Uncle and his wife had just left their pineapple farm when the community members working on the road that led to their farm confronted them, demanding payment for the levy imposed for the work. Grateful for the road improvement, Uncle promised to pay during his next visit, though he was unaware of the project. One community member insisted that, instead of the levy, Uncle should pay a substantial amount because he was wealthy. Uncle’s wife noticed the bulldozer working on the road had damaged part of their fence, yet nobody had informed them. The community remained unapologetic, asserting the couple’s wealth meant they could easily repair the fence.
Looking through the broken wall, Uncle asked, “Do you see pineapples there? Haven’t cows destroyed them before we fenced the farm? We still pay staff salaries from Lagos, which isn’t right for a farm this age. Don’t worry, we’ll repair our fence.” Then, they drove off. The next morning, Uncle’s wife confronted him, “You made a negative confession yesterday. Why tell the community that there are no more pineapples?” Uncle defended himself, “What’s wrong with telling the truth? Shouldn’t people know the real situation to stop making wrong assumptions?” She insisted that believers should always make positive confessions.
She left for the bank and returned a few hours later, asking Uncle how he was managing the pain in his right eye. “Why are you tempting me?” he responded, teasing her by ‘confessing’ that the pain had left his eyes last year. This exchange made me ponder: how do we communicate our problems? What is a positive confession and when does it become a lie?
Uncle’s driver had been absent for two days without informing anyone. When Aunty called to inquire, he replied, “I am very strong.” If he worked at a bank and replied to a query this way, he would likely be fired. Imagine a man taking his wife to the hospital for typhoid, and if the doctor asked what was wrong and he said, “She is okay,” wouldn’t the doctor think something was wrong with him? Similarly, if a man took his car to the mechanic for brake failure and said, “Everything is okay,” it would confuse. Positive confessions can be absurd in certain contexts.
Jesus asked a blind man how he fared, and the man confessed he saw men as trees walking (Mark 8:24). Jesus did not rebuke him for this negative confession before healing him. Peter’s mother-in-law’s sickness was confessed to Jesus, and He healed her. Jesus acknowledged Lazarus’s sickness and later his death (John 11:11, 14), yet He raised him from the grave. On the cross, Jesus confessed His thirst (John 19:28) and feeling forsaken (Matt 27:46), but He ultimately declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Despite these tough situations, He triumphed.
“Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea,’ and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23). Acknowledging the mountain (problem) is crucial. Whether it’s the empty land where cows ate the pineapples, sickness, or car brake failure, start declaring what God says about the situation, ignoring the negative circumstances. This principle was evident at Lazarus’s grave. Despite knowing Lazarus was dead and the body was decomposing, Jesus commanded him to rise, and he did.
Right confession also means commitment. Consistently declare the truth in private and public. Jesus publicly cursed the fig tree, and His disciples heard it (Mark 11:14). Right confession involves action. When Peter commanded the lame man to walk, he helped him up, showing his faith (Acts 3:7). The man walked.
When I threw away my ulcer medicine in 1980, I wasn’t denying the ulcer. I stood on the finished work of Jesus, “By Whose stripes ye were healed.” Angered by Satan’s affliction, I relied on my faith, and the ulcer left, never to return.
My bank account balance is a fact but not the truth. The truth is, “My God shall supply all your (my) needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). Despite human limitations, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I remain confident, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against me in judgment I condemn” (Isa 54:17). Satan’s agents may magnify his power, but, “They (we) overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev. 12:11).
For further comment, please contact: Osondu Anyalechi:
0909 041 9057; [email protected]