Cry for help

Last Saturday, God decided that this post had stayed long enough in my head, it had to come to the blog. I had had this post in mind for a month now but Koinonia’s Saturday’s message “The Mystery of Genuine Brokenness” prompted me to write.

Here we go, I pray this blesses you.

My heart sank!

“No, please, no..”

My phone had just fallen into a big bowl of water. I picked it up to switch it off immediately since the battery was inbuilt and there was little or nothing I could do to open up the phone.

“I really hope it comes back on…” I mumbled as I tried to remove the phone cover and put it outside under the sun.

It was my first year in the university and I had been washing plates outside my hostel room when the tragedy occurred.

I tried putting the phone back on but it came on only to go back off. It repeated that sequence countless times and I knew there was no hope.

“What do I do now!?” I asked myself, tears stinging the corners of my eyes and threatening to fall.

I had just fixed the phone two days ago and this is happening again!

And to think that I didn’t have enough money to last me the month, talk more of money to fix phone.

My day was ruined. I went back to my hostel room and sat on my bed, staring blankly into space.

All my lectures for that day were affected, I couldn’t concentrate.

“I can’t ask mommy or daddy, I just collected money from them yesterday and they’re aware of the fact that I fixed my phone recently because they paid for the repair.”

I had materials I had downloaded for school on the phone which I was yet to transfer to my laptop.

Coupled with my numerous social media accounts, (both mine and those I’m managing for people).

My blogs also were on the phone, my gmail, email, etc.

My phone is my office, I prefer my phone to my laptop. Now this calamity had befallen my phone and I had no hope or so I thought.

After spending a day in misery, I decided like the prodigal son that I’d go back to my father, (just that in this case, I decided to go to my mother).

As I went up the stairs to my mom’s office, I rehearsed what I was going to tell her.

When I got into her office, she looked up and smiled.

“Mama bawoni” (Meaning “Mama how are you- My mom calls me “Mama”)

“I’m fine ma” I answered.

“You don’t look fine. What is it?”

Grabbing this opportunity, I narrated my ordeal to my mom concluding it by saying “Mommy I know you gave me a huge amount of money recently and you fixed this phone two days ago but please ma, can you help me?”

She looked at me for a while and smiled.

“Do you want to fix this phone or you want a new one?”

I thought I wasn’t hearing right.

In a nutshell, my mom gave me money to fix the phone because I didn’t want a new one and she gave me more money to sustain me in school.

What did you learn from my story?

This is a picture of our relationship with God.

Sometimes, we think God has done too much for us and we don’t deserve it so when we run into trouble, we run to everywhere but God.

Sometimes we’re in so much trouble that we forget the simple prayer “God help me”.

And I’m not talking about a causal and careless unconscious “God help me”.

I’m talking about a genuine acknowledgement of your inadequacies and even faults. A conscious acknowledgement of the fact that you probably don’t even deserve help. You may have like me “squandered so much money in little time” and need more money.

You may have committed sins that warrant heavy punishments but instead of seeing God in your mind, holding a big cane ready to flog you, why not see His open arms welcoming you?

My mom could have asked me why I even took my phone with me to wash plates but she chose not to.

Even more merciful is our God.

God was willing and ready to help you when you were deep in sin, why would he hate you for your mistakes now that you’re His?.

This post is a call for you to cry out to God for help.

Lay aside all you have achieved and cry for help.

Stop wallowing in the consequences of your foolish decisions, admit that you were wrong and reach out to God.

When you’re faced with situations that are beyond you, cry for help.