Stay Strong

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.