All You Need is Faith

All You Need is Faith

I attended the young single adult summit at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, not because I needed a girl-friend, but because I felt I needed more motivation and I felt the summit would be the right place. Indeed, my prayers were answered at the summit after Sister Call, a senior missionary assigned to work with young single adults, spoke about the importance of temple marriage. Towards the concluding part of the discussion, her countenance suddenly changed and she said, “You do not need money to get married, all you need is faith.” I felt she was talking to me directly, but I said to myself, these people (my in-laws) are asking for money so how can I not need money but faith? I thought about this over and over again throughout the week. In the process I asked myself, is God limited in what he can do? The initial answer was no, but on a second thought the answer was yes. Then came a follow up question, how can He be limited though having all power? The answer came, God will not do for me more than my faith tells me He can. Hence, he is not limited in ability but we can limit what he can do for us depending on our faith in Him.

Later, I called my fiancée, Priscilla, to discuss with her about our proposed marriage plans. She asked me, “How much do you have now?” I said to her, you know my finances. As I am talking to you, I have just GHc. 5.00. We decided to choose a date for our wedding, but we could not arrive at a particular date. We then agreed that she should discuss with her Bishop, Bishop Odonkor, to see what dates were open on the ward and stake calendar. He gave us two dates and we choose the 27th of September, 2014; which meant that we had barely seven weeks to the day of the wedding!  My fiancée asked, “Obim, (meaning ‘my heart’ in Igbo language) have you got some money? The time is short.” I replied, “No, but I have got some faith.” She laughed and said, “It’s ok, let’s fast and pray. The Lord will do it, He will open a way for us for it is a commandment to get married.”  She quoted and paraphrased 1 Nephi 3:7. She asked me for some money to start a trade so she could raise some funds to support.

Within that week I was paid for a job I did months ago. From that money, I sent her the requested amount of money. She bought used women’s hand bags and re-sold them in two weeks. After buying some of the items contained in her list of things required for the marriage, she still had more than double the money I gave her.

During this time, there was no job coming my way. Every promised job had failed. We had two weeks remaining and there were still items on our list of things needed. My fiancée suggested that the date be moved. All I said was, “ A miracle is on the way.” Just two days before the ‘D’ day, the miracle happened. I was paid for the job I did over two weeks before then. I was learning that with faith and hard work the Lord will bless you to accomplish righteous goals.

I know that faith and works do bring about miracles. You may need some money to prepare for marriage but the most important thing you need is faith.  I can testify that it is true.