I wish you a wonderful day and good morning. My name is Oyisi Okatahi and welcome to overcoming temptations. Today I would like to share with you on a topic titled “Why things go wrong”.
I read the Bible from Proverbs 14:34, and will use several translations. King James version says- Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. New Living Translation says – Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people. New International Version says – Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.
Many times people ask the question why do things go wrong like disease, poverty, sorrow and death. People blame others for their problems, they blame their parents, they blame the government, they blame society and so on, however they never blame themselves, they never ask themselves if their own ways and action are right in the sight of God. I was in a car and the driver was telling me how he is righteous and serves God, all of a sudden he began to follow one way, that is driving on the wrong lane, and I told him that it was not right, but he did not see anything wrong with it and I began to wonder this was someone that was just telling me of his righteousness and now he does not even realize the wrong thing. Many Nigerians see ourselves as righteous but in reality we are not. We give and take bribes, we cheat people in our businesses, we cheat in examinations, we commit fornication with people who we are not married to, we lie, we steal, we do so many wrong things and yet we all say we are born again. If you catch an armed robber, he will tell you he is born again, if you pick a prostitute on the street, she will say she is born again. We make a mockery of ourselves, because we cannot mock God. I want to encourage you to learn to judge yourself so that God does no judge you. Tell yourself the truth and acknowledge your sins so that God can show you mercy and give you grace. The Bible in 1 Corinthians 11:31 says For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
The reason why things do not work for us as Nigerians is because our ways are not right before God, yes there are people who serve God, but majority are pretenders. The truth is that if a nation genuinely serves God, he will prosper them, but if they reject God then they should not be surprise with problems that they face. Many times we blame our leaders but we should also look inwards and blame ourselves. You see corruption everywhere in schools, hospitals, business organization, government organization, religious organizations virtually everywhere.
Things go wrong when people sin against God, the Bible in Judges 10:6-7 says Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him, he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites. Several times the children of Israel rejected God and each time their enemies prevailed over them. Many people are oppressed by Satan only due to sin, because without sin Satan would not have had any chance in the life of Gods children. Sin which is disobedience to God is the reason why things go wrong.
Mike Murdock said wisdom is the ability to recognize difference, difference in people or things. Once you can recognize sexual immorality and stay away from it, automatically you are wise. You may not be good in mathematics, English or chemistry, but once you stay away from fornication believe me you are very intelligent and wise. Because sin has never brought anyone joy, it may bring pleasure but it will only last for short time. On the contrary when you try to live holy and please God you find joy, peace and favour. A poor man who sleeps with only his wife is much wiser than a rich man who has affairs with many women. For you to be wise is just to say no to sin and that it, it is as simple as that.
Sin brings about disgrace so please avoid it, flee from it. A righteous life will enjoy Gods favour and the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. Psalm 84:11 says For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. So I assure you that you will get the best in life by serving God, we may not be perfect but every day we should walk in the direction of perfection. Have a blessed day and may God grant us the grace to obey him in Jesus name.
