the day before i came back to the States, i was walking on Main Street in the middle of the Pearl of Africa. we stopped at one of the shops and began talking to the shop owner. after a few minutes of conversation, there was a break and pure silence. all but the hustle of life and boda boda’s buzzing around us. it was as if this stranger and i were no strangers at all in that moment. we made direct eye contact. my heart leaning away with hesitancy but filling up with an abundance of expectancy, i asked if she could give me a Ugandan name.
without a second thought, she looked at me and with a gentle but piercing smile and soft laugh under her breath she said, “Mirembe… it means peace”. she then gave me a hug, i left that shop and began walking down the street again.
although i will never see that lady again, i know for certain that i will never forget her. that moment with her was a powerful reminder. my identity is in Christ and who He says i am… not the labels that the enemy or this world attempts to hand me.
my identity isn’t in what other people see. my identity isn’t based on what i struggle with or who i used to be. just like the lady saw and spoke “Mirembe” not knowing that i might have even had anxiety in that moment, my identity comes from my Father and what He says and speaks over me. in that moment, He was reminding me…”peace, Annie.”
i can become acquainted with peace. it is possible with Emmanuel. as i come to know Truth, i can come to know peace. His peace. sweet, heavenly peace. “you keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because He trusts in you” (isaiah 26:3). my mind settles into that. as i come to know truth, i come to know His heartbeat and what His heart beats for. My heart beats to the rhythm of His. my heart settles. it comes to know rest and peace. His rest and peace. my body begins to live in it. to know His wrap-around presence. i am surrounded by a blanket of peace, not anxiety. it’s a greater reality. i begin to know this greater reality. a heavenly one. “Mirembe…it means peace”.
what that lady didn’t know was that peace was something that was foreign and fought for, for way too long. for too many years, i let my peace be stolen. fear and anxiety controlled every decision i made and led every step i took. hindered every step i didn’t take. it ruined relationships, my future plans, and buried dreams. anxiety was a blanket i carried and wrapped around me. occasionally, my heart would experience a slight break for a breath of air but it was never for long. fear cornered me. fear paralyzed me. fear suffocated. i never knew peace. what i did know was panic. enough to be given a label. but peace is a promise from my Father.
the lady on main street reminded me of this Truth. she had no idea who i was, where i came from, what my past looked like, or what i have struggled with. she had no idea of any diagnosis i had been given or what the battle was or still is in my mind.
but God knew. God saw. God sees. El Roi, isn’t He? God’s desire was for me in that moment and every moment after that. to know peace. perfect, pure peace. in my mind. in my heart. in my body. i believe God was reminding me of the Truth through the lady on the street in the middle of the Pearl of Africa. the lady whose name i’ll never know. but God knows. and He knows and sees her battles too. oh, and won’t He remind her of the Truth, greater reality and promises that cover her battles too. that’s just who He is.
i am thankful for that lady. although i don’t know her name, He used her as a vessel to remind me of this – when He sees me, He sees Mirembe. coming under that name. speaking it, declaring it, knowing it, becoming acquainted with it. it might be foreign and hard fought for, for me or even you right now, but it doesn’t always have to be. “Mirembe, it means peace”. the more we set our minds on things above, the more we will settle into this greater reality. the promises He speaks. the promises He keeps. peace is one of those promises. may we come to know it more today than ever before. peace. perfect peace. perfect, heavenly, peace.
annie snyder 