Marty Haugen, one of my favorite composers of spiritual music, had a song on his CD, Turn My Heart, called Bambelela. Originally a South African spiritual hymn, Haugen’s arrangement was haunting – “got into the bones” – and called listeners to sing, sway or full-out dance. Bambelela means “Never give up.” Repeated over and over the message cannot be missed: “Never, never, never, never, never, oh…never, never give up.” (Bambe, bambe, bambe, bambe,bambe, oh…bambe, bambelela). Haugen throws in a couple of particulars along the way: “In times of trouble…when you’re in pain…” but for the rest it is 2:49 seconds of the repetition. One certainly cannot miss the message.
Today’s text from the Acts of the Apostles introduces Gamaliel, a respected teacher of the law in the Sanhedrin, who is remembered for a very wise piece of advice to his colleagues who were gathered to judge the Apostles present before them. He spoke of other religious movements that had come and gone and then said, “If this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” (ACTS 5:38-39) Good news for the Apostles and wise commentary for our lives as well.
I am reminded also by this example of the adage, “Trust in the slow work of God.” It’s easy to get discouraged if our pet projects don’t seem to be producing what we’ve desired as outcome. I doubt any of us has escaped such a situation in the totality of life. Never giving up and/or trusting in the slow work of God is not exactly at the heart of the 21st century culture in the United States of America.
Today I plan to look back to the times when I had to wait in order to see clearly the hand of God in my life. Perhaps this practice will strengthen my resolve to “hold on” for future outcomes, trusting that if I put each effort solidly in the hand of God, all will be correctly ordered in God’s time.
