Chronicle Editor
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
SIBANGILIZWE Ndlovu recalls how he came close to committing suicide twice in his life. Each of those two times, the walls of ruthless life had seemingly come crashing on him. There seemed to be no hope, nor way out.
“I attempted suicide twice in my life. In both instances I felt a vacuum in my heart, deep emptiness. I didn’t feel loved. The devil wanted to kill me young. I used to cry a lot alone. I didn’t love my life,” he writes in his book titled Rest, the unforced rhythm of grace.
The 164-page book is a testament of his life and details the difficulties of “a Christian life using self-effort”.
“I was born again, loved God and in my love for God I was dragged down the path of religion in the law and I had to work hard to achieve what Christ had already secured for me,” he said from his Brisbane, Australia base.
When the truth came to his heart with so much power and conviction, the Bulawayo-born pastor decided to pen a book and share the good news.
“I felt like the whole world needed to know this. I had to let go and God took over. The underpinning lesson in the book is that one needs to let go so that God can take over.”
In the absence of letting go, Ndlovu is convinced the believer is often working hard to drive their life forward.
“When you drive your life by your own strength, God is hands off, which is where the message comes from,” he added.
He is, however, quick to explain that rest as presented in the biblical verse Matthew 11 verse 28 does not mean one has to be lazy and relax.
“When I started teaching this message in Australia, people thought rest meant inactivity where the believer ceases to pray or fast. But rest is actually believing in Jesus Christ and trusting in Him more than yourself.”
He further explains that fervent, consistent prayer, the study of the word and fasting are sheer demonstration of one’s dependence on God.
The University of Zimbabwe alumni said it took him five years to complete the book, which was released on 29 March 2021. His conviction is that the book is applicable to everyone including married couples, religious leaders and their flock.
“For the pastor, it will change the way they teach and preach. It takes away the supremacy of the man or woman of God and everyone focuses on Jesus Christ. It will help someone struggling in their marriage to get their marriage back on track. We cease to focus on each other and we focus on Christ because grace removes the exercise of constantly looking at each other’s performance and looks at the performance of Christ at the cross of Calvary,” he explains.
Ndlovu then explains that the entire Bible is God-breathed and is suitable for rebuke. He added that if one uses the right lenses, they will see Christ right from the book of Genesis to Revelation.
“The Old Testament is a shadow of Christ; we see Christ in the whole testament. If you use the wrong lenses, you will see no Christ, the Jews don’t see Jesus.”
He warns that there is “a lot of behaviour modification being preached on our pulpits”. He notes that while different denominations agree on the depravity of sin, how to get rid of sin is where the difference comes in.
“I strongly believe the rest message gives the believer the true way out of sin. Rest is believing that Christ is capable of changing my behaviour.”
The book is available online as an e-book while the paperback is sold on Amazon. Distributors in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana are also selling the book.
Bongani Ndlovu