We Are All Here

By Sbu Ngubane

When we are overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of life, what tends to plunge us into an abyss of hopelessness is a feeling of solitude, a feeling that we are all by ourselves and no one can relate. In this book, Sbu provides perspectives that bring home the reality that amidst the gamut of challenges that we may be going through, someone else is also going through the same, if not worse.

Sbu rekindles hope and equips the reader to discover a different meaning to life and start seeing it, as well as things and events, through the eyes of meaningful purpose, while the reader's faith is being restored through the healing nuggets shared in this book.

The book takes you from a valley of hopelessness to a firm place of fulfilment and equanimity of the soul as you learn how to:

●live with contentment despite your imperfections;

●enjoy life despite its curveballs;

●adapt to changing life situations and gracefully embrace change.

About the author

Sbu Ngubane is a life coach, leadership development consultant, motivational speaker and a senior government executive. He is also the author of the popular book "Yesterday I cried".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sbu Ngubane
• Release date: Jan 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463899762

Book preview

We Are All Here

We Are All Here

S’bu Ngubane

Copyright © 2018 S’bu Ngubane

Published by S’bu Ngubane Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by S’bu Ngubane using Reach Publishers’ services,

0825619090

[e-mail]

Edited by Frankie Kartun for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Website: www.reachpublishers.co.za

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Contents

Acknowledgement

Introduction

Why are we Here?

We all Have a BUT

Your Thorn is God-Approved

Called to Enjoy and not Endure

All Here, but it Depends on what You Know

If Only

Adapting in Order to Overcome

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to thank God for the gift of life and for the Grace He has bestowed on me to work on this project, We are all here. I would also like to thank my family for their constant and immeasurable support. To all my friends, the value that you continue to add in my life is enormous.

To my fellow author in the Tiqvah Writers organisation, Apostle Neo Rathebe, thank you once more for allowing God to use you to continuously shape this vessel. Your continued unwavering support and your big heart always inspires me to do better. A special thanks to the Tiqvah family. You guys are amazing. To the Jubilee family, thank you for being a loving family.

This project would not have been complete without the golden touch of the team of well-abled men and women who each did their part in polishing this work: Rev Vikinduku Mnculwane, Zefa Nsibande, Graham Dick, Lethabo Rapanyane and Deborah Conlon-Van Der Merwe.

Introduction

"And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.’"

Paul and Silas had been going about their business and were on their way to attend a prayer meeting when they were followed by a pestering slave girl. She had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed the two, in a grossly irritating manner, prompting Paul to pray for her and cast out the spirit that possessed her.

The owners of the girl were infuriated, because Paul had put them out of business by casting out the spirit. Consequently, they seized Paul and Silas and reported them to the rulers. They trumped up charges against them, leading them to be publicly beaten and thrown into prison, with their feet fastened in the stocks.

At about midnight, when Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, there was a sudden great earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately, all the doors were flung open, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

When the jailer woke up and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped, but Paul cried out in a loud voice, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.

To the jailer's mind, everyone had escaped, he was all by himself and the worst was about to happen to him - or so he thought. It is quite shockingly interesting to observe that the first reaction of the jailer, upon discovering that the prison doors were open, was to contemplate and almost attempt suicide. He presumed that the prisoners had escaped and that their escape would be blamed on him, but he did not have the presence of mind to investigate just a little. His immediate response was to assume that the worst judgement was about to befall him. In those days, the punishment that would soon have befallen him was so tortuously unpleasant to his imagination that it would supposedly have been easier for him to sacrifice his life than to face the dire consequences. The jailer knew that keeping the prisoners incarcerated was his responsibility, so this option was, to him, the lesser evil. The threat to him was real and daunting and not just a remote possibility.

Sometimes, we hasten to judge people, not understanding what they are going through. We don’t have to condone what they do, but we certainly don’t have to condemn them, either. We often judge people on the strength of where we are and not on where they are. In the process, we lack empathy and are quick to be condescending about what we do not understand. We trivialise people's struggles, simply because we are not in their shoes.

