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<B>You Will Have An Answer For All Who Accuse You – A Poor Widow’s Experience</B>
I took the name I gave to this topic from Good News Bible translation of first part of Isaiah 54:17. The other part says: “‘I will defend my servants and give them victory.’ The LORD has spoken.”
Have You Experienced Any Of These?
- Have you ever been falsely accused by someone?
- Has somebody or some people tried to deprive you of your right?
- Have you had the experience of people conspiring against you?
- What about the pains of the statements of false witnesses?
- Do you know, by experience, what it really means to be persecuted?
- How do you feel when someone slanders you?
- Have you had other experiences that are related to these?
No matter what you have passed through or still passing through, take heart for…
God says: “You will have an answer for all who accuse you.”
A Poor Widow Under Attack
Be encouraged by this very short form of a long true story. It will help you appreciate how God goes all out to fight on behalf of His children.
Here in Africa, precisely in Nigeria, there was a poor widow whose husband left a house for her and her children.
After the man's death, his brothers and some other male relatives fraudulently sold the house to one man who came from a neighboring country called Cameroon.
The man was a Nigerian, but lived in Cameroon. This incident happened just after Nigeria’s civil war in 1970.
The widow was still living in her late husband’s house when her husband’s relations illegally and dishonestly sold it to the man without her consent or knowledge.
The new “landlord” asked her to quit the house. But she refused, saying that the house belonged to her late husband, and she would stay there to look after her kids.
At The Legal Courts
Well, the matter became a court case. The man from Cameroon took the widow to court.
The evil and dishonest relatives (there were some who were good and truthful, though), of the widow's husband witnessed in favor of the Cameroon man. Why? Because they sold the property to him, and had collected his money and spent it.
The Cameroon man bribed virtually everybody, including the son of the original man that sold the land to the widow's late husband.
The widow was really poor. As the case dragged on in the court, she could no longer afford the costs of legal services.
During one of the hearings, the presiding judge asked her, "Madam, where is your lawyer? Who is defending you against all these accusations?"
She said that she had no lawyer, and that Jesus Christ would stand for her, would defend her, and give her victory over those who wanted to rob her of what her late husband left for her and her children.
Jesus stood for the widow and actually defended her.
The Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples in Matthew 10:19, 20 that, when they were arrested and brought before the authorities, they shouldn’t worry about what to say or how to say it, because, at that very time, God would give them what to say. They wouldn’t be the people speaking, but the Holy Spirit would be the One speaking through them.
The widow narrated to the court about the history of the house. She told the court how her husband purchased the land and who he purchased it from. She spoke about how her husband and herself built the house, and how they moved into it in 1953 with their children.
She told the court that her husband’ brothers couldn’t even afford to look after themselves. It was her husband who catered for their welfare, put their children in schools, paid their school fees, etc. She spoke other things which space wouldn’t allow me to state here.
The case raged on. It was a long-drawn-out one that lasted for about 12 years. It went from magistrate to high court levels.
Her enemies unsuccessfully used diabolical means to attack her. There was a time, they brought a juju man to the court. (A juju man is an occultist who has devilish powers to kill and cause other harms to people.)
This man came to the court premises with a big earthen pot that was filled with charms, etc. He recited incantations, and did other things. But nothing worked positively for him and the people who sent him. The Lord Jesus was in total and perfect control of the situation.
It was at that stage that the widow told her children to stop coming around the court premises during the case.
She said to her kids, “If you want to catch a hen that has babies and it proves difficult, then get hold of the babies and the hen would come after you and aggressively follow you any where you go. When that happens, you could get hold of the mother hen.”
She said that her enemies found it difficult to harm her. So they could try to go after her kids. If they succeeded, that would be a devastating blow on her.
The kids stayed away from the court premises while the war raged on.
In the process, God struck dead many of those false witnesses who ganged up against her. Their cups were full so God acted swiftly by taking them out of the way.
On the day the high court judge passed judgment concerning the case, he strongly condemned those who rose against the poor widow and gave judgment in her favor.
They took the case to the Court of Appeal, but God still defeated and disgraced them there.
