FIGURING IT

ROMANS 12:2- DO NOT CONFORM ANY LONGER TO THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND. THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TEST AND APPROVE WHAT GOD’S WILL IS -HIS GOOD, PLEASING AND PERFECT WILL

I had a light bulb moment today!

Ok…….let me tell you what happened……ok no……..let me explain how it started

The water heater in my flat for some reason wasn’t properly heating up the shower or should i say it wasn’t just heating up to the temperature i wanted and really all i had to do was call the maintenance company and someone would have quickly come down to fix it……….Instead………..i went out in the freezing cold, took the bus to a completely different vicinity to look for and further purchase a bucket…………..need i not forget……….it is important we establish that i had just moved to that town

This very act might come across to you as………..ok!!! you went out to buy a bucket…….Big deal?

In all honesty, it wasn’t a big deal to me because all i wanted, was to get a bucket………. heat up water in my kettle to the temperature i wanted……… then use the bucket and a smaller bowl to have a bath

But To my friend with whom i was speaking to later that day, that was a big deal……….here i was at one end of the phone casually talking about my bucket purchasing ordeal and my friend was mockingly having a laugh at the other end……………next thing i heard was………….YOU CAN TAKE THE GIRL OUT OF NIGERIA BUT YOU CAN NEVER TAKE THE NIGERIA OUT OF THE GIRL

At this point, i was laughing as well after rolling my eyes and saying “whatever”

You see, my friend had made that statement because………….. first, i am a Nigerian……….secondly, it is a normal act in Nigeria for one to have a bath scooping water from a bigger bucket using a smaller bowl………. actually we can even casually/jokingly say it is part of our culture…….. …..whereas, where i had just moved to………..that was far from normal……………..My friend though probably not realizing……….. was telling me through that statement to ‘BE A BUCKET BATHING NIGERIAN IN NIGERIA AND THEN IMBIBE BEING A SHOWER HEAD BATHING NIGERIAN IN THIS TOWN”…………let me explain………”YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THE THINGS NIGERIANS DO FOR YOU TO KNOW YOU ARE NIGERIAN……..YOU CAN CONFORM TO THE NORMS HERE AND STILL BE NIGERIAN”

Now as much as i am aware of other various ways and perspective that statement can go,  my light bulb moment was not from the latter viewpoints

Conversation ended and days went by……….best believe i continued using my bucket (who has time to call maintenance)

So

I had then just finished bathing this morning and while leaving the bathroom, i turned and caught a glimpse of my bucket and instantly…..i kid you not……. my mind went back to the conversation with my friend but this time it went deeper……………….

My identity as a Nigerian can never be changed so also My Identity in Christ……….It is a constant……………who God says i am, what he says i am……..all of those are constant…….Regardless

Now, somehow disguising my identity as a Nigerian…….that i can do, or sometimes even unknowingly i can fall prey to the so many external factors that can cause this to happen (change of environment among others) without even realizing……………..same goes for my identity in Christ, a lot of times things will arise, within me or around me that will want to make me bend just a little so as to enable me accommodate certain things or even to enable me become slightly more acceptable…………………….But the question is AT WHAT COST?

Bathing using a bucket might not necessarily count as part of my identity as a Nigerian but it is to some certain level an attribute of my identity if you examine it properly………….So also, some certain Christ attributed habits and activities might not solidly count as being part of your Identity as a Christian but the truth also is………they are huge influencing factors to that Identity.

Life can sometimes get sooo hard and confusing that it might tend to make you doubt your very core and loose sight of who you really are, how far you have come and even more how far you have to go ……………it might sometimes even try to ridicule you out of all you know…………..But you must always remember No matter how intricate life gets and regardless the weight of the pressure it presses on you, YOU GOT TO THIS POINT BY SOMEWHAT, SOMEHOW BELIEVING GOD’S WORDS OVER AND ABOUT YOU AND THAT ITSELF WAS YOU STAYING TRUE TO YOUR CORE AND THAT REMAINS THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL GET YOURSELF TO THE NEXT PHASE

so as flimsy or as casual as this statement “YOU CAN TAKE THE GIRL OUT OF NIGERIA BUT YOU CAN NEVER TAKE THE NIGERIA OUT OF THE GIRL” might sound………….i am crazy enough to say “ALLOW ME THE GIRL TAKE MY NIGERIA AND SHOW CASE TO THE WORLD”

Then

Allow me restructure that statement by saying “ALLOW ME THE GIRL TAKE MY JESUS AND SHOWCASE TO THE WORLD REGARDLESS OF THE ODDS BEING AGAINST ME FOR I WILL NOT CONFORM”

So today i pledge to be a bucket bathing Nigerian wherever i go, whenever i want to be. But I PLEDGE TO FOREVER BE A GOD LOVING, SOUL ROOTED FIRECRACKER CHRISTIAN WRAPPED UP IN EVERYTHING HE HAS CALLED ME TO BE AND IN EVERYTHING HE HAS SAID OVER AND ABOUT ME………………..REGARDLESS OF THE ODDS.