#Ngarishachallenge

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Have you noticed how fond we have become of challenges lately? Ice-bucket challenge. Mannequin challenge. Museveni Challenge. When did we become so eager to test our mettle? Maybe it's the thrill of doing something difficult? Maybe it's the sense of accomplishment that comes with surmounting whatever obstacle you face? Whatever  reason it may be, this enthrallment with challenges doesn't appear to be ending any time soon.

Not to be one to be left behind, I too plunged head-first into this sea of challenge. I do it quite often matter of fact. My challenge is the Ngarisha challenge. A long, long time ago, long before I was born or even a concept, legend has it that a group of sages converged at secret location. It is believed that these men engaged in extensive discussions.The aftermath of that meeting led to consequences that have reverberated in households over the world for centuries. Dishes are not to be washed by men they said. A lady’s job, they said. Sons shouldn’t be found in the kitchen or near the sink for that matter, they said. I, for one, refute those claims. Not only do I disapprove of them, but I am an exception to the rule, I am a living embodiment to the contrary. I delight in washing dishes. Delight and wash dishes! In the same sentence? Yes, you saw right, I do. There is something therapeutic about working with my hands. Not to mention it is God-glorifying as I share in God's nature of being a worker God but now in human ways.

I find fulfillment in clasping a scouring pad  and scrubbing the living daylights out of a piece of crockery, tupperware, or even a pan. Matter of fact, a pan will form the subject matter of my blog today because it stands heads and shoulders above the rest when it comes to dish washing. It is the reason behind the Ngarisha challenge. Friends, without further due, please give it up for the Ugali pan.

The Ugali pan deserves a standing ovation for it has certainly outdone itself. The ugali pan is the undisputed no 1 when it comes to the toughest dish to wash. Let’s just say, if dishes had an EPL, The Ugali Pan would be Mancity, winning the title of ‘most difficult dish to wash’ by a canter.  It is a class apart and  streaks ahead of everything else, sometimes virtually unplayable at their best and almost unbeatable. I reiterate almost unbeatable because a certain team from Merseyside, even without Coutinho, proved Mancity are human after all and the same goes for the ugali pan.Well, the Ugali pan isn't human but you catch my drift, right. I mean the Ugali Pan isn't invincible.

Unquestionably, the Ugali pan represents the most formidable challenge in terms of dish-washing. Sometimes one takes a look at the charred bottom, the embedded Ugali crust on the sides of the pan and one can immediately succumb to the crushing feeling of defeat. However, just like Mancity, Ugali pans can be put to their place and here’s how.

First and foremost, after laboring to cook the meal dubbed, ‘corn-meal mush’, soak the pan, preferably in soapy water for at least 6 hours. That is to say, fill the pan with soapy water. That ‘tenderizes’ the ugali that has caked itself on the sides of the pan. The ugali is left with no option but to say sayonara to the sides of the pan. After 6 or so hours have elapsed, you can drain the water and the ugali sediments out of the pan. Level 1 is complete. Here is now when things get difficult.

At the base of the pan, reposed defiantly, will be dark soot stains.  Trust me when I say, they will offer determined resistance. Yours is not to yield but to persist. Scrubbing with all your might with supabrite will not dislodge these villainous rogues of impunity. These stains will sigh at your pathetic attempts to dislodge them from the pan. They will goad you to try harder and give you the impression they are leaving when covered with soap lather but as soon as you rinse the lather off, the stains will say, “Pickaboo.” They will have the nerve to belittle you with “Is that all you got?” This, dear friends calls for drastic action, this calls for Liverpool-like action.

Ditch the Supabrite scouring pad and arm yourself with Steel Wool, the equivalent of the Fab 3 of Salah, Mane and Firmino. Now as the Effervescent front three of Liverpool showed, press relentlessly and be ruthless in putting away your chances. Scrub as if your life depended on it. Scrub upwards, downwards, sideways, clockwise, counterclockwise. When your hands get tired, pepper that pan with soap, sodium bicarbonate, vim and/or axion. Do not relent my friend. Rinse the pan and then sprinkle the pan with a generous amount of baking soda or vim, pour water just to coat the stained base and bring it to the boil. Take it off the stove and scrub the base of the pan with that hot water, vim, baking soda mixture. Those sooty stains may be tough but they aren’t that tough. They can not withstand such relentless pressure. Begrudgingly, the stains will be forced to raise the white flag.

Your right arm or left arm's biceps will be put to task more than bicep curls would have required them to work. No pressure, si you said you wanted to lose the fat, the kitchen will be your gym in the most unexpected of ways. Eventually the stains will submit. You need to make a statement to these stains. Just who do they think they are? Don’t answer that, I’ll tell you. They are nothing. I will emphasize that,NOTHING. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. And after all that scrubbing, that’s what they become, nothing. Those stains are forced to disintegrate to nothingness, never to be seen again.

As you can tell from the above excerpt, I put my negative energy to constructive use. No point in going to Social Media and ranting about everything under the sun, take your frustrations out on those stains. They are the real enemy.