PRAISE OUR LIVING AND ETERNAL FATHER. He is a Father to the fatherless, and the Defender of widows. (Psalm 65:5). He fought on behalf of the widow and gave her victory. In 1985 He called her home to come and have a well-deserved rest.
Please, seriously meditate about this testimony.
That widow was Mercy Okonkwo. She was my mother, and this particular incident started in 1970 when I was 17 years and went on till about 1982.
Child of God, don’t be afraid when Satan brings false accusations against you or uses people to do so. Remember that the Bible says that he is the accuser of the people of God. He is actually doing what is natural to him.
His servants have accused many people of God falsely. He used Potiphar’s wife to accuse Joseph falsely (Genesis 39:17, 18).
His servant Haman brought false accusation against Mordecai in Esther 3 and 4.
Many people raised their tongues against Jesus Christ and killed Him on the cross.
The early disciples experienced the same thing, and it still continues today.
Our Lord Jesus said that no servant is greater than his master, and that if the people of the world persecuted Him, they would likewise persecute all who belong to Him. So, we shouldn’t be surprised.
But remember that the Lord will never leave you, and neither will He forsake you. He has said,
"When you pass through the waters I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (Isaiah 43:2).
Now, carefully learn these lessons:
A. Wickedness in The Heart of People
- The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).
- Satan uses people as instruments of wickedness because the people willingly give themselves to him. (Romans 6:13; Acts 5:3; James4:1, 2).
- As a Christian, work very hard to lead members of your family (immediate and extended ones), to Christ. Remember that the Word of God says in Micah 7:6 that a man’s enemies are members of his own household. Lead them to surrender their lives to Christ and the Holy Spirit would build them up in the fear of the Lord.
B. Plight of Widows:
I am not in the position to speak about widows’ plight in most parts of the world. However, here in Nigeria and in the area I come from, widows could really be abused and ill-treated by brothers and sisters, including other relatives of her late husband.
Please note that there’re families that are really good and God fearing. They look after their late brothers’ widows very well, and care for the children they left behind.
These are some of the wicked things that many widows experience here, in the hands of relatives of their departed husbands.
- Some widows are thrown out of their homes by their husbands’ relatives after their husbands’ death. They are left with nothing to live on and look after their kids. Many of these kids are just little children.
- Many widows are falsely accused of killing their husbands. The accusations could be used as reasons for persecuting them and depriving them and their children of their inheritance.
- There have been reported incidents of widows who were accused of killing their husbands and were forced to drink the water that was used to wash the corpses of their late husbands. This is a kind of oath that assumes the widow would die if she was the one who actually killed the man. The devil surely came to steal, kill, and destroy – John 10:10
C. God Angrily Fights For, and Delivers The Needy
- When all helps are gone, God is always there to help you.
- The Holy Spirit will always give you what to tell those who falsely accuse you.
- God will for sure neutralize the forces of evil when they attack you.
- Stick with the Lord Jesus. No matter how long your enemies fight against you, hold unto the Lord and you will gain victory over them.
- Always remember to pray and cover your dear ones during spiritual battles. Do that especially for those of them who are weak spiritually. This is very important because the enemy might go after them if he fails to get you.
D. Bribes And Bribery Are Great Evils
- Bribes are terrible. When people take bribes they cover the truth. Exodus 23:8 says, "Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.”
Proverbs 17:23 says, “A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice.”
And Ecclesiastes 7:7 adds to it by saying “Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.”
- Don’t worry when people take bribes in other to turn against you and persecute you. God will fight for you. He is the husband of the widow and the Father of the fatherless. I have experienced it and I know it is true.
Finally,
- Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. – Ephesians 6:10.
- He has made you more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who loves you. – Romans 8:37.
- God will crush Satan and his agents under your feet if they dare fight against you. – Romans 16:20.
- God is with you, so who can be against you and succeed. – Romans 8:31.
May God our Father bless you in Christ Jesus’ Name.
About the Author: ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Roy Okonkwo is a Nigerian Pidgin Bible Translator and the General Overseer of Mercy Christian Ministries. Mercy Christian Ministries is involved in Bible Translation, Works of Mercy, and the use of its website at www.superb-christian-web-sites.com to help empower people of God spiritually, physically, and materially.
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