Look into my eye and tell me what you see.

 

A few years after the completion of the Tigray and Ethiopian war, I went to church, and a brother was preaching that day. His preaching was dark and angry, and he never stops to point fingers at the “enemy side” by using the bible as a reference. Every biblical verse is explained by atrocities of the war against the Tigray people, and what the enemies of Tigray did. It was really sad to listen to it because I could open the radio to listen to that gibberish which poisons the mind. Besides, I was as angry as he was a few months ago but the bible has a way to heal you, and God has a way to heal you.

 

I had all reason to take sides because "kill them all" was the online chant dominating the online and broadcasting media. But I should have taken the side of God rather than political parties. I should have taken the hand of God than people. I should have taken the shield of God than the shield of political parties. Finally, I did learn I was wrong. When I was healed, it was uncomfortable to listen to similar gibberish coming from another mouth. I was him but I could not listen to "me in him" anymore. That is because I started listening to the bible than the radio. What is surprising is the same person after a few months was preaching Philippians. His word is to focus on heaven rather than earthly politics, ethnicity, and the way of earth. He is transformed in a few months. That was a day of glory because I have seen anger, hate, and indignation dying out, and faith rising. This is where I want to focus, dears.  

   

If you go to Tigray and look around, you will never see the Ethiopian flag anywhere. When there is a marriage or funeral, there is no national flag but a regional flag. You may see some flags in federal offices and that is it. You may cry loud saying this is an abomination and you may add we need to correct it by word of faith. After all, you do believe your mouth can create things (by word of faith) and it is easy for you to claim it. So claim it and prove to us, those who say that whatever we speak in faith if and only if it is the will of God will happen, wrong. Here are people who are ethnic-centric, make them otherwise and prove us wrong.

 

My focus is not on building Ethiopianism or Tigray-centrism; my focus is to look toward God and to know that we are one ethnic group, as the ethnicity of Abraham, Jesus, and God. We are Jesus’s own first and for most before we can be anything else, then after. I love my brother, whether he is TPLF, Prosperity Party, Fano, Kero, or whatever label he has.  

 

There are people that I listened to on TV a few years ago supporting Fano, with the bible, but I know they are good soldiers of the faith. I have also knowledge of good faithful from the Kero group that are fighting the political fight with the bible. I have seen Prosperity Party supporters who are good faithful people and with political luggage of their own. We also have many faithful people in Tigray, who support TPLF too. In the New Year, there was a gathering of all faithful in Mekelle. The big meeting hall was not adequate, there was a scarcity of chairs (as our number is climbing), and the faith leaders made us pray for the unity of “our ruling party” and the territorial integrity of the region. After all, they are also fighting the political fight with the bible too.

 

You have a word of faith. You believe that if you claim it, you will have it. Since you claim hard that you are a goat, though I know the goat skin is above the sheep's body, you can play a children's game with this thing to waste your time until your father shows you who you really are. So, please claim it to solve it, and prove us wrong. This is a good playing ground for your immaturity, but we have serious problems to deal with. I have the problem of faith in disarray and I am working on it, and God is merciful to show me fruit too. Dear, fruit is everywhere, and thank God. I have seen changes and I am happy my leap of faith was justified by God. The problem is the work is started but not even 0.0001% is completed, the journey ahead is long and hard. You have a word of faith, the language, and here is the problem (ethnic politics), so speak a word of faith and solve it, dear. We are working with fruit, so work dear, and show your fruit. Speak and solve it, and this will be your little toy to play around. So let the adults do the adult thing, dear. A son as long as he is an infant is beneath the salves, though he is lord of all, and you are still an infant.     

 

I want to know the will of God, so I can claim in line with the will of God. I know whatever we ask, which is in line with the will of God, will be granted to us. That is why I focus on knowing the will of God to do as he wills rather than on my word. Dear, I am too stupid for my future to hang in my mouth, and that is why my future is in the hands of God. I am a slave, and my joy is in knowing the will of my master to do them. I know when my master is happy with me, I am a happy person. Happy God is happy life, dear.

 

That is why I think if there is love between faithful, based on our common love of Jesus, our differences can be handled easily. We cannot be united on what divides us. But, we can be united on what unit us, Jesus. On that foundation, Jesus’s foundation, and with a deep love for each other, we can talk to each other about any problem. What is impossible by hate and war is possible by love. We can be one nation or many nations, we can be without ethnic politics or not, we can be left or right, we can be this or that, and so on, but it must be with love. Love in the name of the lord comes first.

