32 years ago

When I was a high school student, in grade 11, to be specific, it was 1989.  our country was going through a horrible time - political turmoil, violence - it was really not a pleasant time for many people on ground level.

as one of the "liberal" South Africans, I believed Apartheid needed to end.  it was an oppressive regime.

I also believed that I should have freedom of speech as I was planning on studying journalism and for any of my peers who were remotely interested in anything except partying at 17, you will remember that speech was VERY limited.

almost everything was censored.

long story short - we had a relatively peaceful transition to democracy.

BUT

the lead up to it, was not always peaceful.

as an intense, idealistic yet serious young person, I felt the drama unfolding inside my heart, breaking it a little by little.  my sense of FAIRNESS was so overwhelming, I just could not stand any injustice.

I am 100% sure I was not a redeemed Christian at this stage, but I knew that God was God.

I did not understand how He was in control if things looked so chaotic all around me at that stage.

it is now 32 years later.

I now have actually read the Bible a couple of times, and now I understand a little better who God is and what breaks HIS heart.

SIN.

I now know that we live in a sinful, broken world, where people are lost, desperate and fearful.

the only hope for any individual person, is Christ Jesus. He is the TRUTH, the WAY and the LIFE.

NO one comes to the Father, except through HIM.

yes, we should pray for our country - but more than that, we need to pray that individuals turn from their SIN and accept Christ as their Saviour, before it is too late.

with great freedom comes great responsibility - Christians, we have been set FREE.  let us do the responsible thing and proclaim the only PERSON that can give PEACE that surpasses ALL understanding in these trying, sad, sad times.

let's pray for the salvation of the lost.

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I was cleaning out an old cupboard this weekend and found a folder with my poems from the period mentioned above...  I was going to throw it away.

I wrote this in 1989 - 32 years ago.  I TRUST the Lord with all my heart, but the sadness I felt when I wrote this, I felt today.  I cried so hard looking at some of the images doing the round - it felt like I was in a time-warp.

May the Lord have mercy on our Country and her people

in ons land, o Heer

bewaar ons van alle oneer want

 

waar vrees en haat paar

word bloed gebaar

 

waarheen, o God

dit lyk asof alles tot

 

stillstand kom – daar’s niks meer

om vir more te gee of te leer

 

(want)

 

geen vrede of liefde kan bestaan

deur politiek sy weg baan

 

daar’s niks, Vader

en U dag kom nader

 

U alleen kan die oordeel fel

oor ons land die lewende hél.

 

wat eens tog was ‘n skone land

sonder necklace of politieke band

 

‘n land geskep uit genade

verwoes deur gruweldade.

 

ek verstaan nie meer, o Heer

hoe U u dinge uitsorteer…