I didn’t realise Hebrew had its own way of writing. I discovered this when walking towards immigration and baggage claim in Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv. We thank God he is multilingual and hears and speaks to us in all the languages and dialects of the world. What an awesome God. He not only choses us but choses to speak our language, in every way. God is Good, God is Great, God is the Best.
Now, the political administration of the Holy Land is a little bit confusing to me and I need to stop procrastinating and look at its history so I can get clarity. Why I say that is because I travelled to Israel, but Bethlehem where I stayed for some days, about 2.5hrs away from Tel Aviv, depending on traffic, is under Palestinian rule. Some places are under Israeli rule, some Palestinian. Nevertheless, I walked in the places Jesus walked and was born. What a privilege and a Kind, generous display of the favour and Grace of God and ultimately who he is. Hallelujah!
The second part of my testimony is a statement I know to be accurately and spiritually true. God’s timing is the Best because Gods’ ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than your thoughts. The precise example I can give you for this is in 2021 when I saw an advert for March the March, 11k steps a day to raise funds for Prostate Cancer. 11k because in a year 11k men die from Prostate Cancer. I had done a 10k walk for Breast Cancer in 2015 and thought it would be nice to do something for the men and I was overdue in doing something physical for charity. However! When I saw the advert, my body was still dealing with my health challenges so there was no way I could do it.
In 2022 Feb, I saw the same advert. I took it as a nudge. By this time, I had built a nice gentle regime of walking and I thought maybe this time I could do it and finally do something for the men. I decided to do it. The Friday before the Monday I was to start, I had walked my 33 minutes (I had started with 10 mins and gradually built it up) and I was finished. I had done 2200k steps. I thought how on earth am I going to walk 11k steps on Monday for the many days March has?
I had already sent messages to my friends asking them to make donations so I could not back out or rather I didn’t want to make that choice. So I thought of a plan. Since I could do 2200k steps, I would do the 11k by walking 4 times a day, meaning each session, I would walk 2750 steps. Monday morning came, I did the first session, and I was ok. Glory to God! I did this for that first week, but it was an inconvenience because it was also winter and leaving the house 4 times a day was irritating. Plus, I had things to do so couldn’t be going out and walking 2 hours each time. Don’t laugh at my tortoise speed mode. You have to start somewhere, right?
On the 4th day in the early hours of the morning I had some sharp, electrocuting pains on the left side of my chest! They would come every 20 seconds then disappear. I decided to call my Dr when they opened. I explained what I had been doing and they felt at ease that it may be the body adjusting to this increase in exercise. It didn’t seem like a heart issue which is what I had feared. I took some medicine from my stash for a few days and true to form, the pains disappeared after a few days.
The 2nd week I decided I would do the steps in one go. This was the beginning of the freedom I have today while I still have my health challenges. I thank God for being the God of the illogical. I am sick but I am free In Jesus name. This was why I was given the nudge to do the challenge. I thought I was helping others but turns out in helping them I would be helping myself. I feel this is why we really have to be intentional to do things for others because it always ends up benefitting us in ways we could never imagine. It shouldn't be the motivator but definitely we should try to be of service to others.
That nudge set me on a new routine that I love and do religiously because of how it has strengthened me and allowed me to do the things I hadn’t been able to do for 2 years. It seems like a short time but when you lead a restricted life as I have, 2 years is a long time. It also meant I didn’t have to dread doing things like travelling. How will I walk through those marathon distances from the check in desk to the boarding gate? Who will help me carry my luggage? Should I ask for a wheelchair so I don’t have to push myself to do something I know I can’t? But I can walk, I just have to be on tortoise mode settings, will I allow myself to do this and not feel pressured by myself or others? Will I cope? I did not realise how I used to travel so easily before 2020.
Well Glory to God, by the time I was going to Holy Land, I was thinking, why are we not in the jetsons era where flight travel is super quick. Why does it still take long to travel to places? Brethren, the flight from London to Tel Aviv is 4 hours. Imagine how I am on my trip to Nairobi, a whole 8 hours, I rot and wilt in a pure fashion. Pray for me.
When booking the trip, the questionnaire asked if I had special needs. I mentioned I had to walk at my own pace. Thankfully there seemed to be a contingency plan if I couldn’t walk. One day, early on in the trip, the tour guide mentioned she would walk fast and anyone who couldn't keep up was better off staying in the bus. I decided I would stay in the bus. The other testimony of this trip is the group was an amazing group. The next testimony is that usually I would worry about such things. Who is going to be on the group, will I get on with them, if I don’t how will I escape them. Pray for me. I didn’t worry about it and God being God, had already worked things out in his beautiful ways.
