The countless catastrophic events in human existence have shaped the course of the world and the human response to the higher realm. The Hiroshima and the Nagasaki atomic bombs of the World War II showed how devastating the inventions of men (Alfred Noble) could be used to disastrous end. The explosion in mid-air of NASA Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 showed that even with our brilliant scientific exploit, the best brains still makes major mistakes that leads to dismal ends. The assassination of President John F Kennedy in the 1964 showed how venerable we are in the face of stack human conspiracies in the world. The World War 1 and 2 were great lessons to human history of how the expansionist tendency of a man intoxicated with power led to the death of millions of people. The Sudan-Darfur genocide brought to our senses that even in this modern age how brutal the minds of mean men could use power against their own people. The terrorist attacks on the World trade center in 2001 in New York City was a wake up call to the world of the ruthless danger pose by religious extremists. According to Biblical records, the ordering by King Pharaoh to kill all male children under the ages of two was an order of gross inhumanity and arrogance against innocence. It showed the dysfunctional mind of a ruler with cruelty as his mode of service. The Indian Ocean earthquake (tsunami) and Haiti were awakenings of natural occurrences that are beyond human predictions and the best scientific remedy. The list of severe events that have changed the world is almost endless.
Now, let me use a personal experience to further set in motion the spiritual dimension of this topic. In 1997, I was in Europe on vacation and by the move of the supernatural, somewhere and somehow, my faith was stirred-up. Then one Sunday morning, I found myself in service in an American Baptist Church in Mannheim, Germany. During the morning service, the minister reminded the church members of baptism session in the evening of the same day. Therefore, by the same move of the Spirit, I went back in the evening and was baptized by immersion in water. Two days later, I embarked on the train from Germany (Mannheim) to Amsterdam (Holland) where I was to travel back to Nigeria. The train I boarded was already in the Dutch territory when the immigration personnel started asking for travel documents from seat to seat and eventually got to where I was. There were two units (Immigration) checking from opposite direction. The unit that got to my seat first, checked my passport, okayed it and handed it back to me. However, in a very unusual manner, the second unit came by and insisted on checking my passport again. After their thorough check, they found that my visa had expired by 2 days. I explained to them that my flight schedule to Nigeria was for the next day through Schiphol Airport, and that was the reason I was heading to Amsterdam from Germany. They just refused to listen as their mindsets were in straight jacket mode. On the next train stop, I was asked out of the train, and then driven to their border station. The next morning, the Dutch guys handed over me to the German immigration authority in Kieve, where I was taken to court and acquitted by the judge.
Now I am bringing this story to make a point. In the evening of my custody with the Dutch authority, I was praying with my Bible open, when an officer came in to check on me. He saw me in fellowship mood, and asked about my faith and other minor issues. As he was leaving the room, he made a comment that stuck with me, which I want to share here. He said, “If there is God, why do children die or get killed…what sin have they committed? However, I gave him a sketchy answer, but that was a very valid question, which I kept and took to God for answer.
After the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade center in New York City, some people stood and asked why did God allow this to happen? Why the all-knowing God would see this disaster coming and did not act by stopping it from happening?
Someone lost a close relative and asked the same question, why did God allow these pains of losing a cherished one happen?
The earthquakes in Haiti, an already poverty ridden country having to stomach such devastation would open wounds of distrust to a God, who is said to be all knowing, all powerful and all present. I mean most minds would give up and stick to their usual frame of question, why did He allow such to happen if He is there?
A woman once said, she tried all she could to get closer to God but things kept going from bad to worse and she could no longer continue her faith walk in God. That is, eventually she gave up on God. Another woman said God should hurry up and take control because of the way things are going on in the world.
I ran into a woman on the subway in New York, who was asking people right inside the moving train if they have any job for her. I mean, you could sense her desperation! As we later engaged in discussion, it became obvious she was a devoted Christian, who according to her words, has been faithful to God even to the point of been sexually harassed by her boss or she loses her job. That she stood her grounds on God and eventually paid the price by losing her job, which resulted in losing her accommodation. She went further by saying even her grown up children (Married) have abandoned her, because they felt her total reliance on God was damn absurd. The woman then asked me the question repeatedly with such fragmented commitment on her face; why, why would God ask her to be faithful to Him and allow her to go through these pains. My candid answer was for her to get even closer to God through His Spirit.
