. In fact He does not require more to heal cancer than He does to heal a common cold. He is the healer. We are the ones who come with classifications according to our experience and perception.

It does not depend on the relationship I have with a giver or the willingness of the same for God to give or do something. God takes from what He owns, which is everything and everyone (Psalm 24:1). They do not have to even know or acknowledge Him for God to use them. They belong to Him whether they recognize that fact or not and will do His bidding every time.

Cyrus released the Jews though God Himself said that he did not know Him. The king in Nehemiah’s time released even resources for the rebuilding of Jerusalem though he did not worship the God whose city he was building. We realize that though Pharaoh had a hard heart God hardened him even more to accomplish His purposes for His people.

Even the devil is totally subject to God’s Lordship and no wonder God Himself says that He brought misfortune to Job yet it was the devil that was the instrument in the process. That is the reason many people have a problem understanding 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 among other passages as they are talking about the same incident. God is overarching over everything and everyone, including the devil who is focused on working contrary to God.

I have in the course of ministry seen God use extremely stingy fellows to give so much support until I start thanking God that they have been transformed. Then the season ends and they revert to the way they had been before. It was not their willingness but the release of what God needed that caused them to give.

And that is the reason I have a problem with all the preaching on the tithe. We are limiting God to a very small portion of His property and in effect teaching comfortable rebellion. (I have a post on tithing elsewhere on my blog). God owns everything we have. He even owns all of us and is at liberty not only to use what we have but even all we are.

It is the process that aligns me with my destiny. We might be in a very complicated place because we have not allowed God’s process to proceed in our life. We will then plateau in our spiritual growth and effectiveness. We may actually have stunted or no growth because we think the process is demonic and therefore either run away from it or resist or cast it out. We might then think we are spiritual giants when we have not even learnt to walk in the faith because we cancelled the process.

Let me give you my own story. When I was working for KBC (the only broadcasting media house then) God asked me to request for a transfer to a hardship area. I of course knew that He had to have some ministry for me there. But it took quite long before I could settle and even then I did not have that assurance of being in the place God meant. I was ministering in the church I was attending in many ways but I was not feeling the sense of having arrived.

Then due to my Christian commitment (I call it radicalism), I refused to be joining the station staff for parties because they would get drunk in the process and misbehave. That was a big problem because as some of you may know, in those far off places most people behave as if they left God at home when they were posted there. They therefore had to deal with me.

They created a situation where my salary was stopped for a whole six months, plus many other accusations. I believe they were looking for a way for me to be sacked. It became so difficult though even when I was not receiving any salary I did not get in debt and God took care of me.

The letter that came to tell me that my salary had been released was in the same post that interdicted the two guys who had done it. The new boss had been my very good friend as he had been at war with those same people but for other reasons. But he became worse than them when he was promoted.

In the same year a mugger knocked me dead and took everything I had (much of which I had purchased using my withheld salary) as I was coming from leave. I have talked about that experience in an earlier post.

I thought I had not heard God when He had told me to take a transfer to Marsabit. This new boss decided to then make my life really bitter.

I therefore decided that I had heard God wrong and chose to ask for a transfer. I decided that continuing staying there was attracting death, especially after the experience with the mugger. I wrote to the headquarters and requested for a transfer because it was impossible for me to be as bad as all the accusations I had been getting, some most comical (I was once accused of burning a transmitter as if I was electricity). I requested that they take me to another station to confirm the accuracy or otherwise of those accusations. And of course I prayed.

I therefore looked for transport to transfer because there was no way God would allow me to stay in such kind of hell.

But of course I knew I had not heard from God about the transfer though I did not want to encourage anything else. I therefore decided to lay a fleece that I was convinced God could not perform as I had stacked all the odds against Him.

Before I went on the leave whose end brought the mugging incident, I had felt a pull toward a very small church deep in the wilderness in a very small village. The church had about ten attendees, children included.

Being very clever, I decided to force God to allow the transfer. I therefore fasted as I laid this fleece. ‘I will go to church on Sunday. If you intend for me to stay in Marsabit, I want more than two people from the church to ask me to start something’. I had been in that church once before my long leave (because I had also been given a sick off due to the injuries) and probably another one time after it. I was therefore convinced that God could simply not do it as I was a stranger there.

