WHAT I TRULY BELIEVE
- Muanniang Tunglut

Like every one of us, I wake up in the morning hoping to hear of positive developments in the night. As the day progresses, I expect to see some signs of success in our endeavour. At the end of the day, nothing has changed. It pains my heart that our cries go unheard by the earthly powers that be.

I am beginning to understand how silence can be so deafening.

Like many of us, I want results immediately. Like, right now. When things remain the same after almost a month, the anger and frustration deepens. Sometimes, I fear for the safety of my people. I fear for the future.

Recently, I came across certain views in the social media hinting at the need for a stronger/violent agitation to grab the attention of the people in power. That set me thinking.

My mind goes back thousands of years ago to the Israelites and their predicament before God delivered them from the Pharaoh's army, just before crossing the Red Sea.

There was the Pharaoh's army, with gleaming chariots and flashing weapons bearing down upon them. What a fearsome sight it must have been! The dust clouds kicked up by the thundering hoofs of Egypt's mighty horses must have been seen for miles. It is written in the Scriptures that 600 choice chariots and all the chariots of Egypt were deployed to pursue the Israelites. They were up against the entire military might of Egypt.

In front of them was the Red Sea, a vast expanse of water that would surely drown them. They were hemmed in front and behind.

The Israelites were staring at death in the face. No wonder they were very afraid. They cried out to the Lord.
Then the blame game started. They blamed Moses for taking them away from Egypt to die in the wilderness. They forgot that it was God who placed them exactly where they were.
And God spoke through Moses – 'Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord....The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace'.

I imagine how difficult it must have been for the Israelites to do nothing and wait for God's deliverance. It must have taken lots of courage and will power to remain silent. It would have entailed complete trust in God and His power. Yet, in spite of being a stiff-necked and rebellious people, they obeyed God.

I wonder what would have been the outcome if they had taken matters into their own hands. What would have happened if they had succumbed to their natural instincts to rise and defend themselves or gave in to their fears and frustrations? What if they had adopted a 'Do or Die' policy and charged at the Pharaoh's army? Or blamed one another and fought amongst themselves?

Surely, they would have perished. And God's wonderful plan for their salvation would have been foiled.

Then God told Moses to stretch out his arms over the Sea and caused the Sea to go back by a strong East wind all that night and made the Sea into dry land and the waters were divided.

It was a miracle.

Now why did God told Moses to stretch out his hands over the Sea so that He could work His miracle? Why did He use the East wind to blow a dry path in the Sea the whole night?

We all know that the universe came into existence through His spoken word. He could have said to the Red Sea, ' be parted'. And in the twinkling of an eye, a dry path would have emerged.

I believe God was showing the Israelites, his beloved children that He is in control of everything including all the elements and circumstances.

This leads me to believe that He is in control of our situation right now.

I truly believe with all my heart that God has a plan and perfect timing for our deliverance. The tribal unity that we witness is His handiwork. This is the seeding time for us to grow in love and oneness. But if we are looking at our unity from a political angle, it will not last. A unity forged out of brotherhood in Christ will only be the lasting one.

Deliverance may take a few months, a year or more, but it will surely come. We need to follow God's leading.
What scares me right now is that our impetuousness and arrogance would result in foiling God's plan. Taking matters into our own hands will only cause a major setback.
Scriptures do not tell us what the Israelites were doing while they waited for God's deliverance. But I believe they humbled themselves before God. That is what we need to do right now.

Let us recognise sin for what it really is. In God's sight, there is no acceptable sin. Selfishness, ego, pride, hatred, envy, immorality, greed, love of money, bribery, lying, cheating, etc. are all sins as much as murder. Let us humbly accept that we are all sinners and repent of our sins.

Humility calls for a change of heart. All of us– the leaders and the masses need to change. The change must come from within so that our thoughts and actions are worthy of God.

Humbling oneself is acceptance of one's inadequacy and complete dependence on God. I believe God requires us to do that right now.

I truly believe that this is the time to purge ourselves and our society of all forms of sin and grow in love and brotherhood. God is waiting for us so that He can entrust us with the great responsibility we crave.
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