The Presence

The Presence

He never knew his parents

He grew up in an orphanage

Always feeling rather unloved and unwanted

The feeling was by no means a fault of the orphanage

He was loved and cared for as much as they could

But he was in a herd

Not in a home

Not with his parents!

There was nothing he wouldn’t give to live with his own parents

Or even with an adopted parent

But he was never favoured for adoption

He was very short, fat and totally undesirable

If he was a prospective adopter, he wouldn’t adopt himself!

Yet he dreamt and prayed

That his parents would come looking for him or he would get adopted

There are so many things a parent does in one’s life that those blessed with parents take for granted

One of such is a sense of identity

And a sense of belonging

You know you have a right to be in that family

You trace your own family tree

You know who your parents, grandparents and great grandparents are

You hear stories and tell stories

You get entrenched into the family nous

You have cousins, second cousins, distant cousins, uncles, aunties

You are a strong part of a chain

Without you the chain is incomplete

But not so for an orphan

You are a single leaf at the mercy of the wind

You are not even sure your own name is your name

Sometimes you wonder whether someone came to drop you off at the orphanage with an imaginary name

Or like Nelson Mandela, you were brought in on a day when all the children were named after a particular alphabet

You cannot tell if the circumstances surrounding your birth was healthy or unhealthy

You were just here

Unloved, unwanted, alone and on your own

You cannot look forward to a future of normalcy

When you marry, your parents won’t be there

You have to tell whosoever you were marrying that you have nobody

Your in-laws would be skeptical

Why was it you don’t have a family history?

Your spouse wouldn’t have anybody to talk to when you misbehave

Nobody will have your back when push comes to shove

Forget it, you cannot have a normal life

You are only better than the dead and the homeless

At least you have a roof over your head and you are safe

Also your parents don’t need to worry about your feeding and school fees

You are the property of a societal conscience scheme

What a life!

His disdain for his circumstances ran really deep

But nobody knew

He kept a smiley face and a cheerful disposition

He had learnt to mask his inadequacies

Pretend all was well with the world

Smile at the right people, laugh at the right jokes

But alone in the night or with his thoughts

The sinking sand would return

The façade would melt

He would drown in a cesspool of fear and uncertainty!

It affected his social skills

Why would anybody want him?

He was either over loving somebody and becoming a pest

Or under-loving somebody and becoming a jerk

He was prone to jealousy

He sought attention like his life depended on it

He had deep psychological issues

All he could do was cope like anybody else

He got into the university

Some campus fellowship representatives approached him

Helped him with his registration

Helped him settle in

They invited him for their programme

He attended

He was no alien to the Jesus thing

His orphanage was an offshoot of a church

He could preach better sermons than their preacher

The preacher finished his sermon

Invited a brother to lead prayers for fifteen minutes

The brother got on the altar

Everything changed

There was something alluring about him

He didn’t dress like their fellowship leaders

He wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt

He lifted up his arms

Asked them all to do the same

He raised a song

“Your presence is heaven to me”

The presence yielded

He had never experienced anything like it

With his arms raised and his eyes wide open

The tears started streaming from his soul

Slowly at first and then it gushed!

The man in Jeans and T-Shirt started worshipping the Lord

Calling him by intimate names

It was not the words, he had heard them before a million times

It was the words from his lips

The way he addressed God!

He knew God!

Whoa!

The Holy Spirit tore the room into pieces

Fire ignited in their bones

It was not just him

It was everybody

He gave his life to Jesus right there

No altar call, no fanfare

He started speaking in tongues too

Right there and then

The atmosphere within his soul changed totally

He was set free within himself

He felt the love and the touch of God

He was no longer an orphan

He didn’t know how

Something fundamental had happened

His core was replaced

He went into that service within himself

He left that service without himself

He went into that meeting a timid bat

He left that meeting an eagle

It was such a joyous transformation

He was loved!

He was special!

Jesus changed his life forever

Hallelujah!!!

 

PS: There is nothing like knowing the Lord Jesus

Ask Jesus to come into your heart right now as you read this

He is there with you, waiting for your invitation, let him in