I would be lying if I said I wasn’t crushed in spirit and broken hearted in the past week by all that has been going in on the continent of Africa, especially in my dear country Nigeria. I am absolutely sure that I only saw a glimpse of it all on media but still I was gutted and shattered in my spirit.
The only place where I was strengthened was in the place of prayer by myself and with brothers & sisters in faith. I also prayed and still pray for as many who might be crushed in spirit, weakened, traumatized by all that is happening around them. I pray the good Lord shines His light through every darkness around us and give us new strength in Jesus name.
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I have thought long and hard about the root causes of our problems in the continent of Africa, I may ascribe the cause of our problems to many things like the sins of our forefathers, our the sins of our present generation, or the greed of our leaders, corruption, and the list may just go on and on.
And as my pondering continues, I have come to conclusions that:
Our Problems may be multifaceted & deeply rooted but nonetheless God is willing and able to reveal these secrets to His children only if we give ourselves to it. Daniel is an example we can refer to; he was passionate about his land Jerusalem which more or less in a desolate state. This burden he felt, drove him to researching and seeking God’s face in prayer to enquire the root of their problems. And God who is good and reveals deep and secret things to His children took Daniel to the prophecies of Jeremiah. After reading the prophecies of Jeremiah, Daniel understood the reasons for their misery and that it may last longer than he expected.- Daniel 9:1-2
This insight informed his decision to confess the sins of his ancestors, fast and pray for his dear land, Jerusalem- Daniel 9:3
And as deeply rooted and multifaceted as our problems maybe, God has created us so dynamic that we may be able to solve different problems that may be stagnating our dear countries. These problems are not just for one person to solve. It is for everyone of us to play our part, either in prayer or in works.
It involves Praying & working to solve things: I have heard sermons where we are encouraged to not just pray but also exercise our faith. And like I shared here, God needs men to carry out activities here on earth. For example, there had to be a deliverer to lead the Israelites out of bondage, the Israelites had to pack their things, they had to decide to walk on their legs out of bondage. In the same light, as we pray and trust God for deliverance, peace and progress, we need to make Holy spirit inspired moves and not just seat down and say it is well, it will be well.
It is up to us to give ourselves to genuinely loving God : I am learning that the more of God we drink, the more in love we are with God, the more we are in tune with Him and willing to make Him happy. And the more time we spend with Him, He points us to things on earth He does not like and directs us on how to make amends. Many times it comes as burdens in our hearts. When overwhelmed with these burdens placed in our hearts by God, we can start by praying about them, take the next step as directed by Him and keep praying about it until that problem is solved.
Moses was so burdened by the oppression of his brothers and sisters in Egypt and he allowed his emotions control him for a minute. His burden, then emotions he felt from the burdens led him to kill one of their oppressors – Exodus 2:11. But this did not take away the oppression.
His emotions at that time were so valid, I have felt the same way about the state of things in my country. But He could have sought God’s face at that time in order to help out.
It is up to us to Understand the times and seasons : More than a couple of chapters in the book of John have statements like, “For it was not yet His time…..”. This is a pointer that there is a great significance for timing, understanding it and acting in accordance. I believe having this gift as a believer is such a great deal just like the sons of Issachar.
I strongly believe that the Holy spirit was so specific in describing these men in I Chronicles 12:32 to show us things. The bible tells us that they understood the times and seasons and because of this, they were able to choose the precise number of chiefs to go to war with.
Like what can be more beautiful! I can compare this gift with the ability to forecast the weather; when it is done accurately, we are able to fully gear ourselves properly for the forthcoming weather.
Our ability to know the times and seasons is to be in constant sync with the Holy spirit. He will guide us into all truths always.
Lord help us to be so sensitive and attentive to the Holy Spirit in Jesus name.
It is up us to give ourselves to obeying God per time : I personally know that there are a million and one reasons why we may hesitate to obey God ranging from lack of boldness, lack of complete faith in God, the feeling of incompetence. But like our father of faith, Abraham we need to trust God completelty and just take the first step and keep praying and asking God for direction on the journey.
We never grow in our comfort zone but this isn’t about us now. This is about the world around us at large, it wouldn’t change if we do not obey God’s instructions to change things.
We need to keep declaring and confessing great things about our land: Instead of relegating our lands, territories to absolute destruction and hopelessness with our mouths. Let us consciously confess Godly things upon our lands because whether we like it or not, our mouths have great power to call forth things that we confess.
The whole world needs us, the church, believers in Christ to shine the light so bright in all dark corners of the world. More than ever, I have better understanding that God saved me and every single believer for specific reasons here on earth. He didn’t save us just for ourselves, He has saved us, restored our authority, dominion to declare & establish His kingdom here on earth.
It is not just in the hands of the government to fix things, it is up to us. Leonard Ravenhill summed it all up for me in the title of chapter nineteen of his book – why revival tarries. He said, “As the church goes, so the world goes”
I have re-committed myself to shining God’s light , I hope you make a commitment today as well.
May God help us all in Jesus name.