St Andrews PCEA Church - Nairobi

Word for the week:
“Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” Psalm 114:7
Thought of the week:
Unlike the mighty human presence which provokes a display of power and might based on fear, the presence of God is both powerful and mighty and driven by love.

The events of the last three days have kept me thinking hard. They have been the talk of the city folks as well as the country folks. They have dominated newspaper headlines and spiced news from media houses. It is the coming of a man who is a breath away from the topmost seat in America. One lacks words to satisfactorily describe the style and pomp in which he arrived and visited this land. It starts with his air travel which had three planes: Air force two; a Boeing 757 which carries the VP, a C-17 globemaster; a cargo plane to carry his limo and other motorcade and a C-141; to carry the US secret service and FBI. It is estimated that more than KSh 80 million was spent to keep the VP and his entourage in the air. His road travel was equally extravagant. The VP’s sports utility vehicle and a convoy of about 50 cars was part of the road package. The security measures were extra ordinary. The secret service and the FBI enhanced topnotch security while our best and dreaded Kenyan paramilitary agents kept the curious onlookers at bay.  I was dumb founded when I saw a Kenya police car taken through rigorous security scrutiny! To ice the whole situation, the VIP, his family and entourage took up all of Hotel Intercontinental.  In total it is said that the two days visit by the VP and his people costed about ksh 160 million!

The presence of Joe Biden was not just a mere presence; it was indeed a significant presence. It could not have gone unnoticed. This presence disturbed the normal life of our town, from temporally closure of some roads to huge traffic snarl-ups.  It was a presence that spoke about what is power and might, anthropological power and might.
Out of this, I took some time to think about the presence of God in our lives, places and situations. Unlike the mighty human presence which provokes a display of power and might based on fear, the presence of God is both powerful and mighty and driven by love. The strength of God is not manifested to prove his power and might but to express his love towards humanity. He doesn’t use his presence to widen the gap between Him and humanity in order to make sure we remain human beings and he remains God but uses the same to narrow the gap between us and Him. God uses his presence to enhance the absence of ungodliness in our lives and society.  He who is strong covers the weakness of the frail. The catalyst through which he accomplishes this is love.
Unlike the powerful human presence which intimidates the lowly, the presence of God encourages and lifts up the lowly. The awesome presence of God is not for himself but for us. He doesn’t need to horrify his presence to make us crumble but he uses his presence to make us humble and stand in awe because of what he has done to us with his powerful hands. God gladly invites all and sundry to his presence and this call echoes across ages; resounding in time and space. An encounter with the presence of God is an encounter with love; it is an encounter with grace beyond telling, an encounter with total healing and transformation. He calls us to encounter with the presence whose compassion brings wholeness, whose power transforms and whose love cherishes us to changing – even a greater presence.
“Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” Psalm 114:7
Kariuki This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it