Promises

Have you ever been lost and then suddenly noticed a landmark? Like a shop, or school, or building… or even a sign?? I have. 

About two years ago, I found myself walking in a ‘shady’ neighbourhood I wasn’t particularly conversant with, at an odd hour, by myself. The streets were practically empty, and it had been raining for hours. I was cold and alone and scared out of my mind. I wasn’t sure where exactly I was going and there wasn’t anyone I could ask for help from. So I psyched myself up, picked a street and started walking. I figured if I walked long enough, I would see something I recognised. All I had to do was pick street and stick to it so I wouldn’t walk in circles. Throughout the ordeal, I kept praying “Oh God, please help me get out of this place. Please don’t let me die here. Please take me out safely… Am I even going the right way, God?”

[Now I must add that I suck at figuring out my bearings so I was literally playing a guessing game with where I thought was the general direction of ‘the right way out of here’.]

After a while of walking in a straight line, I reached a junction. Do I keep going straight or take my chance with the other two lanes? I still hadn’t met a single person on the street. I didn’t even know whether to be thankful or scared about that fact. 

I took a deep breath and turned right, still praying, “Oh God, am I even going the right way? Please take me home safely, Lord.” 

The street I took led to other streets and I started feeling the urge to take one of them (on the left). I was scared. I had started feeling comfortable with picking a path and sticking with it. I didn’t know how to deal with adding other streets to the equation. What if I got lost? How would I retrace my steps if I could barely keep track of the number of turns I’d taken? I kept convincing myself that changing the ‘plan’ was a bad idea. I needed to ‘stick with what I knew’. While convincing myself, I saw a cute, little bakery on one of the streets on my left. “What is a bakery doing open at this time?” I thought. “But more importantly, what is that heavenly smell coming from there??“

It was decided. I was going to take a detour from my path to visit the bakery with the lovely aroma. It would be a quick stop. Then I thought, I might even be able to ask the wonderful baker-person for directions! The mere thought of food had suddenly lifted my spirits. I wasn’t going to die here after all!

As soon as I started making my way toward the bakery, I saw a building I recognized. I wasn’t lost anymore! I had found food AND the way home! Isn’t God wonderful and gracious and kind?! A lot of people have told me that food would be my downfall, but today, I can testify to the glory of God that my love for food gingered my spirit to obedience. 

Food – 1, Haters – nil.

Sometimes, I ask myself, what would have happened if I didn’t see that bakery that day? Or what if that was the day I decided that I was on a diet? Would I still have made it out in one piece?

I would like to believe that I would have still arrived at my destination. It might have taken me a much longer time, I might have encountered avoidable dangers, I might have even lost my strength… but I would have made it out. I believe that I was supposed to make it out. If that bakery had closed, another would have opened. Or a different trigger would have been used. I believe that God uses the things we least expect to reach us. 

God is faithful like that. He is reliable like that. He is awesome like that. And sometimes, when I feel like I’m alone, I remember that moments like that night and how he got me through, and I know that I’m going to be alright.

🎶Faithful through the ages🎶

Nana Agyeiwaa Nyameba

P. S. This week, I am going back to a song I fell in love with a couple of months ago. It has been my anthem for a while. Promises (also by Maverick hihi). Click here to listen.