Weekend Talk: It could have been worse
When disaster befalls us as individuals and as a nation, it is critical to watch what we say.
Sometimes, the trouble we encounter may not be as damaging as what we say about it.
During the week that the nation grieved over the loss of government officials in line of duty, some people remarked, “Did we not pray? Why then has this happened to us?”
Power of prayer
This question can undermine the nation’s stance on prayer.
But let no one underrate the power of collective prayer that the nation offered to God for his protection and provision.
Of course, “righteousness exalts a nation while wrongdoing is a disgrace to the people” (Proverbs 14:34).
Therefore, adhering to morality, integrity, and ethical principles adds to the nation’s well-being and attracts God’s favour.
But to rubbish our National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving as ineffective because of the accident is to get it all wrong.
God certainly hears our prayers when we pray.
The accident and its sad repercussions cannot negate the prayers we offered.
Those who presume otherwise should remember that things could have been worse if we hadn’t prayed.
Think of it: what if the chopper had crashed into a crowded marketplace or a busy mall, a school, a residential facility or a workplace!
Or, as we are told, how about if other high-level government officials had been in the helicopter? Imagine the flags of Ghana flying at half mast as a result! May God forbid! The thought of it is terrifying.
But God did spare us what could have plunged the nation into a staggering situation in addition to the sorrow we are already going through.
So let the atheists among us who don’t believe in the efficacy of prayer and the greatness of our loving God spare our ears from their uninvited commentary about the nation’s spiritual exercises.
Don’t stop praying
Just before the sad incident, someone sent me a social media quote and asked me, “What do you think about this statement?”
he quotation was: “Stop praying and think!”
That quote, subtly addressed to us Africans who like praying, caught me on the wrong foot and got under my skin.
So, quickly, I did to it what you do to unsavoury remarks that are deliberately calculated to provoke your sensibilities—straight to the dustbin I sent it!
Irrespective of what you say afterwards, to start a statement with “Stop praying” is unpleasant and misleading.
Prayer is the highway to the presence of God.
Therefore, failing to pray is like blocking the highway to greatness!
What is displeasing about that statement is not the person’s call to use our mental faculty to find solutions to life’s many issues. That wouldn’t be a problem, would it?
But why preface an appropriate call to think with an inappropriate call to stop praying?
So I told the person who sent me the quote, “Stay away from anybody who advises you to stop praying!”
Ghana prays
Henceforth, no matter what happens, Ghana will collectively pray on every Republic Day, led by our high political and religious leaders.
We will continue to give thanks to Almighty God for his bounteous provisions and blessings for our nation.
And, yes, we will also pray for his guidance and protection.
Atheists who hide behind their disbelief in God and cast ominous shadows on our need to pray should understand that our very life depends on the living God and not on how deeply we think.
We must think, of course, and also work; for, after all, it is God who gave us the mental faculty to think and the ability to work.
If there are people who pray without thinking or working, such people must learn to combine the two, not leave out one.
May our condolences and prayers continue to pour out to the bereaved, and may they find the strength to go through this difficult stage in life.
Our Redeemer lives
Why did Job, who lost all his children in a single day and went through extreme personal suffering, say, “Even if (God) slays me, I will put my trust in him” (Job 13:15)? That was an expression of unwavering faith in God in the face of extreme suffering.
He knew that God, his Redeemer, lives, and he could entrust his future in his hands. No wonder the Scripture says, “The Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning” (Job 42:12).
Just as prosperity and lack of trouble do not always mean God’s approval of our life and conduct, so deprivation and suffering do not always mean God has abandoned us.
What is always true, however, is that God is sovereign and does what his will is; and his will is always the best, even if we do not yet see the full picture of what he does.
The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.
E-mail: lawrence.darmani@gmail.com
