admin
Edgar Moyana Christian Entertainment
Sometimes it makes sense to just revisit old gospel songs from your drawer or shelf and just sit down and enjoy their refreshing music. Many old gospel songs are very much well composed and their messages are timeless and still very inspiring.On this point, I’m interested however, in one very gifted musician, Mai Olivia Charamba and her Fishers of Men, whose song “Facing Challenges” released in 2008 from her album The Gospel, is still one of my favourite gospel songs to date.
I have watched the video to this song and truly speaking it is perfect. But that’s only a bonus otherwise what really captures my interest in this song is its well thought-out message of true worship and enduring faith against hardships or challenges.
The theme of the song is facing challenges and this theme is explained in song through an Old Testament bible story of Daniel 3:16.
In this story we are told of the bravery and stubborn faith of three Jewish men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who defied their Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s order commanding world-wide worship of his golden idol just because they believed in the living God.
In the story, the golden statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar bore his authority as king but also that it represented idol worship which was predominant in the kingdom of Babylon at that time.
In the perspective of the three Jews, agreeing to worship the idol, even at the threat of death was an act of rebellion against God who alone commands all manner of worship.
In her song, Facing Challenges, Mai Charamba addresses thorny situations and circumstances faced by Christians today which occasionally see them compromising on their Christian moral standards and principles.
The challenges she talks about are those stemming from our historical ancestral background where people across the world still believe in communion with the dead and revere them as gods.
Others include challenges of sickness, poverty and hunger which present huge problems especially in the face of economic challenges in today’s world.
It gains its value from the fact that after teaching real-life problems it continues to prescribe an easy way out especially for those Christians who seek to adopt a more uncompromising stance against sin or life’s temptations.
“We shall worship the lord of the fathers, the only God we know is Jehovah.
“Poverty may try to put us under pressure, we shall prevail there is God in Heaven. Hunger may try to put me under pressure, I shall prevail there is God in Heaven. History may try to put me under pressure, I shall prevail there is God in Heaven. Sin may try to put me under pressure, I shall prevail there is God in Heaven” reads some of the lyrics to the song.
The bible story quoted in the song deals with an all important Christian subject of idolatry which is counter balanced with lessons on true worship or religion represented by the trio of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Idolatry is a type of counterfeit religion experienced when people idolise certain individuals or when many put material possessions or acquisitions ahead of God.
It is also pictured when many are cowed by life’s difficulties such as poverty, hunger, sickness, marital problems, different forms of abuse and many others, where in-fact the world needed to fear and reverence only God.
The fear of life’s difficulties has only one problem for those seeking complete sanctification in Christ.
The problem is that it puts one in an uncomfortable and often compromising position where their sensibilities are tuned towards survival and comfort instead of being tuned towards God.
Because of fear of life’s difficulties or challenges many have now put money and power at the centre of their lives, replacing God.
When this has occurred one becomes a slave to sin or a prodigal child who continuously runs from God in search of comfort zones in sin.
However, what many fail to realise is that Satan who is the author of our pain and suffering has already realised the usefulness of hardships in as far as it distracts God’s people from performing their God-given duties of prayer and worship.
Mai Charamba’s song is therefore on-point as it addresses Christian’s struggle with sin and how they resist the impulse to sin as they strive to develop and maintain a stronger relationship with God.
It is a song that seeks to warn against false worship or idolatry, while at the same time seeking to remind about the sweetness of reliance, faith and trust in God.
Despite having been released six years ago, Mai Charamba’s song carries a very important message for today’s Christians who are often confronted with challenges and tempting situations in their daily lives.
It is a song for the hard-pressed but resilient Christian who may face life’s challenges but whose joy, like the trio of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is on living according to the word of God
- Feedback: [email protected]
Online Reporter