Before You Scatter Everything…

Beloved Friend,

I have heard people say during conflict “je ka kuku da gbogbo e ru,” as in let us just scatter everything because what is even left to save. It is that quiet resignation that whispers I cannot see how this thing will ever be okay again, so let it just end. I have had that thought in my own heart before. There are moments when life feels like your chapter has closed. You tell yourself Wo God I have missed the timing. I have missed the window. Let me just be holding this fort like this.

We are always so quick to write ourselves off long before God ever writes us off.

While studying the book of Judges, that thought rose again when I reached Samson’s story. I paused at the moment he asked God to let him die with the Philistines. At first, I wondered why he did not ask for mercy or restoration. Why did he not try again? Could it be, in that moment, Samson felt what many of us feel when we are tempted to say “je ka kuku da gbogbo e ru”. His pain was deep. His past failures weighed heavily. He could not see how his life could still carry purpose after mistakes so great (That could have been a reason).

Yet God, who sees beyond our despair, still met him there.

The more I studied, the more I saw something remarkable: Samson had acted impulsively many times in the past, following his own desires instead of God’s calling. Yet God’s purpose over his life did not vanish. Even through his failures, God’s calling remained, and His mercy never left him. In that broken, final moment, Samson prayed in desperation. He may not have fully understood what was about to happen, but God’s Spirit returned, giving him strength one last time. His greatest victory came after his fall. It was a vivid picture of how God works through our weakness, using even imperfect prayers and broken lives to accomplish His purpose.

His prayer was not about personal comfort. It became the instrument through which God fulfilled the deliverance He had planned for Israel. Could he have asked for mercy and lived? Perhaps. But that life would not have completed the mission God had planned. Surrounded by thousands mocking God and Israel, the path to fulfilling His purpose unfolded, even though Samson himself may not have fully understood it. He did not choose death because God could not restore him. He acted in that desperate moment, and God used him to bring deliverance.

Which brings me back to us. Why do we give up so quickly? Why do we whisper “je ka kuku da gbogbo e ru” before God even speaks? It is rarely because God has closed a door. Most times, our emotions are louder than His heart. We measure everything by what we feel, not by what He is doing. We write ourselves off because we cannot imagine how God can still use us, meanwhile God has not scattered anything.

There’s another thing about brokenness that I also learnt from this book of Judges, and I will be sharing it in my next newsletter, by God’s grace. Let’s make it a date, yeah?

With thoughts of kindness,

ABBA’s Shofar