Sunday 5 February 2017

Not Many Will Understand...


“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11).

 

A number of people had something to say about ‘it’ and they were all men! For a moment there I thought that my photos were indecent. However, two of them were quick to reassure me (on different occasions) that they were not. I then dared to ask what the problem was.

 

One of them said that he thought that I was no longer a servant of GOD because I was taking so many photos! I wondered how the two were related…

 

The second said that ‘people might get the wrong impression’… I wondered what that wrong impression could be…well, since he was a friend, I endeavored to not only explain myself to him but to share my testimony with him.

 

I told him how bad it had been years back. I explained to him how the devil had put a mask on my face such that I appeared older than my real age but was also not photogenic at all. For a long time, I hated photographs and when I did take them, I could never smile into the camera for fear that I would not look good. In fact, I did not have any photo albums or that many photographs because I was simply not photogenic!

 

Now, as if that was not bad enough, the devil had gone and put a black veil on my face to ensure that I was not attractive to men. One would not know it by simply looking at me but I had had my struggles that I struggled to get out of. However, thank GOD for GOD to whom I entrusted myself and we slowly began the journey.

 

I began to pray and then, slowly by slowly, I began to see changes. As GOD tore off the mask, he also ripped off the black veil that was its age-old accompaniment. The changes were evident in the youthful look that GOD gave me – He renewed my youth like an eagle’s! The increasing male attention that I began to receive could hardly be ignored – something had lifted!

I began taking photographs more often and enjoyed it too! I even became so daring as to take selfies and then something interesting happened…as compared to the times when editing would take close to an hour, at the photo studio, editing the photos I took using my phone took less time as we went along until I stopped editing them altogether. I became more confident ‘releasing’ unedited photos than I used to be! WE HAD MADE PROGRESS!

 

As I continued verbalizing my testimony, I told this friend of mine that given this background, taking photos is not just a pastime to me but a TESTIMONY! In fact, the more I post my unedited photos, the more I make an announcement, ‘LOOK WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE’ – right there is my testimony!

 

By the time, I was done with the long voice recording that I used to explain myself to him, I was glad that he had commented. It gave me a chance to testify about the goodness and faithfulness of my Father in heaven. It also gave me a much deserved opportunity to overcome the devil! OH, it reminded me of how far GOD and I had come – it had not been comfortable but we had managed to get ‘here’ in one piece.

 

Now, this made it clear to me that not many will understand your actions. Some may even judge you because they do not know. Some will even think that you are not as Godly as they think you should be BUT THEY DO NOT KNOW…they do not know your testimony just as they do not know how far you have come. They do not understand that, to you, ‘it’ is actually more than what they think it is – IT IS TESTIMONY OF HOW FAR GOD HAS BROUGHT YOU!

 

Therefore, do not lose the goal…do not lose your prize. Wear it for all to see and keep your gaze on the GOD who brought you this far.

 

Prayer  

 

Dear GOD, I thank you for all the struggles that you delivered me from. Even if many do not understand why I do what I do, I will continue to do what I have to do in order to silently, yet loudly, testify of your goodness and faithfulness to me. I choose to bear the criticisms just so I can glorify you by sharing my testimonies any way that I can. Amen.

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