I went to church and was looking at the watch all the time, waiting for my deliverance. The service ended and I heaved with relief. But as I was getting out I was stopped. Can you imagine how many approached me? Five. They wanted me to start a choir for them as they had seen me playing the guitar in the church in town.

Now what does one do after such a demonstration of God’s hand? Of course I knew with all certainty that God had something He wanted me to accomplish in Marsabit. I was therefore at peace as I knew I was where God wanted me to be.

The persecution at work became even became worse after that. But I was at peace because I knew that I was where God had placed me without any doubt. The accusations continued in intensity and work became even worse but I was focused.

I remember the station vehicle would leave me to take the rest for shopping and I would have to walk to town 12 km away and back, most of the distance being wild. Incidentally those walks opened many other ministry doors as I made many friends. One time a fox got to the road some distance from the station and walk ahead of me through the uninhabited areas then disappeared to the bush once we got close to human habitation. And it did so for quite some time.

I am sure this is one of the processes that has contributed to the kind of ministry I have in the city. I saw God in those processes and therefore can find peace where others are in a panic. God also used them to lead me to take other more radical steps of obedience to His calling when they would not make sense to the apparently most spiritual amongst us.

What are you going through? Could it be a process into a greater ministry than you are in? Could it be to a greater worship experience? Could it be to greater effectiveness and impact?

I however will not have completed the message if I do not differentiate between judgment and the process. It is the process only when my heart is right with God. It is a process when I am walking according to God’s revelation. It is a process when it is standing between me and the assignment God has for me so that I must get past it to go to the next level like the lion and bear to David. And of course it is the process because I am not the one looking for it.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Job did not initiate the process, God did. David did not pray for the lion and bear, God brought them. Obedience is the cause and initiation of the process. Anything else initiates something else. Like Peter said we should not rejoice when we are being ill-treated for our sin.

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)

This is the end of our process. But as with gold, the process is many times painful. The fire, the water, the forge; all induce pain. But without them the gold will remain the ore and not worth much. And it is much the same with our Christian lives. It is the pain of the process that purifies us to become of great worth before God. It is the difference between the common soldier and the commando. That is why David had his army and the thirty, some of whom could kill an enemy battalion alone. They were thoroughly processed.

It is the process that gets us out of whining for the least discomfort. It is the process that will stop me from binding nonexistent demons. It is the process that will teach me contentment. And it is the process that will make me a much better witness. Just look at these verses.

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4:12) 

From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. (Galatians 6:17)

Those marks were inflicted on Paul in the process. And no wonder he was so effective as a witness.

It is therefore wise to realize that much of the preaching nowadays tends against the process. No wonder very many ‘successful’ Christians are unable to resist the allure of sin. It is the process that hardens me against sin even as it softens my heart toward God.

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (Hebrews 2:10)

It is the process that gives people the assurance that we understand them. But even better is that the process makes us to understand those we minister to. The process also makes us worthy examples to imitate. And it is the process that produces and polishes the fruit of the Spirit in us.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

It is the process that makes us able to appreciate the struggles others go through. It makes us sympathize and empathize with those who are struggling. It is the forty years that made Moses a worthy intercessor of the rebellious nation.

It is the process that produces humility, meekness and character as we see with many of God’s worthy ministers. And it is the process that makes a testimony so rich and empowering. And of course it is the process that makes one able to accurately understand and apply the word of God.

This post is therefore supposed to encourage you to appreciate the process. Running from the process is actually running from your destiny. Esau lost his birthright because he ran away from his process and that is what you will do if you choose the easier options.

Do not listen to the preacher or prophet who asks for a seed to kill the process. Do not listen to those who prophesy that you do not need the process. Do not entertain those who are experts in praying against the process.

Only the process can produce maturity. Years alone make for old age. And old age is not adequate in preparing ministers. I have seen Christians who have been in the faith for so long yet are not much better than infants in the faith as far as their experience is concerned. I minister to ministers who have been in ministry for so long yet they will break down with the smallest of challenges.

The common thread on all these is the lack of the process. The sad reality is that they will find their way into church leadership. Yet even in the qualifications of spiritual leaders requires the candidate to have successfully gone through the process as we see in Timothy and Titus.

Let me close with this.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1: 2 – 4)

And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. (Acts 5:41)