There are times (if we are sincere enough to admit) when we wonder why ‘bad’ people prosper. As Christians, we tend to forget the true meaning of the word of God and only understand the scriptures with our human minds. Being prosperous doesn’t mean you are wealthy or affluent; these are worldly gifts. According to Pastor Chris Oyakilome in his daily devotional: Rhapsody of Realities, he defined prosperity as more than just having money, “prosperity means to be safe and well, to fare well in life; to live happily in health, peace, riches and favour…It also means to experience total soundness and wholeness in every aspect of your life- to be successful in all you do”.
This brief introduction is merely an insight to what the topic is trying to address.
So who does the society label a ‘bad person’? From time immemorial, there has been good people, bad people and ugly people-thanks to Clint Eastwood for the last inclusion. In the book of Genesis, the first murder ever to be recorded in history occurred when Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Gen. 4:8. After reading through the scriptures, we shall discover that Cain suffered the consequence of his actions but God did not allow him perish. Cain went on to father Enoch and generation after generations from his loins. With our human minds, Cain is automatically labelled a bad person for killing his brother. This is why murder is a heinous crime punishable by death by the laws of man.
In my opinion, a bad person is someone who at a particular period of time, carries out an action which is not acceptable to those around him. It could be verbal abuse, physical abuse, vices like theft, murder and what have you. Ordinarily, our God would judge us based on our adherence to the 10 commandments which he sent through Moses on Mount Sinai-Exodus 20:1-17. Imagine the wrath of God on us as we have erred and strayed away from the laws which He gave us. Now do we call ourselves bad people? People are quick to judge one another, with all venom in their tone.
We sound bitter when we see a man; who must have murdered someone, prosper. The Lord said, “It is not for us to judge lest we be judged” Matthew 7:1-2. A very hard working man who lives life in dignity and integrity can barely make ends meet and here he see this rich man who is a wife-beater, fraudster and pervert, living life to the fullest. This is a similar case to that of Lazarus and the Rich man- Luke 16:20-31. These are but a few of thousands of illustrations from around the world. From the examples above, one must note that certain things happen for God to manifest His power and authority. Good things happen to bad people, bad things happen to good people and vice versa.
God, who in His awesome majesty made the heavens and the earth, is King of Kings and Lord of Lords; is merciful and just to forgive us our sins. He has the supremacy to judge and sanction us-His creation. But behold brethren, in His infinite mercy; He is willing to give us a second chance! Isn’t that great?
An encounter of our God as a God of second chance, hit very close to home. I have a friend whom I’ve known for about seven (7) years, who in the first few years since we met, was someone I could have easily labelled a bad person. Her conduct was nothing to write home about. The society in which we reside sees young girls who date white-men, foreigners- ‘oyibos’, ‘angolo’, ‘orange man’ as prostitutes and she had one whom she was dating. Not to make myself look good, I really had no problem with what she was doing; I am not racist! The only problem was when people were saying, “show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are”. That gave me cause for worry. At that time, she was also in another relationship with a young boy- Wole* of the same age-group as she. They fought all the time because of her philandering ways (we shouldn’t discuss the fact that she was having pre-marital sex with Wole). It got so bad that she travelled for 2 weeks with another man (not the oyibo) without telling me, and then came back to my house to harbour her when Wole threatened to beat her mercilessly. On this particular occasion, I refused to open my doors to her as I had been labelled an accessory to her deeds. That was the day when she jumped 2 storeys to save herself from being killed by Wole. God is merciful! Worse still, she never went to church- a stay at home Christian, but yet, she had everything going for her. She was in worldly terms, prosperous. But within, she was nothing near that. The troubles she had to put up with everyday and the struggles to feed her younger ones must have taken its toll on her. Her case was not one to be envied by those of us who were close to her.
To cut the very, very long story short, and four (4) years down the line; she has picked up the pieces of her life. I was in the UK when she told me she was getting married to a God-fearing, responsible young man. I was privileged to meet her husband and I could not be any happier for her. Today, she has a beautiful daughter –which I happen to be God mother to. I bet if we trace back to my friend of yesteryears, we would question God on His ability to forgive a sinner and change his life for the better. However, we should be grateful to God for being able to give us another chance, another shot at life; before it’s too late.
Prayer
Our Father and our God, thank you for the gift of a second chance. Thank you for being kind and merciful unto me, a sinner. As many times I’ve almost given up due to my faithlessness and foolishness, you’ve drawn me closer to you and promised me a better tomorrow. I thank you because with you, my prosperity is certain and I am destined to be great. You deserve my praises all the days of my life…thank you heavenly father, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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