• Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact
Premium Times Opinion
Monday, August 8, 2022
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
No Result
View All Result
Premium Times Opinion
Home Faith Article of Faith

God Blesses Us With Trouble, By Femi Aribisala

by Premium Times
March 22, 2015
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0

God creates success out of failures. He creates life out of death. He creates wealth out of poverty. He brings joy out of sadness.

The wise man says: “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.” (Proverbs 10:22). However, trouble is often the instrument of God’s blessing.

I used to own the largest chain of video shops in Lagos. In early 1990, I got the entire business computerised. Nevertheless, I lived in constant fear that suddenly, without warning, the system would break down, leading to the loss of valuable data and income.

One day, the very thing I feared came upon me: the system broke down. Worst of all, it happened in my most profitable shop in Victoria Island. I tried all the different “fixes” prescribed by the programme manual, but to no avail. After a while, somebody put on a children’s Christian video and, at the end of my wits, I just stood there staring vacuously at the film.

Don’t worry

Suddenly, my attention was drawn to precisely what I was watching. There was a man dancing around with a bunch of kids, and the song they were singing went something like this: “Don’t worry, about a thing; everything is gonna be all right. I say don’t worry, about a thing; everything is gonna be all right.” Then they ended the song with this telling line: “This is my message to you oh oh.”

I got the message all right. I told my staff to continue with manual rentals. “God,” I declared, “has solved this problem.” While they looked at me incredulously, I waltzed out of the shop and went home.

The next morning, I woke up singing the same song: “Don’t worry about a thing. Everything is gonna be all right.” I walked into my study and opened a drawer. In it was written on a piece of paper a command in my own handwriting. It said, “del VRJR.dat.” I could not, for the life of me, remember when and why I wrote that. The Lord said to me: “Femi, go and type that into your system in the shop and then re-index your files.” When I did it, the problem was solved.

This happened again a second time just like the first time. There was another major problem with the programme in the Victoria Island shop. Immediately I got there, somebody mysteriously put on the same Christian video telling me not to worry about a thing. In no time, the wisdom of God came again and the problem was solved.

Silent treatment

Nevertheless, I continued to live in fear of the possibility of computer breakdown in VideoNet. Whenever any of my staff phoned or came to see me, I would brace myself for bad news. Then one day, bad news came again from my Victoria Island outfit. Something happened and the entire data disappeared. I went there and did all I could, but to no avail. I waited patiently for someone to put on the miracle video, but no one did. After a while I went home, still expecting to hear from the Lord; but he said nothing.

After two days, the Lord finally spoke. “Femi,” he said, “I am not going to recover the data for you. The data is lost. You are going to have to start all over again by re-entering all the tapes and customers.” So I asked the Lord: “Will you help me to do that?” “I am glad you asked me,” he replied. “Yes, I will help you.”

The Lord gave me the wisdom whereby I re-entered all the data in the shop with a team of seven people within two days. I imported data from other shops, gave them identifiable prefixes, and used them as the foundation for entering over ten thousand tapes. I operated at a level of wisdom I knew was not mine. In two days, the system was up and running. The Lord then provided the wisdom by which we were able to recover the late charges; in spite of the lost data.

From that day forward, I was never anxious again about the possibility of system failure in my video shops. Much later, the Lord gave me the wisdom simply to install back-up systems, but I never had to use them.

The point I am making here is that the Lord used the adversity of system failure to cure me of the fear of system failure. In spite of earlier assurances not to worry, I continued to worry. So the Lord allowed the system to fail instead of safeguarding it from failure. Thereby, I discovered that system failure is not the end of a video shop. Therefore, I stopped being afraid. God does not kill the Goliaths in our lives. But he teaches us to overcome them by trusting in Him.

Blessing of trouble

One of the best things that ever happened to me was that I was shot by armed robbers. It was in the middle of the attack that I heard from the Lord for the very first time in my life. That attack laid the foundation for my present walk with God and my ability to hear and know his voice. Therefore, I can say like the Psalmist: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might know the Lord.” (Psalm 119:71).