I feel for the poor jailer. He anticipated his fate and suicide was a natural recourse under the circumstances. According to his myopic assessment of the situation, he was going to die anyway. If he was spared from death, he was certainly going to lose his job. Either way, he was doomed!

"You don’t have to kill yourself, we are all here", said Paul. Oh! What a huge relief it must have been for him to hear those words! What joy! What comfort! It turned out that, after all, things were not as bad as he had imagined.

When we are overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of life, what tends to plunge us into the abyss of hopelessness is a feeling of solitude, a feeling that we are all by ourselves and have no one to relate to. It is comforting to know that whatever we may be going through in life, we are not alone. We are in the company of many. Many of those surrounding us are going through what we are troubled with; as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 Verse 13, no trial has overtaken you that has not been - or is not being - faced by others.

We are among the dejected and the rejected, the downtrodden and the broken:

• Just a few blocks away from us are those who are deeply hurting and sorrowful.

• We are in the company of those who have failed too many times.

• We are surrounded by billions who are ravaged by sickness and have to rely on drugs to make it through each day.

• Among us are many who are economically bankrupt and those who live from hand to mouth.

• We live with many who do not know their biological fathers or mothers.

• Many amongst us live with this one, but wish they were with that one.

• Our society is made up of those who harbour deep secrets that no one knows about.

• We are among a community of people struggling with regrets, wishing that they could go back in time and fix things.

• We hang around many who passionately resent their jobs.

• We are in the company of those caught up in vicious cycles of unwanted things in their lives.

• We walk amongst many struggling with feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

• All over the world are those who have been waiting, waiting and waiting for some breakthrough.

There is a gamut of challenges in which we are all embroiled, but the greater truth is that We are all here!

It seems that everyone has his or her own secret battle waging in his or her soul. The very first family on Earth, Adam and Eve, already had huge issues. They were the first to know of the crime of murder. Sadly, the murder involved one of their own - their very own son killing his own brother. The very first family on the earth was already dysfunctional, fraught with jealousy, anger and strife, and prone to pain.

Every family that followed thereafter inherited this dysfunctionality. It is a continuous struggle that started with the fall of Adam. Consequently, each one of us has his or her own struggles. Even the ones who lived before us, our forebears, our grandfathers and grandmothers were up against incredible odds in various shapes and sizes; all had their share of pain. They have since migrated to form part of yet another group - the cloud of witnesses.... We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" So, we are in the company of two groups: the ones we live with, each struggling with his or her own issues, and the ones who are witnesses in Heaven. The latter ones are those who are watching us from above. They are cheering us on to Glory. They are hoping we will not give up, but run with endurance, finish the race and obtain victory, just as they did! We are not alone. We are in great company.

Whether we are aware of it or not, we are in the company of many struggling with the same issues as us, if not worse. Sometimes people's smiles and happy postures can be a facade designed to mask struggles or weaknesses. Only when people open up to us do we then realise that, actually, we are better off. The open jail doors were misleading to the jailer, until he heard Paul assuring him that all was well. The fact that we do not see the cloud of witnesses with our physical eyes does not mean that it is not there, just as the fact that we do not see the air we breathe does not mean it is not there, either.

When we are overwhelmed and under pressure, at times throwing in the towel becomes the only natural recourse for us. It is easy to think that no one can relate to us, that no one cares and we are all by ourselves. However, as we continue living and as we interact with people, we realise that others are facing similar or even worse struggles than us. We are in the company of many. We are all here!

1

Why are we Here?

Now David, after he had served God's Purpose in his own generation, fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.

The Bible records a captivating episode of a cute baby boy, who was discovered on the bank of the Nile River by an Egyptian princess. The princess had gone to bathe with her servants when she discovered a basket among the reeds. Out of curiosity, she opened the basket. She was not ready for what she found - a cute little baby!

The princess discovered the baby just in time. Had the baby stayed in the river for too long, he would surely have died. So, in order that the baby would survive, Providence brought the princess to the place where the infant lay in that basket. But, because God is so rich in Purpose, He orchestrated the right people to be at the right place at the right time. The baby was not meant to die, but to live, for the baby was carrying something special - God's Divine Purpose! The princess adopted the baby as her own and