I thought, in light of recent events throughout the Middle East and in the US as we face up to our economic woes, to take a brief sojourn away from my study to share with you a small piece from the biography I wrote for Charles Buregeya. I hope it encourages you as it did me today when I reread it for just that reason!
This night he saw someone in the middle of the path ahead. "Was it a man with a machete?" he wondered. "He might be waiting for me." Fear engulfed him, his skin prickling with its insistent prodding. He stopped, calculating his options, staring harder at the image ahead. If he turned and ran away quickly, he might be able to escape; if he was caught he could take a beating, he'd had many before. And maybe that wasn't a machete...his heart was pounding but he knew he had to get home; his hand clutched the tobacco his father was waiting to have before bed. He must finish his job and face his fears. Charging down the path, his head down, he ran straight toward the man, veering as far to the opposite side of the path as he possibly could, telling his feet to fly swifter than they ever had before. The man became a shadow, the moonlight behind a banana tree stump near the road causing the illusion.
Later he would tell this boyhood memory to a small church congregation in America and say, "Many things we fear in our lives are not real. The devil specializes in putting shadows in front of you, especially when there is something we are supposed to do for God. So you must face your fears - they are not real if they exist only in your minds. The circumference of your own mind is so small; it is a complete lie to trust in your own little brain!" Charles told them, pinching his fingers together in front of his eyes for emphasis. "Only Jesus knows if you will have both of your legs tomorrow, or both of your ears, or whether your stocks will fall (this of course was added due to the recent American recession.) Have the realilty of the person of Jesus Christ in your life every day. He is omniscient so why don't you trust in Him?" he said with a grin, opening His hands to the sky.
At this time, however, Charles only knew that he made it home with the tobacco for his father.
@copywrite 2011, do not use without permission.
A note of explanation is probably needed. Charles grew up in Uganda during Idi Amin's reign and in the middle of the Luweero Triangle, at an early age forced into child soldiering. To lose you leg was a daily threat because of the mines in the area sown by Idi Amin's army.
This story encourages me to do what Jesus has for me to do today and not to be paralyzed by the threats of all manner of situations around me, and to sink into fearfulness, despair or brood about things I cannot fix. I hope this story brings a refeshing sweetness to you today as well. I need to go now, sweet tea is beckoning!
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