I have not read any book, where someone denied that God created him, or who claimed that he created himself. “Oh God,” shouted an atheist one day, being scared of the turbulent shaking of their airplane during a flight, when it was passing through a heavy storm. Someone, sitting by his side, who knew him very well and what he believed, asked him, “Which God?” Uncle was humbled. He was taken unawares and the truth could not be denied that the atheist, when in danger, knows that there is God, the Living God.
God’s Word declares that it is only a fool, who says that there is no God. It states unequivocally that it was God, Who created man. That is, the Almighty God, and not the ones that inhabit dark places, worn on the neck and fingers or hidden inside a lady’s handbag or in trouser pockets. Some people build mansions for themselves and a tiny hut for their god. For sure, our God is not the type I had before I was born-again, which could not defend itself in 1968, when thieves broke into my kitchen and stole it, as I have narrated before.
Yes, it is about the God, before Who, all other gods bow, the Living God. He understands what trillions of trillions of people are saying, though all speaking at the same time, and in their different languages, be they English, Indian, Chinese, German, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Efik, Nupe, et cetera! I am not talking about the miserable god that is given legs by human imagination, yet, it cannot walk, or given mouth but it cannot speak or eat, and eyes, but it cannot see. Chai!
The God, the child of God serves, is thus, different from all these man-made gods. The security of a child of God lies on the fact that His Father knows everything about him, though the Electricity Company gives light or leaves him in darkness. His fate at all times is in God, Who knows him and everything that surrounds him. The implication of this is obvious: protection by God, knowledge by Him of the wrong things the person does and also, the good things he does.
The devil and his agents waste their time when they plot evil against a child of God. Imagine a situation, where a recruit in the Army plots evil against the son of an Army General and he is aware of it. Will his son be shaken, no matter the recruit’s threats of intimidation? Will he lose sleep any night, when he knows that his dad’s Security details are there? Uncle David seemed to understand this, hence he said in Psalm 23:4, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”. His reason is based on his confidence in God. ”Thou are with me,” he told himself.
The implication is the absolute security of a Christian in God, irrespective of his status in the society. He may be the Chief Executive Officer of a blue-chip company or their messenger, he knows that God protects him all the time and in all the places he may be. It is futile for anyone to plan evil against him. Those, who tried it, are now either dead or are living in regret. King Saul would have lived and reigned longer, had he left David alone. He, like many leaders, forgot that it was God, Who chose and made him king, when he was not born in a Royal family. Mad ambition, to his detriment, made him to abandon his kingly duties for the pursuit of David, the man God testified that he was after His heart.
If God formed me in the womb, it is certain, therefore, that He knows everything about me. It includes every thought in my heart and everything that I do. My unbelieving friends can be doing ungodly things, God will also know if I join them. He will also know if I follow them anywhere they go, though people may not know it. This places a great responsibility on me about my conduct, by day or at night. I have no place to hide for the sins I commit. God is aware of them, right from the time I conceive them in my heart.
It is very possible for a man to be sending his spouse and children to the US and other foreign countries on vacation every year. In appreciation, his wife will be awarding him the honour of ‘The best husband on earth’, during his birthdays, while his children will be awarding him, ‘The best dad on earth’. Nobody will know that his ‘magnanimity’ is not driven by love, but by his wanton desire to be sleeping with his housemaid or secretary in his office. Strangely, such men can be holding sacred positions in the Church. God knows what they do. There is, thus, no place to hide from Him!
Many years ago, a lady, we employed in our Church, pleaded with me to allow her to be sleeping in her office in the Church, stressing the sufferings she was undergoing from her brother’s wife. I was touched and I imagined how she would be sleeping in such an odd place. “Which man will like to marry a lady that sleeps in her office?” I imagined. I discussed it with my wife and we agreed to accommodate her in our house. The next day, imagining what would be her excitement, I told her. I was surprised that she turned down the offer. I heard later that a youth, we accommodated on the Church premises, was her boyfriend. The hidden truth was that she was not seeking really, a better place, where she would enjoy free food, but a place, good or bad, for immoral relationship with the youth. Had I accepted her plea, they would be celebrating their deception, but God, the Payback Master, sees everything, and would not have been deceived.
One of the things I learnt from the Scripture Union as a young convert and which helped me was that God knows everything. When we visited a family that had a new-born baby, we would hide under their pillow the money we brought to them. When they would see it, they might not know who brought it, so as to appreciate us, but God, Who sees in secret, knew. The Scripture Union members of Ovim Girls Secondary school, I used to minister to, when I was in the university, one day, sent me some money by post without disclosing their identity. Suspecting the source, I thanked them the next time I was there and they accepted. That was my confirmation, but God knew, even before they sent it.
The knowledge that God knows all the things we do, guides the believer in giving his offerings and also, in paying his tithe. Some Church members may not be faithful in these areas. They are not cheating anybody but themselves. I belong to a Local Assembly, where tithe records are not kept, and pledges made are not announced. We teach our members that God knows the offerings and pledges each person makes. Reward from Him is more important than that of man.
For further comment, Please contact: Osondu Anyalechi: 0802 3002-471; [email protected]