What does it take to know God? To know God, we have to suffer. Nothing brings about the perfecting of the believer in the knowledge of God like suffering. How can I know God is a healer if I don’t fall sick? How can I know he is “the great provider” if I am never broke? How can I know he is my deliverer unless I have a crisis? “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19).

The believer should know that God creates success out of failures. He creates life out of death. He creates wealth out of poverty. He brings joy out of sadness. Everything about the kingdom of God is worked out in contradictions by faith.

God does not just want us to read the scriptures. God wants us to experience the scriptures. God is determined to give us a testimony. If the bible were to be written today, would you be in it? Do you want to know the Lord and the power of his resurrection? Then be prepared to be a Lazarus. You have to be killed and then rise from the dead. They have to write you off and then hear about your promotion. Like Joseph, they have to throw you down a well, sell you off as a slave, send you to prison and you still emerge as Prime Minister.

Trials and tribulations help us to develop godly character. We are never the same after we go through them. They move us into greater reliance and dependence on God. In the process, we lose those things in us that are not the planting of the Lord.

Therefore James counsels believers: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4).

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Share on Tumblr

Related

Previous Post

The Rogue State: Jonathan, His Mercenaries and Ethnic Militias, By Adeolu Ademoyo

Next Post

As the world focuses on Nigeria, By US’ John Kerry and UK’s Philip Hammond

Related Posts

Trust and Confidence Building As Conditions of Good Governance, By Uddin Ifeanyi
Columns

The Policy Implications of 2021’s Low Growth Projections, By Uddin Ifeanyi

February 1, 2021
Akinwunmi Adesina: Africa’s Spotless Son, By Wole Olaoye
Columns

Iron Woman of Berlin, By Wole Olaoye

January 31, 2021
Rethinking Heroism and the Nigerian Civil Service, By Festus Adedayo
Columns

Aliko Dangote’s Costly Mess of the Libido, By Festus Adedayo

January 31, 2021
Why Lai Mohammed Must Be Fired Immediately, By Femi Aribisala
Article of Faith

Is God Invisible?, By Femi Aribisala

January 31, 2021
Religion As Africa’s Trojan Horse, By Osmund Agbo
Columns

South-East Governors: Preparing For a Post-oil and Restructured Nigeria, By Osmund Agbo

January 30, 2021
People Deserve The Coach They Hire, By Owei Lakemfa
Columns

Again, Entombed Humans Triumph Over Death, By Owei Lakemfa

January 30, 2021
Next Post
As the world focuses on Nigeria, By US’ John Kerry and UK’s Philip Hammond

As the world focuses on Nigeria, By US' John Kerry and UK's Philip Hammond

Buhari: From Despair to Hope, By Babatunde Adeleke

Buhari: From Despair to Hope, By Babatunde Adeleke

Editorial

  • EDITORIAL: The Urgency of Tackling Nigeria’s Second Wave of COVID-19

    EDITORIAL: The Urgency of Tackling Nigeria’s Second Wave of COVID-19

  • EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

    EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

  • EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

    EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

  • EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

    EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

  • EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

    EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

Subscribe to our Opinion articles via email

Enter your email address to get notifications of new opinion articles as they are published.

Join 526,543 other subscribers

Most Popular

  • The Bad Consequences and Dangers of Adultery and Fornication (Zina) In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Bad Consequences and Dangers of Adultery and Fornication (Zina) In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • Islam and the Conditions For Marrying More Than One Wife, By Murtadha Gusau
    Islam and the Conditions For Marrying More Than One Wife, By Murtadha Gusau
  • The Women Prohibited For Men To Marry In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Women Prohibited For Men To Marry In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • World Teachers Day and The Position of Teachers In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    World Teachers Day and The Position of Teachers In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • You Will Be Held Responsible On What Happened To Your Children!, By Murtadha Gusau
    You Will Be Held Responsible On What Happened To Your Children!, By Murtadha Gusau
  • The Importance Of Keeping Secrets In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Importance Of Keeping Secrets In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • Revisiting the Corruption Theory of A Departed Journalist, By Banji Ojewale
    Revisiting the Corruption Theory of A Departed Journalist, By Banji Ojewale

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Podcasts

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

  • Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.