19/09/2026
2019 was the year God showed up for me.
January 6, 2019.
I lost my dad.
And let me tell you for free—I didn't really know what it meant to have a personal relationship with God.
I loved God, yes.
But I was living on the surface.
My dad was the one who constantly prayed for us. He was the one I could tell anything to. Whenever I had a problem, I would run to him, and he would say, “You know God can do it.”
Then he would pray.
And somehow, after that prayer, I felt like everything was settled.
So, in a way, I became comfortable.
I didn't feel the urgency to really know God for myself because I had a father who was constantly putting us before God.
Then January 6 happened.
And suddenly, the person I had always depended on was gone.
My father died right in my hands.
And something happened to me that I still find difficult to explain.
Fear took over.
I became constantly afraid.
Afraid of dying.
Afraid of what would happen next.
Afraid that something would happen to me.
I started experiencing health issues I had never dealt with before. I moved from one hospital to another. I was diagnosed with different things, and the two major ones I remember were extremely high cholesterol and chronic ulcer.
There were moments my heart would beat so hard that I felt like it wanted to jump out of my chest.
I genuinely thought I was going to die.
And because fear had taken over my mind, every little thing became frightening.
There were nights I could hardly sleep.
There was this constant voice in my head saying:
“You know you're going to die.”
“You won't survive this.”
“What if you die now?”
“What if you don't make it?”
“This is the end for you.”
At some point, my own house no longer felt safe or conducive for me.
I started spending nights in church.
I was constantly being prayed for.
I would lie down at night, and the questions would come again:
What if you die?
What if you don't survive?
What if this is the end?
But something else began to happen.
I started fighting back with the Word.
Whenever those thoughts came, I would say:
“It is written.”
“Affliction shall not rise up the second time.”
“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”
I kept saying it.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Those Scriptures became my anchor.
And while all of this was happening, I was still trying to finish school. I was rounding up my final year, working on my seminar and project, trying to pack up my things from school and somehow survive everything that was happening around me.
Then one day, while returning from school, the tricycle I was in had an accident.
It somersaulted.
I was sitting at the extreme end, and there was a vehicle coming behind us at speed.
When I look back at that moment, I know one thing:
God showed up for me.
I survived.
And slowly, I began to recover.
Not just physically.
Spiritually.
I started intentionally building my relationship with God.
I started learning to know Him for myself.
I started realizing that there is a difference between loving God because someone else introduced you to Him and actually knowing God for yourself.
2019 changed me.
Because that was the year I discovered that I couldn't depend on my father's prayers forever.
At some point, I had to learn how to pray for myself.
I had to learn how to stand on God's Word for myself.
I had to learn how to trust God for myself.
And that is why I am so passionate about telling young people:
BUILD YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
Don't wait until life breaks you before you start looking for God.
Don't wait until you lose someone who has always prayed for you before you realize that you need to know God for yourself.
Don't just know God through your parents.
Don't just know God through your pastor.
Don't just know God through your friends.
Know Him for yourself.
Because there may come a time when you have to stand alone.
A time when nobody is around to remind you what God said.
A time when fear is screaming in your ears.
A time when you have to encourage yourself.
A time when you have to say:
“It is written.”
And if you don't know the Word, what will you stand on?
If you don't know God, what will be your anchor?
If you aren't rooted, how will you stand when life shakes you?
I am not saying this because I have everything figured out.
I am saying it because I have seen God show up for me.
I have seen Him meet me in fear.
I have seen Him meet me in grief.
I have seen Him meet me in sickness.
I have seen Him meet me when I thought I wouldn't survive.
And I can look back at 2019 and say:
God showed up for me.
So, if you've been struggling to build your relationship with God, please don't keep postponing it.
And if you've been in a season where it feels like God isn't coming through for you, before you conclude that God has abandoned you, ask yourself:
“What does my relationship with God actually look like?”
Because knowing God for yourself changes everything.
Build the relationship.
Know the Word.
Know God for yourself.
One day, you may need that foundation more than you ever imagined.
And when that day comes, may you be able to say:
“It is written.”
