“NOT YET UHURU”!
1 Samuel 19:1-2
“And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:”
1 Samuel 20:1
“And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?”
“Uhuru” means freedom in Swahili, the Kenyan language.
A Kenyan politician once authored a book and titled it “Not yet Uhuru” a popular phrase now used across the world and it simply means freedom was yet to come. In other words, it means no repose yet; not time to rest yet!
David seemed to have been sensitive to this understanding such that even though he was working in the king’s palace, he knew it was not freedom for him. (1 Samuel 18-20)
He knew he could not be careless about his position having observed King Saul’s disposition towards him (who tried to spear him to the wall and to kill him at other times). David was conscious of the call and hand of God upon his life and the fact that he was a threat to as many as cared to envy that call/anointing. He could not just let down his guard, nor let himself loose. He didn’t allow the glamour or enjoyment of the palace, the praise and applause of the people and his position as son-in-law to King Saul overshadow his sensitivity.
He knew, by being sensitive to the Spirit that all was not well and he was not going to take chances. David slept with one eye open; ate, not with his ten fingers; and walked, not carelessly within the corridors of the palace. He understood he carried in his destiny, something that the enemy (Saul had made himself an enemy) was afraid of and wanted to get him destroyed at all cost. He was so conscious of that! Status and position in the palace was not going to becloud his sensitivity!
How so often we as believers forget that as long as we are in this body, we are on a journey and it is not yet time for repose!
A song writer wrote:
Christian, seek not yet repose
Hear thy gracious Saviour say:
Thou art in the midst of foes:
Watch and Pray!Principalities and powers
Mustering their unseen array
Wait for thy unguarded hours:
Watch and Pray!
How so often we forget, when we reach some level of comfort or position or affluence, that the enemy is after the treasure you carry (the very essence of your existence and in fact your very life). How we allow sentiments and attachments to position or platforms overshadow our sense of reasoning and judgement that we often let down our guards and forget that we are on a journey and it is not time to relax yet!
David knew it was “not yet uhuru”!
Infact, he was the one that strategized his own escape from the palace and from King Saul (even though in connivance with Jonathan). Staying around and in the company of King Saul was potentially more harmful than good for his destiny. It was better to eat wild fruits in the field than to allow his destiny be wasted in the palace! He needed to guard his destiny jealously for his own palace was waiting for him in the future!
He needed to guard his destiny jealously for his own palace was waiting for him in the future!
God used Jonathan to help David escape from the palace that was ready to swallow his future. King Saul even went as far as trying to trap David by giving his daughter as wife to David! How desperate! Despite every evil strategy of Saul, David escaped from the palace!
(May you escape every tray set by the enemy against your destiny!)
As a believer, you must always live in the consciousness of the fact that you are in the midst of foes; that the enemy keeps seeking whom to devour; that you carry a treasure which the enemy may want to destroy; that you are on a journey and the glamour, cares and pleasures of this world should not becloud your understanding of this; that there are offers that the world will present to you which are actually traps for your destiny; that you should not let down your guard because it is not yet “uhuru”.
Is there a position or platform or person that is ready to swallow up your purpose in destiny? Who or what are you hanging around or involved with that are potentially dangerous to your destiny? Don’t get attached blindly hence you get swallowed up easily! You may need to flee! While there is a divine shield covering you, you may need to apply wisdom to detach yourself and flee from anything, anyone or platform that is ready to engulf your precious purpose and destiny.
Remember, it is “not yet uhuru”!
May you be victorious always. Amen!!!
©Funmi Adebayo