An old faithful woman lost her mother, who was more than 100 years. For some flimsy and wicked reasons, some of her children did not support her in anyway, not even with a dime in burying their own grandmother. Some people have closed up their conscience to any human touch!
Personally, there were times I could not provide food; I mean one meal a day for my family because things were so rough that I had to live in the shelter for more than a year in New York. There was no friend, brother, or sister to call on for help because I chose to remain faithful with God.
The question then is why God is not responding to these genuine quarries. Why is He allowing things to happen the way they are without caution? Why would those close to Him suffer great challenges and He keeps seemingly silent? What purpose is He serving if anything goes? I mean the questions go on, on, and on…
If you really ask me to rationally speak or take side, I would honestly stand with those with these valid questions. The reason been that God has told us lot of times that He is the Almighty and has answers to all things. He has told us lot of times that He can do all things with His perfect knowledge and power. He has told us many times that He made the world and everything in it. He has told us many times that He is Love, Peace, Truth, and Life. He has told us in so many places that nothing happens without His command. He has told us that He knows every creature even in the deepest of the ocean.
That God knows every tree in the forest is undeniable. That every substance of air we breathe is the consummate life essence from Him is incontestable. That nothing is out of the scope of His sight is unquestionable. That every hair strands on every head are numbered with His perfect knowledge is undisputable. I mean the list is endless of His divine reign and supervision over the affairs of existence. The question then becomes, why are things happening on earth that does not reflect His goodness, power, and order? Why are people using His authority unruly and unchecked? Why are situation creating situations by themselves with no appreciation to Him the Creator? Why is that good people are always accountable for the wrong deeds of others and most times get the brunt of societal disgust? Why is that good people with their excellent works most times receives less attention as the wayward and repressive people of this world do? Why is that good people who are in service of Christ are restricted from using public forums to express their feelings while others with their recklessness are given open doors and even supported by society and the legal systems?
These very weighty debates would shape the thoughts of men and the world, depending on the level of strength within each individual to pursue good or imitate the adverse.
Hence, in drawing level with the discussion, it would be in place to state that our connection with the divine God would tell of our response to His attention. That is, if all the blames should always be on Him. The reason for this viewpoint is that we have to settle it in our hearts, if He is the boss over our affairs or just a mere observer of events. If we agree that He is the boss, the next spiritual and rational proposition is for us to check thoroughly with Him in fellowship and within ourselves, why things are happening without His active touch based on our understanding of His supreme authority.
Now let the real debate begin!
As we are all aware, some events are natural occurrence. They happen because they are what they are; they are natural and are bound to happen as part of natural life cycle. Just like the responsibility to give birth is naturally by women and not men. This is a natural arrangement and whenever women gives birth to babies; there are no eyebrows raised about these events, because nature has made it so. The air we breathe is not visible to our physical eyes, but we know in our consciousness that is all around us and it is what keeps existence in place. The sun is a constant feature of humanity because we all, including plants needs the energy it provides. The weather changes from summer to fall, to winter and spring. These are natural sequence and people in different environments have recognized these as inevitable environmental settings to human existence. Therefore, these seasonal variations have led us to sow our crops at certain time of the year and harvest after the full cycle of growth is complete.
That a child is born today and grows up to becoming a father, administrator, mentor and a responsible citizen of the society is a natural growth process nobody can stop or try to fathom how the years went by so quickly regarding the growth of this once “ a child” fed with breast milk. The story is on, on and on…
In as much as we may agree to some of our presentations above, there are some events shaped by human pressures, manipulations, and scientific innovations
Now, if we are to address this issue at hand thoroughly, that is to get the right answer, it becomes imperative to look at all the angles more from the spiritual perspective. The reason for this is that we are delving into the realm of the spiritual when it involves God. We are asking questions of spiritual relevance and the best way to get the answers will necessarily come from the spiritual. This is because, God is Spirit, and to understand His dealings, connections and motives with humankind, they would reasonably come from His spiritual revelations and not mental, legalistic, or logical dimensions.
