There’s a reason the vision of the coming famine wasn’t given to Jacob. Instead, it was shown to a foreign king who didn’t worship God, and God sent His servant to interpret it in a foreign land.
Sometimes who you become and the environment you grow in determines whether your calling will produce results where you are, or whether it will flourish somewhere else.
Jacob’s story is filled with favoritism and self-preservation. He was loved more by his mother, took his brother’s birthright, stole his brother’s blessing, deceived his father-in-law, wrestled for a blessing, and later showed the same favoritism among his own children by loving Joseph than the others.
One could argue that if Jacob had received the vision of famine, he might have saved only for himself and his household while everyone else suffered. Instead, the vision was given to someone with the capacity to prepare for an entire nation even in a land that didn’t worship God. And Jacob had to migrate to avoid being killed by starvation. In the end, it is the person with the larger heart and broader capacity who ends up serving the masses.
This reflection feels very close to our reality. Many of us think only about ourselves and our immediate families. When everyone is struggling, the moment our family gains access to influence or elites, we often change sides and begin to defend the same systems that hurt others. These choices are short-lived, and even our prayers struggle to produce change because we tend to hoard blessings within our small circles.
We prefer luxury for a few instead of basic necessities for all. And that is why many people now run to less religious or irreligious countries to find the opportunities and systems they pray for at home. Migration has even become something pastors and clergy openly “bless” people with. How ironic.
Perhaps the deeper truth is this: we may not yet be ready to build the kind of capacity that benefits everyone.
From the comments, people are saying that's not what he meant, he meant menstrual pain is not an excuse to act badly. Please can someone explain what "act badly" in this context means, because me, when I'm in pain, I don't even have strength to act, not to talk of "act badly"
This is the longest soul piercing piece I've read in recent times😢
Written By An SS 3 Girl Named Uren, GSS Manguna, Bokkos, Plateau State. An eye witness account:
My name is Uren. I am from Hurti, a small village in Daffo, Bokkos LGA of Plateau State. I am in SS3 at GSS Manguna.
In Bokkos LGA, we farm potatoes, maize and whatever the land agrees to yield, because that is what we know best. That is how we survive. Occasionally, we trade. But it is the land that feeds us.
At the weekend, my people, the Ron and Kulere, held our yearly festival. People came from all over. Not because everything was all right, but because the festival gave us strength. It reminded us that we are still here. We are still alive. And even though we keep losing people, we cannot stop living. Besides, we know everyone will die someday.
On Wednesday morning, before the sun rose, my mother reminded me that we needed to head to the farm early, before the heat turned cruel and our energy, too drained to respond. There is always work to be done on the farm; come rain, come sun, dry or green. Life in our village follows that rhythm.
Dear Nigerian Christians, even the Israelites fought their way out of slavery and conquered their enemies. Faith without action is empty—no one is coming to save us. It’s time to stand, act, and fight for change. FYI “The Experience” is not going to save you from bad governance..