© 2016 Ade Awoyinka
© 2016 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
When I became a newborn Christian in the seventies in Africa, I was raised to fear two things: going to hellfire and missing the parousia. There were other fears along the way such as defiling myself through various activities which I won’t bore you with, and also demonic oppression. I refuse to fear the so-called power of witchcraft because I don’t really understand the mechanism, but I do understand the side effects of fear on a person’s mind.
We Africans have much to fear. Our daily lives can seem precarious and dangerous. The risk of ethnic or religious conflict is ever present, poor economic performance can suddenly wipe out financial security, illness without access to adequate medical care can take the lives of our friends, comrades, elders… all too quickly; sudden and unexplained physical or mental illnesses with devastating personal effects; miserable infrastructure that makes travel by road, plane or boat unnecessarily dangerous etc. And I could go on. Our fragile existence, I believe, has made us God-fearing and grateful people. This must be respected.
But to what extent do we allow fear to subsume and dominate to the point that it blinds us to the assurances of the power of Jesus Christ in the Bible?[^1] Many ailments are attributed to demonic influence or as a result of witchcraft. I am afraid that fear itself is the problem from which we should seek deliverance.
I take myself as an example; I allowed the fear of demons to dominate my life so completely that the thing I feared became a reality and for a long time I was convinced, along with others, that I was subject to the domination of demons and I underwent numerous disenchantments. I suffered from severe sleep disturbances to the point of hallucinations. It seemed real to me and it was exhausting. I could not sleep more than a few hours a night. Sleep is my favorite pastime after food. I am the type of person who needs 8 hours of sleep a night.
I could not understand why I could not be freed from this evil. Even now it is painful to recall the times when I wept bitterly before God, to recall the anguish I felt. In all my so-called possession, I was unable to hear the quiet words of reassurance: that I must fight fear with the sword of faith, for you cannot put new wine into old wineskins. Before I could begin to understand the Spirit, my mind had to be renewed and freed from the bonds of fear. I wish I could say that I saw the light all at once. Well, that is true, but I saw the light dawn slowly just as the rising of the sun inexorably supplants the night.
“He disarmed principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.” 1 Colossians 2:15
This was after I had migraines and the pills I was prescribed helped me sleep and made me think that if it was demonic possession, how come it was overcome by man-made chemicals? However, one day I realized why God would not “deliver” me. It would have perpetuated the fear and made me even more afraid. A chance comment from a doctor that my condition was very common and is becoming more recognized as sleep paralysis helped me a lot.
Why am I telling you this? We Africans, just like other people, tend to fear what we do not understand even if there is a scientific explanation. We attribute so much to the work of the devil, demonic activities, witchcraft etc. when these accidents are due to time and are part of our existence in an imperfect world. I believe Africa is on the verge of a new revelation from God that will both astonish and challenge our beliefs. It will set us free but will require the courage to trust and believe. It will assure us that Jesus Christ has indeed defeated the devil and that no demon can harass any human being. These rebels have been totally defeated. This is good news indeed but it poses a problem for us because it demands personal responsibility. When things do not go my way, if I cannot point to the works of the devil, then who can I blame? No one! I take responsibility to work with God in worshipful fellowship to try to make things right. It’s a hard sell but when things go wrong it’s to help us think differently. When sometimes I can’t sleep, I no longer blame the devil, instead I blame fear.
We are rightly taught that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but are we now wise enough to free ourselves from the religion of fear and move towards the new, revelatory religion of love and personal faith?
Ade Awoyinka London, September 2016
Nigeria: Some Statistics
| Population in 1950: | 25 million |
| Population in 2016: | 186 million |
| Population in 2050: | 400 million |
| Population in 2100: | 740 million |
| Density 2016 | 201 inhabitants / km2 |
| Density 2100 | 801 inhabitants / km2 |
| Religions: Christians: | 40% |
| Muslims: | 40% |
| Ancestral: | 20% |
Child/woman fertility rate: 2000: 6.1; 2016: 5.8; 2050: 3.5; 2100: 2.2.
Life expectancy: 2000: 47 years; 2016: 52 years; 2050: 63 years; 2100: 72 years
Infant mortality of children under 5 years old in: 2016: 18%
Literacy rate: 57% in 2005.