The GOD of 2024

Well, Whew! What do we have to say?
2024, you really did your thing
With the good news and joy from the get go
We definitely didn't expect what was coming for us
I can tell our goals were defined this time around
Our vision board so broad
Our plans well calculated
Our decisions carefully planned out
This was the year we could say "nothing can go wrong"
The year of the plan A, B, C, D or even E in case the enemy brought "shege"
The time to live the best of our abilities
The season to expand, multiply, grow, learn, achieve, explore
The many moments to hold so dear to our hearts

The years started with joy glamoured in battles
We knew we had the axle to manoeuvre the hustle
Of course, we have prayed, fasted, planned and ready to put it in our all
Our decisions were sure
Our goals were certain
And you made the year a season of manifestation

We began,
The hopes became a reality
The conflict in our minds were resolved
Our indecisiveness were corrected
The many questions answered
The path was clear now
We prepared for this, we prayed for it and now we have it

On our journey, we started learning, unlearning and relearning
On our path of knowledge and wisdom
The ship of life took a turn
A turn that taught us what we never imagined could be a test
We entered the deep waters of misunderstanding, pain, hate, discomfort, offences, struggles beyond the ordinary
We could tell we loved all and gave our all but at this depth, we had to rethink
Was commitment this difficult?
Was growth this depressing?
Was excellence this challenging?
Only this turn of life opened our eyes to the strength we carried and the weakness we had to work on
To love and not to hate
To forgive even when we didn't agree
To give our all when our flesh was pushing us to react otherwise
To smile when all we wish to do was scream out our dissatisfaction
Letting go and forgiving at every remembrance

It wasn't easy,
At a point we thought we could not achieve our goals
The well planned out vision was gradually lagging
We woke up each day thanking You for the day and leaving it in Your hand
We didn't carry the vision along
Moreover, life was showing us the "shege" that seems unending
We thought to give up but You always came in and said "No"
So, you saw it all and was still there
Our love for somethings burned out
But you kept us revived daily

We lived life like it was the last
We no longer bothered about the mistakes
We just wanted to go with the flow and get it done with
We looked down on our abilities
We doubted our strength
We left our identity
We created an aura of failure, disbelief and disgust
But we never left your presence in these moments

Strange thoughts clouded our mind
We could think of the worse
Our old fears started kicking in
Our past traumas nearly had us
We knew we needed healing
But how?
You constantly brought men our way
You constantly brought stories our way
You constantly used people to bring us back to the place of identity, the place of believing, the place of strength
We may not have it all figured out, but we didn't destroy that which we were given

We never knew it could be this tough, considering the well thought out plan
It was here we knew the God of 2024, was the God full of the positive “shege” we could never think of
We heard the Nos, we failed, we gave up, we felt useless, we felt unwelcome, we felt like an outcast, family was failing, grades not calculating, stories changing
But in all these, there was a story being written
Our scrolls were never changed
The challenges were meant to be, although we created some
It was there we knew our God of 2024 was teaching us something new but in a way we weren't used to

In this journey of discovery
We learnt new skills, we built generational successes
We learned to love, to forgive and to give
We learnt patience, endurance, commitment, perseverance, loyalty, comfort
We grew in wisdom, knowledge, love, skill, self-awareness
We could tell our maturity
All because we passed through the “shege” that took us to the tunnel of light

Our God of 2024
Many were our uncertainties, however, you made us certain in many ways
You came as a Teacher
You came as a Father
You came as a Friend
You came as a Priest
You came as a King
You came as a Comforter

Our God of 2024
Our El-Roi
Our El-Olam
Our El-Shaddai
Our El-Emmet
Our El-Elyon

We could go on and on
We will borrow the words of Nathaniel Bassey; Our words are not enough, Our vocabularies will fail
Permit us to say Thank you
We may not have it all but we gained what was more than what we envisioned

Our God of 2024
Our God of the fruitful 'Nos'
Our God who sees us
Our God who is with us
Our God who enlightens us
Our God of Love
He is Our God of 2024