God is my backing, not my backup plan

Òránmoníséfàyàtí

The last time I saw my friend, Dara, was during the eight-month ASUU strike in Nigeria. Ever since the strike was called off and everyone resumed their respective schools, we have been missing each other. It's either we are both at school, or she is at school and I am home for a mini-semester break, vice versa. But this time around, we met after a year.

Whenever Dara and I meet, we mostly talk about school. At some point, we wondered why? But Dara said, “it's our way of catching up,” and that's true. 90% of our lives are spent at the university. But sometimes I try to switch the conversation a bit. I dare to ask questions like “who are you dating?” Which Dara looks at me and bursts into laughter. I intentionally ask my friends uncomfortable questions; sometimes, I don't want to play it safe. I sometimes look at their faces and see the adults they are becoming.

During our last conversation, before she resumed, I told her how I used to be someone who didn't like to depend on God in the area of academics. This was because of a past experience. But a different experience in my first year at the university revealed the need for God to be acknowledged in every sphere of our lives. I came to realize that it is possible to do everything right and still not get it right. May we not work in vain.

I was explaining this to Dara, and right in the spur of that conversation, I told her that not that God is my backup plan... and in that moment, my mouth moving, and a part of my brain sensing an incoming play of words, conjuring the line—God is my backing, not a backup plan. I said this with a bit of stutter and hesitation not to say the wrong thing. And we were like, “ooo, linesssss.” I told her I was going to make it into a wallpaper.

There is a difference between someone being your backing and someone being your backup plan. Let's start with the latter. A backup plan is something you fall on when everything goes south, your last resort. Perhaps this is where "Plan B" originates as a term. But God is not our Plan B. Am I saying that the believer can't fall back on God? No. But God is not our last resort. He could be with us from start to finish. God can back you if you will acknowledge Him (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Understanding that God is your backing means you know and trust He supports you. He is there with you. He is an ever-present help. He is not some "fill in the gap." He is not some substitute we remember when something has gone wrong. Why not introduce Him at the start?

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In Yorùbá culture, God is often called Òránmoníséfàyàtí: The one who sends a child on an errand and backs the child. The one who sends you and goes before you. It's like when your parent sends you to deliver a message to that troublesome neighbor, and you are certain that they dare not lay a hand on you because they know whose child you are.

We have seen and heard of how at the mention of a name, doors are opened. We have also seen and heard of how without even knowing someone, but knowing God, the kings of the earth call for you.

The world has a saying that it's not what you know, but who you know. And there is truth there, whether you agree with it or not. The world moves and evolves based on connections and relationships. And the world needs to know that you know God. It's not just by making the statement; your conviction in what you are saying matters.

They will ask us: who sent you? What is living in you? Who is backing you? What fuels your audacity? Uttering scriptures without deep-rooted conviction in them will not do. To know God and be like Him is the entirety of our journey as believers.

Thrive!

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I also encourage you to listen to Òránmoníséfàyàtídé by WeAreTheNew. Check it out on YouTube and Spotify.