Be they Christians, Muslims or Traditionalists, majority of Ghanaians believe in the existence and the power of God.

The majority are Ghanaians who believe that the world, and everything in it, including man, was created by God. The majority are Ghanaians who believe that everything is by God, and everything that happens is a hallelujah to his name.

The fact that Ghana’s 25 million population is composed of about 70% Christians, 17% Muslims and 5% Traditionalists is enough to support these claims.

I do not challenge these, for I do not have the competence or the requisite knowledge to doubt the existence and the power of God. However, I think that we as Ghanaians (and Africans) have over-relied on God to solve all our problems. We worry God too much. He must be tired by now. Sometimes I even sympathise with Him. Why?

The other day, as we were buying fried pork at a certain joint in Accra, a friend and I complained that it was too costly. My friend blamed the rising cost of goods and services in Ghana on President Mahama’s weak administration. All of a sudden, the pork seller retorted, ‘The Bible has said that there will be hard times, so it’s not Mahama’s fault’. Instantly, my stomach churned; I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t utter a word again. I froze. A gentleman remarked, ‘If it isn’t Mahama’s fault, then don’t vote in any election again’. I guess if that lady is told that the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) guinea fowls are on a pilgrimage to Burkina Faso, or all the trees SADA planted have relocated to southern Ghana, or God killed all of them, she’ll believe it. But can I blame the lady? Mind boggling, isn’t it?

We live in a country where people use religion as their political weapon to deceive the electorate, win power and later commit all kinds of political and economic crimes. It’s not uncommon to hear people say, ‘God makes kings’. Well if God made and chose for us all these leaders, especially the current crop of leaders, then I would say God has really disappointed us. But I believe that God, in His infinite wisdom and love for his children, won’t make and choose for us these corrupt, unashamed and arrogantly heartless leaders all these years. God won’t!

Well, probably, God has always given us bandits and selfish, greedy leaders who amass wealth for themselves to the neglect of the poor so that He Himself will take us out of poverty for us to experience His glory and magnificence. Or God may want us to die in poverty, in order that we can go to Heaven. After all, ‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven’.

And they preach virtue and condone vice. The other day, a whole Archbishop – self-acclaimed (?) – prayed for the weakening cedi to gain strength against its major international currencies. And what happened? Did God answer? Well, maybe God is waiting for the right time to answer. If I were the Archbishop, I would rather task the politician to change his ways and take a ‘new decisive leadership response’ to tackle the problem. If I were the Archbishop, I would instead ask the politician to fight against corruption. That appears more sensible!

Isn’t God tired? The other time, I saw people lined up in squatting positions along the Odaw River, Kwame Nkrumah Circle area, Accra, in broad daylight. What were they doing? Answering nature’s call at a public convenience (place of convenience, in Ghanaian parlance) or is it public inconvenience? Yea, that’s it – are there public conveniences in Ghana? A friend told me few weeks ago that his American friend who had visited Ghana said of it: ‘The whole country is a big urinal’. So, we urinate (and even go to toilet) everywhere and what happens? We litter all over, and when it rains what happens? We’ve always planted diseases ourselves and when it’s time to harvest them, we call on God. Shameful!

And God gave us cholera too in 21^st Century Ghana, so that after all the deaths (how many now, past 100?), His name will be glorified? Ghana, 21^st Century Ghana, cholera here, cholera there! Did I hear the Archbishop again say we should pray against the outbreak and spread of cholera? This one, I didn’t hear him say it; otherwise, I would ask him to tell Ghanaians to practice environmental cleanliness and personal hygiene, and tell the politicians to provide proper toilet facilities instead of squandering our resources. Do you remember? ‘Cleanliness’, they say, ‘is next to godliness’. Or do we expect God to come with His angels and clean Ghana for us? Maybe yes, after all, we’re Godly. Yes, Godly! Don’t we worship and praise Him in churches and mosques all the time? Indeed, we are Godly!

Aren’t we far from Godliness? Considering how filthy Ghana is, I dare say we may have driven God away because if He stays in Ghana, He might contract cholera. The other time, I told my friend God must have left Ghana long ago because Ghana is too dirty for Him to stay in. We claim to be religious, yet so dirty and unclean. There’s either a church or a mosque at every nook and cranny of Ghana, yet every tiny part of Ghana is filthy. We can’t be near God. Or, maybe, God intentionally made Ghana dirty because everything is by Him and for His glory (?)

As usual, we are praying for God’s intervention to clear Ghana of cholera. Have we forgotten the polythene sheets, the sachet water plastic and bottles, the toilet and the rubbish we throw into gutters? Or that too was the hand of God? Cholera, our reward! Ah, 21^st Century Ghana, what a country we live in!

The other day, I was travelling in a Ford minibus from Accra to Cape Coast. The driver was speeding (or over-speeding, in Ghanaian parlance), overtaking other vehicles at unauthorised places. I reminded him politely that he was speeding. He got infuriated and, by way of protest, he started driving so slowly, almost at a snail’s pace. Some passengers murmured and howled at me. I was the cause of the driver’s anger. Interesting! I wasn’t perturbed because I knew the typical Ghanaian.  When a driver is driving carelessly and you caution him, either he or a passenger will tell you, ‘Oh, God’s in control, there will be no accident’. Ah! God should come and drive your car too for you? Unbelievable how we want God to act for us always! What a people we are!

It’s unfortunate we want God to do everything for us. What about the common sense He gave us? I am not an ardent reader of the Bible; I know very little from it. But the verse which interests me most is Genesis 1:26-27: God created man in His own image and gave man dominion over all creation.

v26: And God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth’.

v27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

                                                                                    (Revised Standard Version)

For me, this verse sums up the power, authority and knowledge with which God has endowed us. We have nearly all attributes of God with which we can do almost everything ourselves. By failing to use our common sense to care for our environment, to fight poverty and to prevent preventable deaths means we have disappointed God. We have refused to acknowledge and appreciate that He gave us enough brains and knowledge. Isn’t it disappointing to God? Appreciation to God isn’t about singing, drumming and shouting in church – I believe it’s about applying the knowledge He gave us for the good, benefit and development of man. That’s why sometimes I’m inclined to believing that God does love the ‘Whiteman’ more than He does love us.

The ‘Whiteman’ has invaluably appreciated God by effectively using the knowledge He gave him for the benefit of man. Shouting and crying for God to intervene in all matters – in fact, matters which we could handle using common sense – amounts to telling Him that He never gave us enough brains. It’s a betrayal of God’s love for and gift to us. Oh, how ungrateful we are and have been!

So, for how long must we wait for God to do everything for us? When I reflect over things, I’m tempted to conclude that God must really be tired of us. God must feel disappointed. God must have left Ghana (and other parts of Africa) long ago. To bring Him back, let’s begin to use our common sense and care for our environment for the good of ourselves. To think that God should do everything for us when He has created us in His own image is disingenuous, to say the least. If God has to act for and on behalf of every individual among the over 7.2 billion people of the world, then your guess is as good as mine.

GOD WON’T DO FOR US WHAT HE HAS GIVEN US ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE AND BRAINS TO DO. GOD WON’T DO FOR MAN WHAT MAN CAN DO FOR HIMSELF. Let’s use our God-given talents, brains and knowledge. We worry God too much. He must be tired and disappointed!

Emmanuel Sarfo

PhD Student

School of English

University of Leeds, UK

E-mail: esarfo@ucc.ac.uk