We were like a family that had come back together for a family reunion. When some of them saw me remain in the bus, they encouraged me to just go for the tour and I said I couldn’t. Another testimony from my season of illness is I have walked with it with an acceptance that I know is only from God. I know and accept clearly what I can and can’t do and I am ok with it. I don’t let anyone get me to do anything I know I can’t because I know when my body is scalding and giving me physical discipline, it will be me and me alone with my Jesus.
One thing with some health challenges like mine, Long Covid, is that there is no visible indication that I have a struggle. So when the group was encouraging me to go for the tour, this is the place they were coming from. They see a young person, with a body build that appears steady and strong so to them 1+1= 2 i.e. you can totally go for the tour. What they didn’t realise is 1+ I doesn’t equal 2 because what looks like 1 is actually letter I.
If I was to bring awareness to Long Covid or other long term illnesses it would be this. Don’t assume an outwardly healthy looking person is 100% ok. If someone is saying they can’t do something, respectfully let it be. If you feel compelled to do something, find a way of compassionately finding out how you can be of help. This is more supportive and encouraging. From my interactions in my various support groups this is a common thing people with health challenges face. It is very easy to look on the outside and make assumptions (and not just with illness). We equate illness with obvious physical suffering, and this is not true. That is the end of my PSA.
I asked the tour guide is she really going to walk fast and she said not really so I decided to go. First of all we were 25 of us so even if she was to walk fast, she couldn’t. Secondly we were walking in a tourist place. There were lots and lots of people so even if you wanted to walk fast, you couldn’t because you have to make sure your group is together. Then, we were not on a hiking trip. There were many places to stop and learn from her. So there were systems that made it possible for me to walk at a pace where I wasn’t pushing myself and then suffering for it later. And we know who orchestrated these systems. God is Good, God is Great, God is the Best.
I was in the Holy Land for 7 days and there is no tour I missed. I saw all the places on the itinerary and floated in the Dead sea, something I never thought was anything I would get a chance to do. My health challenge has prevented me from swimming but thank God for his mighty creation that, swimming is not necessary, in fact you shouldn't because it is so salty!
What I am saying is God has made it that either the restrictions in my life are not given the power they allegedly have, because he is the one who has Power over everything and if he says I'm going to float in the Dead sea, then that is exactly what is going to happen. If he says I am going to walk more than my usual 12k steps, because I am seeing the route Jesus walked to the cross then that is exactly what is going to happen. Whatever God says is going to happen, IS GOING to happen and NOTHIGN and no one and nothing can stop him. Hallelujah! Praise God!
At the points we would get a chance to stop, I would intentionally keep standing, because I wanted to keep my momentum. And we walked! It was no joke. The only tiredness I got was from the walking which you would naturally. At the end of the day, my body didn’t put me in the naughty corner. It was happy and I was happy. Glory to God!
So when I thought I was walking for the men for the Prostate cancer challenge in March 2022, God knew, that was my training for March 2023. In March 2022 I didn’t know I would go to the Holy Land the year after. In fact, I was not even thinking about it at all. All I was thinking of was what am I going to transition to, career wise. Where am I going to get this remote dream job. When is all this going to happen because by this time I’d been working on this for 4 months. The only trip on my mind was my birthday and even then, I wasn’t thinking of it because there were more pressing things like a career transition AND finances. But God knew! Hallelujah!
He knew he would work out the career transition, he knew he would work out how I would do 31 days of 11k steps when all the while I’d only been doing a humble, very humble 2k steps, he knew he would provide the finances to keep me going through the career transition when I started not 1 but 2 courses when I finally knew what I was to do. In fact if you were to see my travel history in 2022 and 2023 you would think, my account is nice and fat. Nop!
When God's hands are on your account, you can do what he has approved you will do and the enemy that is the current global living crisis will have no hold over you. Praise God! And on that note we thank him in advance for the fattening of our accounts that he is going to do because he is Jehovah Jireh, Our Forever Provider! We thank him in advance for being our rock and protector so that no emergency crisis happens and suddenly our accounts have lost considerable and concerning weight. Amen!
He knew what was going to happen not just in 2022 but in 2023! And on that note, knows what’s going to happen next month, a big month for me in many ways and he knows what's going to happen in 2024. Me I don’t know, but going by just these events in the Holy Land where I walked like I had no illness, one of so many in my 39 revolutions around the sun (so imagine how many incidences, a lot!), I know I am in Perfect, Brilliant, Amazing, Loving, Powerful, 6 day creating, red sea parting, lions den saving, death resurrecting, Mighty hands. Hands that nothing is too hard for. Glory to God! God is Good, God is Great, God is the Best
Related verses
Isaiah 55:8-9
Genesis 18:14
Luke 1:37
Jeremiah 32:17
Matthew 19:26
Mark 10:27
Mark 9:23
Next post: 22/4/2023
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