Let me give a personal example to buttress this spiritual fact. In 1996, my wife was pregnant with our first baby and one night as we were sleeping, I dreamt that a serpent went into her and came out from her mouth. Now that was a dream, but spiritually it was an attack of the enemy against us by spiritually killing the child even in the womb. It was the picture in the spiritual of what was going to happen in the physical. I was very naïve then, in terms of spiritual issues and never reacted by fighting back in prayers, but simply went about my business believing it was mere dream. Eventually we lost the baby at childbirth. It was years later after I became a Christian that the true meaning of what I saw in that dream made sense to me. Some people would relate to this issue while others would wave it off as some kind of superstitious belief that had no relevance to what happened eventually to the baby.
Okay if that is the case; let me give another personal incident here to push this spiritual realm argument maybe to a substantive position.
Here is the story! My younger brother was in United States for more than 10 years with things not working well for him. This was in terms of his legal status and a host of other issues. Somehow, he was not himself because the things he usually did so easily before became the opposite for him. Eventually, he was deported to Nigeria in 2006. Even back in the country, things got from bad to worse for him. Now I am bring this story to show how evil forces, which is of the spirit of the devil can really influence things.
Let back track a little bit. When I came to America in the 2003, the first words that came out of my mouth to my younger brother then was that “God has sent me to him.” That we should work together by faith in God things would work out well for him. In a way I must confess, I was spiritually aware, but not as strong. This means, I made lot of spiritual mistakes even while I was always praying hard and focused on the word of God. Part of the mistake was that I was pressurizing him to get close to God but was not spiritually connecting him to God. What I am trying to say here is that I always pray for him, but I was not breaking down those spiritual strongholds in his life. Now to cut the story short, there are times I dreamt he was in a wrong situation, I would pray but they were not sufficient to ward off the evil consequence. My prayers were actually not in the Spirit. This is because, praying in the Spirit is the only presence and the demonstration of the power of God over the concealed activities of the enemy. Eventually, I dreamt that a serpent roped him around. As I engage this creature in the spirit, which I almost killed but missed the opportunity because for some split second I took my eyes off the target due to distraction in the flesh, which I reacted to wrongly and the enemy slipped away. However, I told my mother this story in detail and we both rejected it in Jesus name.
Now, just in August of 2013, that is almost 6 years after I told my mother of the spiritual revelation concerning the struggles my brother is going through and the person directly involved. There was a direct confirmation of my story to my mom, but this time around, it came from another person. The very daughter of this evil-filled person (witch) I told my mom about repeated my story to my mom in her own language. According to her, because she is a young Christian lady, that God revealed all the evil works of her mother, who is a witch and her negative spell in our family. That my younger brother was “roped or tired” spiritually by her witch (devilish) mother and that is reason he is going through rough and unbearable times. The irony of this whole issue is that some members in the family are covering up this witch with all powers at their disposal by creating quarrels and diverting attention from her. They are out-rightly fighting against those who want to expose this woman and save the family from the evil atrocities she has been committing in the family. Presently, the young girl who was of sound mind before her revelation is now acting like someone that has lost her mind. This is not the first time of such confession as her younger sister did back in 2002. The younger sister’s story then was that her mother and grandmother usually come in the middle of the night wearing dark clothes and would walk through the walls into their bedroom and ask her to give her dad something to eat, but she would refuse. These are true stories that could be confirmed and are not tittle-tattle or rumors. Like I said, somehow she (witch) is been covered by other family members and keeping the story away from attention. Rather, they have formed themselves into a formidable alliance by turning their attention and energy to fight those who are for truth in Christ Jesus. I am one of those they are totally against because of my strong faith in God and His good purpose.
