When God is involved

By Margaret Ogbebor SSMA 

Situations in life or circumstances can make people to be frustrated. There are some situations you find yourself and you are stuck, nowhere to turn to, many a time you begin to lose courage due to the fact that the situation is out of your control. Nothing seems working, you have tried all your effort but to no avail. Situations have made people to do what they would ordinarily not do. Many a time when you are in a tight corner you need to share, so that you can get relief from the situation or get out of it totally. We belief that problem shared is half solved. Often times when we share with the wrong persons or people who lack experience of what we are passing through the situation may become worse because they may not understand what our experiences really are. Sharing with the right persons when you are faced with situations beyond your control is a “blessing”. Our personal effort alone may not be sufficient when faced with different situations; rather they may frustrate us and even make us to lose focus. Situations may push us out of our way to begin to look for help where there is none.

A typical example of this could be seen in Luke 5:1-6 “And it came to pass, that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ship standing by the lake but the fishermen where gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ship which was Simon’s and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon launch out into the deep, and let down your net for a draught. And Simon answering said to him, Master, we have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net and when they had this done they caught a great multitude of fishes; and their net broke.” Peter’s situation as a fisherman was totally out of hand. He and his colleagues have worked all night without getting anything. Ordinarily to the best of their knowledge, fishes are better caught at night, but at this time their physical efforts failed them. Nothing was working. They have lost all hope; they have left their boat and even began washing their nets. When Jesus saw that the boat was empty, he was able to use it as an avenue to preach to the people. Jesus entering the boat is an indication that if we give God spaces in our lives,  that is placing our difficult periods, times, situations and circumstances in His hands, we would make a head way. Inviting Jesus when we are stuck in life situation brings “relief” and “solution”. There is no time Jesus cannot perform miracle, every time for him is right. He intervenes in a situation when he wants to. God is never too late to step into a particular situation his time is always right. He does things in mysterious ways. Looking at the time when Jesus told Peter to let down the net we would discover that it was a wrong time following the experience of an ordinary fisher man. Fishes are better caught at night not by day, but to show that God has the power to do whatever He wills at any time, he asked Peter to let down the net even during the day, what they (experienced fishermen) could not do with their human efforts God did it for them miraculously. What a mighty God we serve! 

Despite the fact that we are being faced with different situations we should try to be obedience to God’s word just like what Peter did, when the Lord said that he should let down the net for a catch, he did not argue with Him he only told Him their experience and did as he was told. Peter’s obedience enabled God to step into his situation. His fruitless efforts became fruitful efforts; his name was changed from fisherman to fisher of men. His emptiness was filled with God’s presence. He became a carrier of God, many of us during our period of trials and tribulations when people try to give us directions, we should listen not conclude that it would not work. God can use anybody to achieve His aim. When we obey, God is always happy with us and he will be willing to do more for us because he knows that we are his servants. “Obedience is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).

However, it takes God nothing to change our situations, it is very easy for a poor person to become rich it all depends on God. In 1 Kings 17:7-16 the widow of Zarephath was faced with a critical situation and concluded that after eating the last food she and her son would die because the land was faced with drought. Her situation was a very helpless one because she had no choice than to give in. She was stuck in the situation and had lost all hope because she was saddled with the responsibility of taking care of herself and her son. She thought it was finished. When a prophet of God (Elijah) visited her at that critical moment, he asked her to make some cake with the remaining flour for him first and then for herself and her son. She obeyed without looking back, many a time it is often difficult to obey. It takes the grace of God. In the ordinary sense the woman would have made some cakes for herself and her son before giving to the prophet but she did not behave like that, she decided to obey Elijah the prophet because of her obedience, God was able to enter her situation; the prophet blesses her and her situation changed. Instead of death she was given life, instead of starvation she was given abundance. All these took place because God has stepped into her situation, there was change. She allowed God through her obedience, when we hear the word of God and keep them we are equally inviting God to help us out of our situations. Many of us have received messages from the servants of God but we fail to put those words into practise. Some of us thought they are mere ritual or normal talk. Day after day God always meet us with positives responses. Sometimes we do not even recognise Him because we are always in a hurry looking for quick answers; God is never in a hurry He does His own thing at the appropriate time. He is God and not man. 

Furthermore, “Jesus was in the other part of the ship, asleep on a pillow; and they awake him and say to him, master, you do not care if we perish? And he aroused, and rebuked the wind, and there was a great calm” (Mark4:38-40). Involving God in our situation is the best decision that a person would make, left to ourselves we can do nothing. The disciples were in the boat struggling with the wind, but their efforts were not seen. Jesus pretended to be sleeping. But in the actual sense He was not. He wanted to know if the disciples would call on Him. As Christians, whenever we are faced with situations, difficulty or problems let us not hesitate to call on the Lord Jesus for help. Calling Him brings great relieve to our situation, pains, worries and anxieties. Jesus is still waiting for our calls, many a time the weight of our problems are so heavy on us that we find it difficult to come out. We need to invite Him so that He would help us to calm the wind (problems) of our lives. Jesus has said come to me, you that labour and over burden and I will give you rest (Matthew 11 :30) here there is an assurance for us, that we have somebody who is ready to help us in our problems and situations we are not alone in this journey of life. It takes nothing from us to call upon Him. When we go to Him in prayer let us be free to tell Him about our present situation and also our experiences, He is ready to step into our situation to calm our fears. For us not to involve God in our life’s journey would be a great mistake because we cannot hide from Him who knows us more than we know ourselves. Inviting Jesus into our situations brings about a lasting solution to our predicaments and gives that perfect peace that our souls desire. The boat represent our lives, the wind in the sea represent the problems of this world, Jesus calming the storm, shows He has power to calm every of our problem, when we call on Him.

As Christians, we need to be obedient as the popular saying “obedience is the first law in heaven” this virtue (obedience) has been the key that God had used in the past to help His children and He is still using it. Anyone who obeys is likely to get whatever he wants from God. A wayward heart cannot achieve anything from God because it is associated with pride which God despises so much.  Obeying God gives us the opportunity to let Him in. No one has ever met with God and remained the same. Peter met with Jesus and never remained the same, when the widow of Zarephath met with prophet Elijah she never remained the same likewise Jesus calming the storm brought a total change to the lives of the disciples, it arouse a strong question within them “who is this man? Even the storm obeys him (Matthew 8:27). The greatest thing that can happen in the life of a Christian is the involvement of Jesus in their situation. He is always the lasting solution to every problem. Shalom! 

Sr Margret Ogbebor SSMA is a Catholic Nun, working in the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto. She is the Head Teacher of St Martin de Porres Nursery and Primary School Katsina. [email protected]