You may have come to the conclusion that I have lost the plot. Rest assured, I am perfectly normal. Haven’t been to a psych ward and I don’t intend to. Where am I going to with all this you may ask? To answer that, scripture in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 likens Christians to jars of Clay who possess within them the treasure of the gospel. In a sense, we Christians are vessels with the treasure of the gospel and by extension, the capacity to be filled with the Holy Spirit. However, as vessels, we have been marred by sin and iniquity. We possess stains that we struggle to rid ourselves of. Oft, we lose heart because try as we might, the stain of our sins and iniquities remain embedded in us. They refuse to be dislodged.

We despair when despite our best efforts, we relapse to our past sins. We  take matters to our own hands and figuratively speaking,scrub, scrub and scrub only to find that our human, ‘supabrite’ scrubbing does little to remove the tough stain. The stain of sin defiantly stands its ground in our lives. It doesn’t flinch, and coupled with the Devil, it mocks us when we succumb to temptation. For those who put their faith in Jesus, that Stain was dealt with a long time ago.

It was cancelled by Jesus’s one time sacrifice on the cross. Jesus, rolled up his sleeves, and took on the stain head on. There was only ever going to be 1 victor and that was him. His blood and his body nullified the stains of an entire planet on the cross. He scrubbed and the result was that we are spotless. His cleansing work on the cross was all-scrubbing, all cleansing, all stain-erasing more than soap, baking soda, vim and steel wool combined.

The thing is that our salvation from sin isn’t just a one-time event. Putting our faith in Jesus does not  mean we can rest easy and rest our feet on the couch all the way to heaven. Sin may have been cancelled but its influence still looms large and we have been suckers for it. We fall prey to the temptations of our sinful nature time and time again and enslave ourselves to sin. Now, it takes Jesus lifelong scrubbing through the Holy Spirit in us, to help us rid ourselves of sin over a lifetime.

A lot of people mistakenly think that victory over sin is always earned instantaneously. They think getting saved means struggle with sin is no more.  Some sins fall under that category. The bulk of them are a life-long struggle. Thankfully, Jesus did not leave us helpless. He gave us his spirit who helps us overcome these stains day by day. Sometimes our sinful tendencies may appear insurmountable. The Holy Spirit empowers our will to say "No" to them.(Titus 2:11-14) The Holy Spirit reminds us of Christ’s larger than life sacrifice on the cross which emboldens us not to give in. The Holy Spirit enables us to find satisfaction in Jesus instead of the fleeting satisfaction of sin.

Our stains may have us believe they are unbeatable. They are wrong. They were defeated a long time ago, the onus is on us to take hold of the victory Jesus earned through faith. The impetus is for us to trust God to satisfy us rather than our stains. The imperative for us is to draw on his strength and his grace to say no. Some require weeks, others months, others years but make no mistake, our God is able to bring into completion the work he started in us.(Philippians 1:6) As he save us from the influence of sin and conforms us to be more Christ-like, he enables us to wipe out these stains one by one.

To the onlooker, it may seem the stubborn stains will never be dislodged despite the constant prayers, retreats, purity resolutions etcetera. As a result, frustration wells up in your heart the moment you fall for the umpteenth time. You may fear confessing it to a believer or a small group because you think they will feel you don't have your life all together. It may seem you’re entrapped to a pattern of victory-falling-victory-falling. You have nothing to be ashamed about. The Christian life is one of repentance. It is one of pursuing perfection and catching excellence in-between despite the occasional falls here and there. God’s cleansing grace is bigger than your stains. The Stubborn stain is no match for his cleansing blood and the relentless sanctifying work of his Spirit. No matter how long it will take, when he’s done scrubbing, sanctifying you through and through, you will be clean and rid yourself of those sooty stains once and for all.

What’s your stain? Is it a difficulty forgiving others that manifests occasionally as a siege mentality? Is it a difficulty forgiving yourself for being naive in the past? Is it an addiction to either one of alcohol, drugs, pornography or gambling or all three? Is it a slothfulness that ensures you’re unable to wake up early to have quiet time with God? Is it a tendency to take lustful glances at people of the opposite or the same gender and undress them in your mind? Is it an eagerness to please everyone, placing your identity in their validation to the point of compromising your beliefs and values? Is it a fear to speak out your beliefs and convictions at the thought of being ridiculed or marginalized and labelled, a hater? Is it a propensity to flaunt your material possessions, your good deeds or even your physical looks to showcase your sex appeal?

Whatever the stain, whatever your iniquity, Jesus is more than able to sanctify you from it. By his grace, you will have your victories and the stain will disintegrate gradually. Never throw in the towel and despair if it’s taking forever or you relapse to the old habits. He picks up the righteous and cause them to rise again,(Proverbs 24:16) so rise up and keep on trusting him and obeying him so that he may work in you to will and act according to his good purpose.(Philippians 2:13) Keep on abiding in him, keep on pursuing his righteousness. You know he secured your victory centuries ago, he will gladly give it to you if you ask him for it and accept his help whatever it might cost you.

Even as a charred vessel, he still has use for you. He won’t discard you, but he will take you as you are and use you, whilst cleaning you in the process. He will enable you to conquer your stain, no matter how stubborn it appears to be. He will sanctify you through and through and ngarisha you in a way you never could.