Recent weeks have been filled with numerous news of
killings, bombings and kidnapping of innocent children, and all of a sudden
social media and all other form of decimating information is agog with the
lamentation of people bemoaning the sad occurrences.
In the same vein, there has been celebrations and marriages,
men wining and dining with careless abandon, customized branded gadgets being
doled out as if they were a penny per dozen (I’m not beefing #justsaying).
While some partake in the balling, others mourn their losses
and a great number gist and complain about all the events going on, raining
dozens and millions of abuses on government and public office holders. Put together,
my country is in a state and no one seems to know where help would come from.
You would think the international community would have the
response to the issues that seek to drown our leadership, but no, they solicit
our support to help out with the situation in Ukraine. Which tells me that they
perceive that even in our purported state of crisis, we are better than most.
I thought deeply about all these things going on, and the
Holy Spirit led me to Matthew chapter 24 and I began to read from verse 3 all
the way to verse 44.
So many of us have asked numerous questions with regards to
the events in the country right now; what is the government doing? Why are the
leaders so incompetent? Don’t they care about the killings going on? Are we
such cowards that we can’t rebel and fight back or even protest? What is the
church doing? Why are great men of God in this nation silent on this matter?
The questions go on and on. But I will implore you to please read Matthew 24.
There are so many things that our Lord Jesus outlined as
“The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age” and those are the things that
are happening right now. My interest really isn’t in outlining what the signs
He mentioned are, I am more interested in what He advised us to do during this
time.
First in verse 4 of Matthew 24, He said; “Take heed that no one deceives you…”
this is a call to seek caution and not be deceived by the many suggestions that
people will make during this period. You will hear all sorts, verse 6 talks
about wars and rumours of wars, but our Lord says that we should not be
troubled. For me, this explained the silence of some renowned clerics on these
matters arising.
Verse 12 talks about lawlessness abounding, I think this is prevalent
in my country where traffic lights are for decoration and it is difficult to
separate the law enforcement agencies from crime as both seem to be working
hand-in-hand. It also says that the love of many will grow cold, which is why
people can go about bombing and killing innocent human beings without any form
of fear or recourse.
But verse 13 is where I am going to, it says “he who endures to the end shall be saved”.
I have been asked what I think the church should do about
all the violence going on in the country, as much as I would have loved us to
take up arms and take this war to the enemies camp and show them that we are
soldiers of the cross not just by mouth but also in deed lol, I would rather we
adopt the guidelines as instructed us by our Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to be more observant and security conscious as
Christians, verse 15-22 captures it for me. If you hear of these things, flee
first and ask questions later, be reasonable and aware of your environment. You
owe it to yourself and God to endure to the end.
Will the bad news stop, I don’t think so. Will they continue
to fight and kill people (not only in Nigeria)? Yes, I believe so ‘cos if it
were not be so, Christ wouldn’t have said so. I also think that these types of occurrences
will get more severe as the years go by.
So my advice/opinion? Stay safe, be alert, do a lot of
watching while you pray. Stay strong and endure to the end. Trust me, the gory
sights and pictures are enough to push any man to his wits end and break even
the strongest of emotionally stable men, but we need not relent on our faith
and our stand in Christ.
For those of us that would have loved to push back and do
something radical, remember Peter tried to push back when he pulled his sword
and cut off the ear of one of the men that was harassing his master. It is
important to note that Jesus did not support Peter even though Peter was
fighting for Him in quote. It might seem like a docile position to take, but we
have the privilege to have been fore warned about these occurrences. I don’t think
God wants us to fight in arms; our battle is in the place of the spirit. Stay strong
in your spirit man, do not relent in prayers for yourself, your loved ones and
your beloved Nation, be observant of your immediate environment always, pay
attention to that still small voice within you. Let our mantra be; “What doesn’t
break us makes us stronger”.
My God will give us the grace to remain strong to the end.
I wish you a Happy Easter celebration in advance, let the
reason for the season not be lost on you.
IamOluwaObinna, I remain committed to your Peak Performance.
