Kenyans need inspiration to navigate through turbulence

A few weeks back, I shared a message with our congregation on being still. Interestingly, a short video segment of the message found its way into the social media, and did the rounds. The truth is that the video was but a two-minute segment of a 40-minute sermon. Accordingly, it did not carry the real gist of the message I shared.

Those who have cared to watch or listen to the full message would know that my intention was to re-assure and draw our attention from the challenges we were facing, to the God who is able to deal with them. I am of the view that this message is perhaps more relevant to us today than it was then.

In a matter of days, we are going to a presidential election — an election that is fully supported by Jubilee, totally opposed by NASA, and highly doubted by the IEBC. Constitutionally, the elections must be held; socially, the environment is not conducive; and practically, we are not prepared. The analysis and advice of self-appointed pundits, including lawyers and political analysts — on what must be done and what might happen — are as varied as they come. A thick dark smoke continues to obscure any viable way forward.

In the last three or so weeks, I have literally spent my life in meetings of all kinds and with some of the best brains and best placed people in this country — from the religious, business, diplomatic, civil society, and political formations — trying to hammer out a solution.

We have had several meetings with the key players in this saga, lending them an ear and trying to understand them.

One more meeting

Happy to say, many of these meetings have been very cordial and extremely promising, except, they have not fully yielded the desired solution. By nature, I am an optimist, and I have a deep love for this nation.

I am therefore still committed to going for one more meeting if only it might yield the much awaited result.

In the meantime, I look at where we are and the tension and anxiety as the day of election draws nigh, and we have to accept that we are not sitting well. Considering that Jubilee has vowed to ensure that the elections proceed as scheduled, and NASA has sworn to disrupt them, even the optimist begins to worry.

Precisely because, even if Jubilee were to use their might, and force through an election, they will not have solved our problems.

Even if NASA were to muster all its forces and totally disrupt the elections, they will not have landed us into Canaan. Both options are instead likely to leave us in deeper political wilderness than we have ever been. It is precisely for this reason that my message of a few weeks ago came back to mind – Be Still.

To be still means that we remove our focus from the current circumstances — that we appear totally unable to resolve — and lift up our eyes to the God who can sort us out. I am aware that some consider this to be escapist.

For sure! Prayer has always been “escapist.” It is only those who have reached their wits end, and are desperately looking for a way of escape, that can turn to God with any level of sincerity.

It was when Moses and his people found themselves in exactly this kind of situation – with the Red Sea in front of them, and Pharaoh’s army behind them – that Moses told the people: Be still and see the salvation of the Lord. God parted the waters and led His people through a dry seabed.

In South Africa, in the first weeks after Nelson Mandela’s release, many predicted that there would be a new non-racial constitution and a new democratic government by the end of 1990.

Unforeseen violence

But, the scale and scope of the transformation became so complex that one political analyst, Frederick van Zyl Slabbert, aptly quipped, “Trying to move from apartheid to democracy is like changing the engines of a Boeing 747 in mid-air!”

The period 1990 to 1994 was marked by unforeseen violence. The atmosphere in the country was tense and many people predicted a civil war. But, God miraculously parted the waters for South Africa.

Using some of the least expected persons, including a Kenyan, a settlement was brokered, and the first democratic elections were eventually held in April 1994. I have reason to believe that God can do the same for Kenya. Only let us be still and call on Him, even as we continue to pursue various options.

- The writer is the Presiding Bishop at the Christ is The Answer Ministries

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