A National Response

Repeatedly, throughout history, leaders have led their followers in a course of action that resulted in collective good. When the British army was trapped in Dunkirk, France, during World War 2 and defeat was impending, King George 6th called for a National Day of Prayer on 26th May 1940. Around the country people trouped to churches to pray. Immediately after, two events occurred which have been referred to as the Miracle of Dunkirk. A violent storm grounded the Luftwaffe which had already killed thousands on the beaches and a great calm on the channels allowed about a thousand little boats sail out to the rescue. Eventually 338,000 Allied troops, rather than the estimated 45,000, were saved and made it back to England. In his We Shall Fight on the Beach speech, Winston Churchill described the rescue as ‘a Miracle of Deliverance’. He said “we must be careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of victory. Wars are not won by evacuation”.

Around 788 B.C., the king of Nineveh led his people to seek God’s mercy in response to Jonah’s prophesy of impending judgment. In a significant act of supplication through mourning and fasting, the nation went before God. Their repentance led to God’s forgiveness and averting of the pronounced judgment.

The king of Nineveh, King George VI and many other leaders, have been able to make a positive difference of national proportion by rallying people to turn to God in times of crises.

Today the news is rife with disturbing reports from around the world; snipers on the rampage, wars and rumours of wars, hurricanes and tsunamis, terrorism, nuclear threats and agitation for cessation. While some of these challenges may be within our power to manage, others are not. It is the later the makes us feel very vulnerable. At times like this, when we realise just how thin the line between life and death is, we should begin to ask ourselves serious questions about our existence. When we have reached the end of the road and we do not know what to do, it is time for us to turn to God. And He has promised:

‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Just as leaders on the national stage can make a difference, so can leaders on a smaller stage – in offices, in families, in constituencies, in communities. Followers can also make a difference by mobilising their peers, friends, associates and families to seek God. If we all did something from our little corners, it will still amount to a national response. And this response should include repenting from our wicked ways, fasting, humbling ourselves and praying. God has promised to answer when we call.

Divine intervention will make the difference, in Nigeria as it did in Britain and Nineveh.