 

I am not saying we should be one nation without ethnic politics, I am not saying who owns what, I am not saying ethnic politics is the future, I am not saying Ethiopia needs sea access, I am not saying our diplomatic fight with Egypt is justified, I am not saying Eretria is wrong or right, and I am saying nothing of this earth. I am saying whatever problem we have and whatever future we have is better handled with love than hate.

 

Let us unite in what unites us, and we should know the love of Jesus is above everything else. No identity is comparable to our identity as faithful. Everything is secondary and not even comparable. If our life is 90% Jesus and 10% everything else, then our difference in the 10% will not destroy our unity in the 90%. The problem is Jesus is 40-50% (if not less) of our life and everything else is 60-50% (if not more). Now it is easy to kick Jesus to the curve when we are hot and angry on any issue. They kill Tigrians, so kill them all follows. I was there and I know when I turn to such an idea. It was when my faith was almost dead, because I thought Jesus hated me, and I was very earthly as a result. That is why our identity needs rebalancing, our life has to be dominantly, to the level of significant majority (75%) and above, built on Jesus.

 

On Jesus’s foundation and his commandments, we can address every problem we have as faithful with love, tolerance, and respect. Even though people who never ride the political elevator do talk gibberish that they don’t know, we know that elevator enough to stay out of it. Do you want to ride it up and down, as you are new to it and children do also do that? Ride it, dear. Changing minds is what you speak, but it is what we are created for. You speak it, we live it. What we know from experience, not theory, is that changing dirt with other dirt will take us nowhere. Changing Jesus in place of the world, however, will take us to heaven. That is why our focus is not on how to solve political problems, but on how we can create conducive conditions for people to find solutions.

 

If we are united in Jesus, faithful from Amhara and Tigray can speak with the bible in their hand. Kero and Fano can listen to each other with the watchful eye of the lord and the guidance of the bible. We are faithful after all. The problem is our faith is secondary to our politics and ethnic identity. That is why our political identity and politics are destroying our faith. First things first, let us build the faith right. Let us make Jesus our first and most important identity, and then after we can speak about other things with the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The Spirit of God will make us right, but first, let us have the Spirit of God and that is by making Jesus our first.

 

Remember, if Somalia and Ethiopia are at war, we are not crying to kill them all. We are praying for the lord to give us a peaceful land. Our interest is to convert the Somali people to Jesus not to kill them. Our focus is not on the port, which is the problem of politics, but on building Jesus in Somalia. If Egypt and Ethiopia are at war, we are not interested in cursing Egypt or fighting Egypt. No, we will pray for peace for all people, so we can buy Egypt and all Ethiopia to Jesus. We are faithful first and everything else next. I am my 90%, not my 10%. What makes you sad is the country is burning, what makes me sad is billions are going to burn in hellfire forever. Do you see the difference in our identity? You are sad people are poor in commodity, but I am sad people are not poor in spirit. I want people to be hungry for the spiritual world of Jesus, you want them to have power in this world. Dear, you are sheep in cloth of goat, I am not buying your goat things but selling you sheep things, therefore.

 

My dream is not to see when my word becomes God. My dream is when my mouth speaks nothing but the word of God, because I am taken over by the Holy Spirit into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. My dream is to look like the lord now and that is what I pray for all of us. I am praying for wealth from heaven, Jesus, not dirt of this earth. This earth is a gift, a worthless gift for that. I am waiting for the day when I will be working for lord. Until then I am flying with wings of eagle upward because I am waiting on the lord. Waiting while being smarter, being wiser, being stronger, and being better, in step by step fashion, until I am given work to do by the Lord of Armies himself. You are showing your best, and this is my training day, dear.

  

When the governments in Ethiopia, Somalia, Egypt, Sudan, Eretria, and soon have political directions, fights, agreements, and disagreements, our bible is not a tool of their political choice. My master is in heaven and I live to serve him not the political views of this world. My gospel is the gospel of peace from heaven not from the government palace. My message is the same today and forever, either this happens or that happens. My gospel is not written by political leaders to serve their needs, but by the Holy Spirit to serve the wishes of the Heavenly Father. I have the gospel of peace to all, and politics, nationality, ethnicity, and all other identity is beneath me. This gospel is not about Ethiopia but about Jesus. May the lord take the goat skin out of your life, to show how beautiful sheep you are from inside. Until then children play with childish things and buy toys for childish amazement, but adult people have to focus on adult things, dear. This thing is for adults, dear, and you will understand when you grow up that nobody is Good except God.