Christ’s Ambassador

If you are not an African I would not be surprised if you find this post incredible. But it happens and it is just one of the spin-offs of star gazing, divination, sorcery and all such practices forbidden by God. African Traditionalists believe in finding out what the future of a child holds in stock when it is born. Often times, their findings influence the choice of names and appellations given to the child, how and where to nurture the child, and many other considerations. It is not unusual to see this issue causing cracks among relations especially in large, polygamous families where everyone (wife or children ) struggle to be the favourite of the father of the house. Breeding environment is created for un-healthy rivalry, unwarranted hatred and resentment among kins when the supposed predictions of the oracle are not kept secret. And they hardly are. It is true that “…..all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind” Eccl 4:4 .

Now, we believe that just as simple as a thief could rob you of your possessions which they covet, so also people could use evil powers to divert perceived good fortune or blessings away from you to their lives or children’s lives. They try to do all they possibly could to detract you from that perceived destiny. In some instances, they kill swiftly or gradually to fulfil their wicked purposes. Such people are usually close relations who know many intimate things about their victims. Jesus says that “Your enemies will be right in your own household (Mt 9:36). A first glance at the resultant hardship experienced by the victims of this crime may not show much of what is happening, they are going through what normal people go through in a corrupt and growing economy. Unemployment is common. Being by-passed for promotion is also not a new thing. One is qualified for a job but its given to someone else, does it not happen all the time? Teachers carelessly record your grades against another person’s name in an examination, no one mentions it. However, the victims as well as those who can observe things carefully know that there is more to it. Strangely, the victims will not get help. What others do in one year, they will do in five. What others get easily, you must sweat to get it, if ever.

Other strange instances that might happen to a victim of this kind of oppression are: loosing a job just when one is ripe for promotion or some rewards, some accident when you are due to hit it big in business, disappearance of personal items like favourite clothing and shoes in a strange way and later seeing somebody else dressed in those clothes in a dream, and very many unexplainable occurrences. Those who are in position to help you out of problems will just hate you without cause. Some people have diagnosed that the oppressors give their victims a mark or a stamp of ownership though invisible to the naked eye, but clearly visible to the trained eyes. Anywhere one with that mark goes, the evil people there would clearly identify the bearer as one of their victims. So they simply continue the hostility. As a victim you cannot put your finger on it but you know something is wrong. You know you are being oppressed, robbed but you cannot hold somebody. Of course, it is a type of demonic oppression.

Maybe you are already wondering if God would permit this if it was true? Well, try to answer the following questions first. Did God permit Joseph’s brothers to punish him because he foretold the future? Did God permit them to sell him to Egypt? (Gen50:20) Did He permit Satan to pummel Job? Yes, to all. In fact God invited trouble for Job when he asked Satan what he thought of the righteousness of Job. Why did he permit suffering? We must again take a look at the end of the circumstances and that is when we will see clearly the purpose of God. James wrote that “As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” Jas 5:11(NIV) You must have read about Simon the Sorcerer in the book of Acts of Apostles (Acts 8:9,10), what do you think the ‘Simons’ of today would do if they suspected you might become an influential person around them? Pray for you and say remember me when it is good for you? I don’t think so. They would likely tamper with your life.  

I have been a victim of this type of oppression. It is real. Many people in my country are suffering today because of such battle, and this is why we have so many deliverance ministers. We fight more battles against household wickedness than against the direct opposition to the gospel. Their ‘armourers’ are not necessarily the people you might easily identify as cultists and the ‘witch doctors’. They are trickish. The best place to hide a tree is in the forest, a pebble in the beach. They blend. You might find their armourers owning churches and  wearing anke-length garments but behind the scenes, they are all in the class of Simon the Sorcerer. Until recently, I was confused as to what to do when faced with these instances. Many times in the past I had patronized these same garment wearing folks seeking for help only to get my problems compounded. Here is what happened when I got the light: A genuine friend called to tell me that I needed to pray. She’s been following my life history and she is also gifted in dreams. She was of the opinion that I needed to pray to break the hold of a certain clique on my life so that I could have the so much elusive career success and then wealth. It was observed that anytime I suffered a misfortune, things appeared strangely better for this clique. If I managed to rise a bit, they would be threatened, somehow. They have been fleecing me spiritually. Funny and sounding out of this world, but truly there are trends that we think are not coincidental. So we needed to pray and I agreed. 

As I lay on my bed that night, I started asking myself what the battle was really about? What was the bone of contention? Career success. Prominence. Wealth. Yes we all could have these in our own ways and still relate with love. But what the evil minded want is yours. They can only enjoy what they have in the presence of those who don’t have. They want to be recognised as ‘the only’. They want to be the first and the best if they cannot be the only. So they must block the growth of others. The more stunted their victims’ growth the higher their own growth and that is the formula given to them by their master, the devil. You are like two plants growing together, one (and that is you) have the roots and the other is parasitic, feeding from you but not benefitting you in any way. They make charms and enter several cults to achieve this feat and they ensure the cycle is not broken. And theirs are the most sympathetic voices in your ears, always bemoaning your fate in mocked symathy, thinking that when they pretend like this no one would suspect them. I forced myself to stop thinking and got ready to pray. I started leafing through my Bible in search of a scriptural verse to use as anchor. I flipped the pages at random, reading one or two verses here and a whole passage there until the Lord took me to Luke 14:26-27 which reads thus: “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.  And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple”(NLT).

Jesus truly said that nothing should be too much for you to give up if you want to be his disciple. He wants the entire life - relationship, career, intimate desires, life itself- as an offering to Him. (Rom12:1) In other words, have no undue attachment to the things of this world, so much that these things would detract your focus from heaven. Earlier he had warned his disciples not to resist an evil person. If someone would sue you for your coat give him your shirt also. Then why should I burn spiritual energy and time for this kind of prayer? Who told me in the first instance that what I am being denied would have made my life better? Why should I struggle over who has career success, prominence and wealth - things that are not sufficient in themselves to make me right with God? Did Jesus not tell me what I should make my priority? Devil truly has plenty of tricks in his arsenal to distract us from the real life. But Jesus went ahead to say that even these things shall be added unto me if I ordered my priorities rightly. First, Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, then ‘all these things’. So if some lazy crooks have perfected the tricks of diverting away from me, with malicious intent though, things that would otherwise have endangered my spiritual growth, then Praise God. They are helping me to practice the ability to do without those things if the case warrants, and also to acquire the skills to make good use of them if available. And like Paul, I can then say I have learnt how to get along happily, whether I have much or little….”  (Phil 4:11-14) I think this is the lesson. I haven’t acquired it but I am straining forward, forgetting the bitterness of being betrayed by household enemies. This is also the mentality of working not only for the denarii but for the joy of serving the Master (Mt 20:1-12)

With this as anchor, I prayed. Not like I was going to pray before but something like this: God, I thank you for fulfilling your promise of always guiding me to the truth. You know all things, you know as these people have ploughed on my back right from my youth, I thank you for not giving my life into their hands. Now Lord, I quit struggling to have what I might have erroneously thought was sufficient for me. Career success, Prominence. Wealth. I no longer want to sweat over that. I surrender all to you. Give me a changed heart. Give me passion for what you are passionate about. Help me to not labour for mammon but to enjoy my labour in your vineyard just for you Lord. Thank you for my oppressors. They have helped me. They have trained me to give back to you what belongs to you. Forgive them and open their eyes. Amen.