“Return To The LORD And He Will Heal The Land!”

“Return To The LORD And He Will Heal The Land!”(Lam.1:1-12).
Post modern reasoning may give the immediate cause of an accident as in what happened at that particular time and spot. Then a remote cause may be about what happened somewhere else before the accident. A remote cause may be that the driver took too much alcohol before sitting behind the wheel.
In African worldview the remote csuse is more spiritual than physical. The remote cause of the accident may be because “your village people were after you” as it is said in common parlance.
The cause of something is more spiritual than it seems. Nothing happens in the physical unless it is induced in the spiritual.
If people are sitting in a room and a mosquito bites one person, the question is, “Why would the mosquito choose only you to bite, and not some other person?” Surely there must be an explanation.
Jewish worldview is akin to the African worldview, except that what is attributed to the ancestors, spirits and gods in African worldview, in the jewish worldview it is attributed to the Living God, YAHWEH.
As you drive from Ekona through Ediki you see that all the houses by the roaside are riddled with bullets while some of the houses are outrightly burned down to ashes. The story is the same from Naka river to Gungong on your way to Batibo. There is desolation and a sense of abandonment all around the place.
In fact, those who brave it to live in the midst of this desolation are either those who have given their lives to Christ or those who have sold their souls to the devil! Those who have given their lives to Christ brave it because say, “Dear God, whatever it be, let it be according to your will.” And those who have sold their souls to the devil have damned the consequences and care little about what happens next.
My friend, after Nebuchadnezzar had laid waste the city of Jerusalem, a poet walked through the ruins and broke down in deep lament. He couldn’t bear to see “how deserted lies the city once full of people! How like a widow is she who once was a great nation!…”
However, the poet did not see Nebuchadnezzar as the architect of such destruction and desolation. He said, “The LORD has brought her grief because of her many sins…Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean.”
Yes, my friend, when we look around and see the desolation let us know that we have brought it upon ourselves because we have sinned against the LORD.
Let us repent from our individual and collective sins. And let us turn to the LORD and appeal, “Look, O LORD, on my affliction…Look, O LORD, and consider…”
The LORD is merciful and compassionate; he will hear us and he will heal us and restore us so that we can rejoice and exalt his holy name.
Prayer of the week: LORD we have sinned against you. Forgive us, heal and restore us through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen!
Welcome back to a new working day and week! Have a blessed day and week! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.