The young men walked briskly into the office of the Governor’s personal secretary.
“I’m here to see the Governor”, he said.
The secretary did a very quick assessment of the young man. A well-dressed young man he was, and handsome too. Nevertheless, he was altogether a non-entity. What could have granted him access to enter the Governor’s office and demand to see the Governor? What powers does he have? Is he carrying a gun or what? Well, for the young man to be freely allowed access by the security personnel, he must have some back-up somewhere, and that, she must find out.
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“But, young sir”, she asked, “who are you, and what relationship do you have with the Governor?”
“That is not so important”, he replied, “I only want to deliver a message to him”.
“Well sir, any prior appointment with the Governor?” she asked.
“Well, no”, he replied.
“I’m sorry. You cannot see the Governor, now”, she said with a note of finality, as she turned to beckon on the next person.
“Excuse me ma, you need to see this”, the young man said and he dipped his hand into his bag and brought out a neatly wrapped envelop.
Opening the envelope, she brought out letter and opened it. Of the many things in the letter one thing caught the attention of the secretary, it was a seal which read, “The Seal of the President of the Federal Republic”. Instantly, she stood on her feet, visibly shaken as she excused herself and entered the Governor’s main office, and walked out a few seconds later.
“A minute sir”, she said, “and you can see the Governor. Sorry for the embarrassment.”
Now, I want you to learn something from my story. The young man had no extraordinary powers, no magic, no guns, no fame or power of any sort to have access to the Governor’s office. Nevertheless, the moment he presented the letter bearing the seal of the President, every one stood up to attend to him. Now, every president has a realm within which he/she operates.
If there are any people, or places that are not loyal or subject to, and that have no respect for the Presidency, carrying his seal or signature there does not make any difference to them. The president’s seal or authority is only respected and honoured within his sphere of authority and acceptance.
I had only used this illustration to draw an analogy of what I wish to share with you in this article. Now, the Bible says that
“The world and all that is in it belongs to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it is his.” (Psalm 24 vs. 1).
This shows that God Almighty rules over this world, and his rule over the earth is sovereign and entire. It is not limited to any sphere or part of the world no matter the belief such a people have about Him. He sentenced Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, to seven years imprisonment with hard labour,
“in order, that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes, and sets over it the lowliest of men.” (Daniel 4 vs. 17).
God himself did let us know that He owns “the cattle on a thousand hills”, and there is nothing impossible for Him to do.
Also, in the spiritual world, God rules. “In the congregation of gods, God is great to be feared”. “The highest angelic powers stand in awe of Him” (Psalm 82 vs. 1).All creatures both in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth pay obeisance to Him, and to His Son, Jesus Christ.
“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (Rev. 5 vs. 13).
God is most holy, immortal, invincible, He’s the unseen one that never dies. His fame is known throughout the whole earth. When Israel was going on pilgrimage to and from Canaan, God sent a rebuke ahead of them to the kings of the earth saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” (Psalm 105 vs. 15). That was why when Balaam was hired by Balak, the King of Moab to curse Israel, Balaam said,
“He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither has he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.” (Numbers 23 vs. 21).
Balaam could not curse the children of Israel because he could hear the shout of a King in their means, and you could guess which King that was. It’s just like when you see a very young, defenseless person who you might hurt with ease, and all of a sudden you get a call from a higher authority saying that such a person must not be hurt.
You see, no matter how much you hate that person, you must not hurt him/her – for the King had said so! Stories abound in the Bible and beyond of many men (brothers and sisters) who faced manifold assaults and temptations physically and spiritually, and they were triumphant because God was with them.
Now my point is this, “What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who, [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]” Romans 8 vs. 31.
I see many Christians facing life with fear and trembling. Each time they look at the future, and the seeming realities of life, they tend to ask and bother themselves with the same questions unbelievers fret over, “What shall we eat? What shall we drink” what shall we wear?” However, these questions are very logical for the natural man to ask, God still has an answer for the believer in Christ Jesus, “If God be for us…”
What about bomb blasts, armed robberies, sicknesses, job crisis, financial crisis, etc.? How shall we escape these things? How shall we stand as conquerors in this evil world? How shall we cope in the face of the mounting distress and negative “realities” of life? To the natural man we do not have an answer, but to the believer in Christ we have a blessed assurance! “In view of the fact that God is on our behalf, who could be against us?” I wish we would reflect a bit on this question.
The Bible is filled with stories of men and women that God walked with. All of these stories showed us that they were triumphant people. I do not mean to say that they did not have seemingly overwhelming challenges. Some lost their beloved ones, and some lost their earthly belongings. Yes! Some even lost their very lives! But can even death be against us, when God is on our side? Oh, the blessedness of having God on our side!
Let us arise, and face the battles ahead. Let us lift up our countenance and be men of courage. For the blessed fact is unequivocally stated – God is with us… and that is what matters. Hallelujah!
Joshua Obodozie resides in Enugu, Nigeria, West Africa. He is a believer in Christ Jesus and in the authority of the Bible as the inerrant word of God. He is the chief editor of THE CHRISTIAN IN SOCIETY (www.thechristianinsociety.org) an online blog that reaches thousands of Nigerians and Africans with the word of God. He is also a Materials Engineer by profession.
