Many Somalis are looking for peace in all the wrong places. Since the diaspora, that is, since many Somalis had to flee Somalia because of the civil war, Somalis are trying to find peace – but many have not been able to do so.
For many Somalis a peaceful Somalia is just a dream. Since around 1990 till today, in 2016, Somalia has been in a civil war and much of the country has been devastated by rape, extortion, murder, death, fraud, blackmail, violence, bloodshed, disease and famine. Older Somalis remember a time when peace was in the land; this was under the last Somali leader Siad Barre. Maybe some people didn’t agree with Mr. Barre’s rules for the country but at least there was peace in the land and Christians and Muslims were able to worship in their churches and their mosques.
Then a civil war started and law and order went out the window: and still today man different clans are fighting for the ability to rule the country. And so, many Somalis had to flee the country and seek peace somewhere else. Sadly enough, many Somalis still have not found their peace, even though they may have found good jobs in western countries. Many Somalis living in South Africa or elsewhere have not found peace; Somalis in Toronto, or Minneapolis, or Edmonton or Norway or Sweden also have not found their peace.
Many Somalis however, especially young men, have turned to drugs and alcohol to try and find peace. There are many Somali men who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. We at SCM see this everyday. We are able to save some by telling them the Good News that Jesus Christ can free them from their addictions, but others don’t want to listen, and for others the demon of alcohol and drugs is a very strong enemy.
The Bible says “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” So if you are someone who needs to be freed from some kind of addiction then God can help you do it. Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved.
Where do you find peace
Peace is not found in any particular country or city, or town. You cannot get peace from the earth; you can only get peace from God. And, you can only get peace from God if your sins have been forgiven.
“It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” – Isaiah 59:2
And since 1990 Somalia has made it its mission to get rid of all the Christians in Somalia: and for this the land is cursed. Groups like Al-Shabaab and others kill Somali Christians when and where they find them in Somalia: and the land of Somalia remains cursed.
You can only find peace in God, and you can only find God if you ask Jesus Christ to forgive you sins.
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18.
It says in 1 Peter 3:11
“Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.”
In order to find peace a person needs to submit their heart to God; it is not enough to bow down and worship, or read the Scriptures, or go to a house of worship: a person needs to give their heart to God and to confess to God that they are a sinner and in need of salvation.
Only when we humble ourselves and tell God that we are sinners, when we admit to God that we are in the wrong, then God will forgive us. God is not looking to destroy us or punish us, God is looking to forgive us and bless us. But He cannot forgive someone who thinks they are perfect, such a person is only proud. None of us is righteous in the eyes of God based upon our own works. We need the forgiveness of God in order to be made right with God. Righteousness comes from being forgiven, and being forgiven comes from accepting before God that you are a sinner and that on your own works and behaviour you will not go to heaven.
You can’t get peace by trying harder
Oh that Somalis would understand that the way to find peace with God is not through trying harder, or praying more, or fasting more, or eating less, or going on long religious journeys. All these are ways of trying to make yourself right with God by working hard and earning God’s approval. But God does not want you to work harder and harder to try and become righteous. Who can get rid of the desert? Who can stop the sun from shining? Who can stop the rain from falling? Who can stop the wind from blowing? Who can stop the stars from shining in the sky at night, or the moon from looking down upon the earth? Who can stop the sun from rising in the morning?
No matter how hard you try you cannot empty the ocean from all its water; no matter how hard you try you cannot make all the mountains of the world flat.
God says in Jeremiah 33:20 that if anyone can stop the sun from shining and the moon from coming out at night He will change the way man must be saved from their sins. But if you cannot stop the sun from shining, and the moon from coming out at night, then the only way to be saved from you sins will be to put your faith in Jesus Christ the Lord and Saviour sent by God to die on the cross for your sins.
God has made a way
God has a plan for you to be saved from your sins and to have peace with Him. This plan was made many, many years ago; in fact this plan was made even before the world was created. God knew that He was going to create the world and all the people in it; God knew that He was going to give people the laws that they should live by; and God knew that men, women and children would reject His laws and each would go their own way to fulfill their own selfish desires.
But God is Love. He doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. The Bible says: “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.
This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.”
Sin and disobedience were punished at the cross
All of us know that when someone breaks the law there should be some kind of punishment or fine or else no one would follow the law and do what is right. Countries need to have courts and laws or people would just steal from each other and do all kinds of evil things. This is too bad but this is reality. Laws prevent some people from doing bad things.
God gave people His laws so that they would follow Him. God spoke to Moses and gave the 10 commandments and all the other laws that the people had to follow in order to be blessed and go to heaven. People could not, and did not want to follow all these laws; and even if we want to follow all these laws, we sometimes fail and sin – sin is breaking God’s laws.
So God sent His Son Jesus Christ – His eternal Son, the eternal Word of God – in the body of a man to die on the cross and be punished for all the sins that you and I have committed. In fact, Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of the world. John the Baptist, the greatest prophet to live before Jesus Christ said: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Jesus took away the sin of the world because He was punished and died for our sins. The wrath, the anger, the punishment for our sins, and all the sins of the world, was taken out upon Jesus. He died for our sins, He was punished for our sins, and justice was accomplished through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Many people want to punish and destroy others because of their sins: God has already suffered and died for all our sins so we are able to forgive other because the price and punishment for sin has already been paid.
I am going to read a part in the Old Testament where the prophet Isaiah talks about the Lord Jesus Christ who would enter this world as a man and die for our sins. I hope you listen to it and see Jesus – the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
“Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.”