Simon Kolawole: We often blame God for our faults

Simon Kolawole, founder and CEO of TheCable, says Christian faithful should not  blame God for every challenge they encounter in life.

Speaking at the first online rally of “Discovery for Men”, a programme of the Fountain of Life Church, Lagos, on Sunday, Kolawole gave the example of an incident in the Bible when a ship conveying Jesus Christ and his disciples was about to sink as a result of a storm.

According to the Gospel of Mark, the disciples woke up Jesus and asked: “Master, don’t you care that we are perishing?”

Kolawole said Christians feel like that sometimes, wondering if God does not care about the troubles they are experiencing in their marriages, businesses, finances and other aspects of life.

‘BE FRANK WITH GOD’

They should be frank in discussing their worries and anxieties with God and God will be frank with them in his response, he said.

“Jesus woke up and addressed the problem by rebuking the wind and the storm but he then turned to his disciples and said, ‘Why are you so fearful and lack faith?’ In other words, he was saying, the problem is not me; the problem is you. You have the power but you didn’t use it,” Kolawole said.

He narrated how things did not work out for him when he resigned his job in 1996 to start a Christian publication and lost a lot of money.

Kolawole said he initially blamed God, as Jesus’ disciples did, but he later realised that he was the one that failed to do his homework properly and relied too much on other people to make things work.

The event with the theme, “Take Your Stand”, exposed men to tips on how to embark on businesses in accordance with the previsions of the Bible.

Steve Harris, one of the speakers, urged Christians to utilise each day of the week working towards achieving success.

Identifying how they can use each day of the week for different purposes, Harris said: “By the time you get to 70 years, it would be a public holiday.

“My word of challenge is that before you leave here, ask God what is in this world for me.”

ODUKOYA ASKS MEN TO TAKE A STAND

In his message, Taiwo Odukoya, senior pastor of the Fountain of Life Church, reference to the story of Daniel in the Bible who lost his homeland and became a slave “but even in slavery he knew that the one way to progress is to take a stand”.

Odukoya asked Christian faithful to learn to take a stand based on conviction and principles.

“You would agree that if anybody is asked to take a stand, it is the man, as the Bible says, the man is the head of the home. Today, men are defined by culture and many other things. In taking your stand, you can adopt firm decisions on an issue,” he said.

“You don’t take a stand and God will not bless and honour it. It’s time to take a stand. Taking a stand is not what we do to please people or receive gratification. Your stand should be based on conviction and only on the ground of principles.”

He said taking a stand at times means walking away from a situation that could lead to compromising Christian principles.

Nathaniel Bassey, a gospel singer, performed at the event.