MADE FOR A TIME AS THIS

I have read about a beautiful damsel long time ago who came from a humble background, and then ascended to the position of a queen though in a foreign land. A conspiracy was made against her people to wipe them out entirely, and if there was anybody who could do anything to prevent such heinous genocide from happening, she was the one. Indeed, she did something and saved the lives of her people from the imminent destruction, because she had a sense of purpose, she knew she was made a queen for such a time as that.

Time and space has brought us to a dispensation where things are falling apart, the centre can no longer hold and things are moving from bad to worse. Nothing seems to make sense, corruption surrounds us and the system has failed us. People and places that used to be pillars of the society and places of refuge are now the opposite of what is obtained in time past. Honestly, our society only celebrates the survival of the fittest; hence the weak, the poor and the less privilege see God as the only hope they have got left.

Recently, I was reunited with two of my colleagues and friends after two years, we got into conversation about the state and the affairs of things in Nigeria as a nation, even though we all have dreams for this country, one of them said if she could get pass this country, she will not come back. Well, I told her, I love this country, and if at all I will leave this country I will only do so to make myself better and return with the benefits. Time and time again, I have heard many young men/women saying if only they could get pass this country to any western country even to do the meanest job, they will prefer it to staying in this country. True, going to other countries better than Nigeria is no crime, but have you ever asked yourself why you are a citizen of this country? Has God made any mistake in creating you a Nigerian?

God who is all knowing knew beforehand that Nigeria will be what it is today, with its good bad and ugly. He has foreseen it that some microscopic few will be drunk with power and give no value to people’s lives. He also knew beforehand that bad people will go from bad to worse, and that one person will embezzle what can feed an entire state all to satisfy his/her selfish cravings.  Honestly, he knew that at such a time as this, things and situations will be very hard and life will be very difficult. In fact, it is for time as this that he created us, that our purpose and essence of being part of this country will come to manifestation and God is earnestly counting on us to do just that.

Change is the most abused and overused word so far in Nigeria. No man has in his or herself all it takes to change the world (Nigeria); in fact any man or political party promising you any sort of change is giving you a suit case full of empty promises. You see this is a simple biblical logic: we are created in God’s image and we carry His likeness inside of us, any one born of God carries God’s DNA; thus he/she carries God’s power. Being made for such a time as this, all we need and have to do is to make true and real this spiritual logic in our lives and then we can change the world and make it a better place. Joyce Meyer once said: “God wants us to change more than he wants to change our circumstances”

True, we cannot deny the reality that things are going haywire by day; falsehood has replaced “the truth”, justice lie wounded on our streets and the right of the poor masses is trampled daily by those that are supposed to protect them, abnormalities are accepted as the norm now and sacred values take lofty seats among secular realities. So should we fold our hands and watch passively as these abnormalities keep unfolding or do we have the power to do something? Emphatically, let me re-echo this truth, despite the fact the all these are happening, we hold the answer, we hold the solution and we hold the key to true change that we all desire, because in God’s grand master plan, we are made for such a time as this.

More practically now, who are those that will confront the societal ills that are daily ravaging our families, our neighbourhoods, our communities and the nation at large? We are. Take a cursory look at the happenings around you; you will see a lot of abnormalities, who will confront them in such a time as this? We are. Yes, we may have every reason to be angry with our current administration for failing in their responsibilities to us in many ways, but who are going to change all that come 2019 election? We are. No, I am not campaigning for or against any government, but I am simply restating the obvious truth for emphasis so that we can take our position in knowing what we are supposed to do in such a time as this.

Seeing that we are made for such a time as this, what then are we supposed to do in such a time as this? Just like sons of Issachar, who had the understanding of the time, and knew what they were supposed to do, we also ought to rise to our responsibilities as sons and daughters of God and as citizens of Nigeria.  In such a time as this, we must return to our first love, pledge our fresh allegiance to Him alone and take our rightful place in Him. Only then can we have the spiritual back up, the inner strength and the moral compass to face and confront the many ills prevalent in our nation. We must remember that when evil is loud in a nation, righteous people must have increased its volume with their silence. We must speak out.

Just like the story of the queen in our opening anecdotes (Queen Esther), we must know we are who we are and where we are for a purpose. It would be an act of ingratitude for us to say we are unfortunate to be found in a country like Nigeria at such a time as this; rather, we are fortunate men and women because through us and by God’s power, this nation will see God at work. Here is a trustworthy saying: Nigeria waits in eager expectation for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. We are the answer to our generation, we hold the key to lock up principalities and open up blessings, we are made for such a time as this. If only we are ready to connect to God, Nigeria will be too small to accommodate our impact.