Whether some agree or not, the message is very clear that the spiritual realm is very real. It is not just a reckless feeling of the mind, neither an assumption of the inconceivable nor the fallacy of judgment. The spiritual realm does not only exist, but controls the affairs of the physical. However, in this spiritual realm, there is the good and bad spirits with their respective activities. Just as we have good-minded and evil-minded people, so also it is in the spiritual realm. The good Spirit tends to promote love, peace, order, truth, and goodness, while the bad spirit always deceives, demean, and destroys. The good spirit wants to build you up while the bad wants to tie people down. The good Spirit wants to keep humanity intact but the bad spirit is trying with its deceptive manipulation to exterminate humanity.
This now takes us into the topic proper; that is, where is God in all these chaos?
To tell you the truth, the answer is very simple. God has already given us the solution in His word and has done His part by the sacrificial work through Christ Jesus. The real problem now is within us. That is, what roles are we individually playing to spread His good, truth, honest relationship, justice, fairness, decency, self-responsibility, respect, and integrity into our societies? What roles are we playing in guiding our kids on the right direction? What roles are we individually playing to stand for the conscience of transparency and integrity? What contributions are we as individuals making to improve the human relationship based on trustworthiness? How often do standing against spiritual wickedness in prayers at night instead of spending most of the time on irrelevant things like gossiping and watching all the TV programs. How often do we engage ourselves in spiritual warfare, like fasting and other spiritual activities to help shape our world for the better? How often do you study your Bible not just in your bedroom but also in the open like in the bus, train, and other public places to show your appreciation for what the Lord Jesus did in saving our souls from death?
Most of the people that do not believe in God typically do not accept the spiritual power and purpose of Christ Jesus to humanity. However, they mostly agree with the power of other spiritual outlets that appeal to their convenience. Largely, they worship their own form of gods to support their spiritual illusion.
Therefore, there is chaos in the world because good people are not doing enough to ward off the bad influences around them. There is chaos in the world because those who are spiritually strong are not using their spiritual vision to fight against the evil atrocities but are seriously engaged in power play within themselves. There is chaos in the world because the world system is under the power of the dark and most people align more to this power than sticking to the truth that comes from God. There is chaos in the world because most people are not ready for the commitment required to stand for true justice, peace, love, and order that comes from the righteousness of the divine God. What we mostly have are believers of convenience. These are believers in God but do not submit to His authority over their lives. These believers speak the word of God but do not live the Word neither do they allow the Spirit to work through them. They love the beautiful places of fellowship but do not walk in the Spirit of fellowship. They mostly focus on God as helper and not necessarily in the service to God. They embrace mainly religion and not the move of the Spirit.
Therefore, what we have today is that people have turned the good provisions from the divine God into curse by burning in the discrete obsession to harm their neighbors. We now have situations where the ingredients of imprudence from the power of darkness are the fluids that flow in the veins of men, women, young people, and leaders of our societies. That is, where the symbolic status of people are on unforgivable greed and the unpleasant tendencies of moral decadence. That is, where the bitter pills of butchery, deceit and disorder are the most selling themes in the market place of human interactions. That is where life is valued on the premise of emptiness.
Thus, the problem is not with God but rest on the level of human commitment to abide and allow His Spirit to work and walk through us. The solution is simply for us to walk in His Spirit. That is to engage in the activities of the divine throne by His Spirit, through spiritual activities that honors His infinite mercies, goodness and love. Then and only then would there be positive changes in the world that we crave for because we are really playing the part He has created for us to do…His workmanship to good works.
A Christian teenager went on 7 days spiritual program in her Church. God revealed to her among other things that her mother is a witch, who has done many evil things in the family. This young girl boldly confronted her mother with the revelation from God. The mother immediately travelled to her village for about 4 to 6 days and on her return, the young girl is now acting as someone who has lost her mind. They are now trying to turn the truth by saying her bold revelation is a lie because she is mad. Please Christian folks, help to pray that this young girl’s mind is restored normal in Jesus name, her name is Jennifer.
Is only by my Christ Spirit
The spirit of life in Christ Jesus
Truth is light…must prevail.
Stand for truth, fairness and peace…
Look inside of you
Fight the good fight
What matters most is the vision in our heart…