SOWING AND REAPING

Hello there!

How are you on this fine day? I hope you're doing good?

Welcome to today's gist.

A little over two years ago, it was confirmed that my genotype is AS. The thing was a sort of uncertainty had arisen because the first time I had done a genotype test, the result said I was AA, then I had cause to take the test again and it said I was AS, so I decided to take a third test, they say 2 out of 3 is what you should go with. So I took that third test in 2021 and it said my genotype is AS. 

I remember that as I was leaving the hospital, I met someone who knew me and he asked what I was doing in the hospital, when I told him, he said "Ayaa, you have to be careful who you marry." That was good advice that I definitely wouldn't typically have had problem with until he continued "but you can still marry who you want, God can do a miracle." My reply was instantaneous: "God forbid that I would partake in such foolish behaviour!" And the person who was giving me this piece of unsolicited advice is educated, a lab technician in fact!

This appalling view is not held by only this man, there are a lot of people who believe this and I believe that this belief and others like it are the reasons why the number of sicklers is on the increase. I know someone who was telling me how when she was told she her genotype is AS, she rejected it. When she told me, I was wondering "AS na curse?" What exactly was she rejecting? 

It just seems like people feel they God can be bamboozled into correcting their 'errors' and I use that term very loosely because in most cases, the decision to marry even when the individuals know they are genetically incompatible is made very consciously. Sometimes I wonder "wetin dey go through their mind? God be mumu wey create this thing?" 

Why do we feel like we can knowingly disobey God but He should be there to clean our mess. This type of arrogance is on a class of its own and it's not limited to genetic incompatibility in intending couples. It's an arrogance that manifests in many areas of life. I recently realized that sometimes I do , or at least plan to do, something that I know is wrong but somehow I'll be expecting that God will let me escape unscathed by the natural consequences of my actions, when no be say God be genie wey dem dey rub lamp to remove! 

The Bible has clearly told us the mind of God in such matters when Galatians 6:7 tells us not to be deceived because God cannot be mocked, whatever a man sows he will reap. This means that we cannot expect God to go about cleaning up after us for things He already told us not to do, God forbid! 

Rather than try to ascertain whether or not God will get us out of messes we put ourselves in, how about we do not out ourselves in the mess in the first place? That would be better for us and those who love us. One  of the lessons God has been teaching me recently is that I must never lose consciousness of the fact that all actions will have consequences and I cannot hope to circumvent the consequences of my actions merely because I ask God to cause that to be the case. I'm not saying that in cases of true repentance, God cannot do that, He can. But should we continue to sin and misbehave because there is grace available? Paul's answer is very instructive: it's not merely a 'no', it is "GOD FORBID!" We must learn not to take God's love and grace for granted. 

I pray that God helps us count our actions and the cost before we act and not expect Him to miraculously help us escape the consequences of our actions.

See you next week!

Love,

Achenyo. 

PS. Next week's post will be on Wednesday instead of Thursday, see you then.