Life Happens - by Friday Okwori

Life happens to everyone. It is not a prediction of impending disaster or a declaration of despondency. It is exactly what it is: a factual statement. It's okay if you don't think so, but people experience all kinds of horrible things that they are completely unaware of. ‘Why do good people not live long enough?’ ‘Why do bad people get ahead while nice people suffer?’ ‘Why do people pray for a solution for so long when it rarely materializes?’ ‘Why do people put in such a lot of effort only to have nothing to show for it?’ The list is endless. These questions are not always clear-cut and easy to answer, but if you have ever heard someone ask any of them, it is most likely because at one point or the other life has happened to them. If you think that only those who aren’t ‘spiritual’ go through difficult times in life, you'd be wrong. When ‘life happens,’ it really doesn't care about your religion, race, tribe, level of education, age, or gender. Again, it's acceptable to believe that your positive confessions and beliefs can protect you from unpleasant situations, but does our words supersede God's purposes? Nobody has lived long enough to know with absolute certainty how life will turn out. 'Life happened' and 'Nigeria happened' are two quite distinct statements; one denotes the ineffectiveness and carelessness of systems and processes, while the other is unexplainable. Two young brothers (names withheld for privacy reasons) attended the university. They were Christians who had been brought up in a godly home by their parents. Their father served as a cleric's assistant. Everyone was familiar with the cleric, a powerful General Overseer (GO), but no one knew his assistant, the father of these boys. This man had given his all to the mission of God. He was devoted to making sure his wife and two children followed in his footsteps by leading a holy and chaste life. He held the conviction that if you faithfully serve God, He will take care of all your needs. He was rigid in his belief. He maintained this conviction despite it being evident that it didn't work out. These lads were taught the ways of God by their parents from an early age. Also, their father taught them to be grateful in both abundance and poverty. They had next to nothing throughout most of their formative years, so the idea of abundance was really a mirage. Because they spread the good news of salvation everywhere they went while in school, everyone first knew them as pastors. Also, they were regarded as miserly and beggarly because they literally had nothing other than the bible. In fact, because they were usually fasting, their classmates would often joke that you should meet the "young pastors" if you wanted God to answer your prayers quickly. It was more of a hunger strike than a fast. Although it was far from the reality in their existence, their father had taught them that Jehovah Jireh means God the Provider. They were both in class when their mother called and begged them to come home one day. Apparently, their father was seriously ill and required all the support and care that he could obtain. Their father also taught them about Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals. Through their father's prayer, they had seen first-hand how God miraculously healed individuals. In fact, the GO was well-known for having a healing gift, and through the ministry, individuals were cured of various kinds of illnesses. They were certain that when they prayed, God would heal him. They had witnessed God heal many people previously, so they were confident that their father would also be healed. Boy, they did pray but their father passed away. Unbelievably, God didn't show up. They even had hopes that God would bring their father back to life because he devoted all of his time to God's work, but that never happened. What pleasure will their father's passing bring God? It appeared that God was personally against them. When their father was still alive, they had trouble paying their tuition; now that he was gone, they realized their education was now done. Life surely wasn't treating them fairly, and it appeared that the more they prayed, the worse things got. The heavens were shut. There was more to it. After their father passed away, one of his creditors showed up and threatened to have both of them sold in order to recoup his debt. How would you explain this? We might never discover all of life's mysteries while we're on this side of the divide. It might even serve as another reminder that we are only humans. You should probably think about becoming God if you can answer with confidence every question that life throws at you. When bad things happen, you have the option of holding a grudge against God or trusting Him and moving on. Whatever choice you make, know that God still loves you and that there is always a bigger picture when ‘life happens.’ It is okay to cry and feel awful, God understands.

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