The tea-pot shaped land lying between the Zambezi and the Limpopo has witnessed watershed moments from its days as colonial Rhodesia to today as independent Zimbabwe. That white rule forbade blacks from walking the capital’s streets and denied blacks privileges in their motherland is a memory well-documented in history. That the settlers dished to themselves vast tracts of land belonging to the natives is still vivid in people’s minds.

Even more, that thousands of our brothers and sisters died for the liberation of this country is a memory never to be forgotten. The Chimoio and Nyadzonya mass graves lie as painful testimony of the innocent lives that never got to see a liberated Zimbabwe. Even so, a lot continued to happen in the post-independence era. Documentaries have been done on the Gukurahundi massacres. Chilling stories surround the massacres and issues of compensation of victims have remained topical to date. The unity accord of 1987 brought progressive stability to the country though some sections think otherwise.

Substantially, the last decade-and-half, has seen much hemming and hewing over the plummeting economic fortunes of the country with the government at large and the ruling party in particular, being in the firing line. The emergence of a formidable opposition party at the turn of the century aroused calls for change. The country’s involvement in the DRC war and the hefty war veterans’ pay-outs were largely blamed for triggering a runaway inflation. The country has also been hit by corporate financial scandals of astounding magnitude since 1980. Greediness, corruption and vice have also been fingered as being central to the economic penury that has become the face of Zimbabwe over the years.

Currently, pay dates for the civil service have been shifted a record fourth time. Our kith and kin are virtually found in every corner of the world battling to make ends meet. Even the current rise of prosperity teachers and juju-people, psychologists maintain, has been fortified by the tottering economy which has left masses vulnerable. People are rushing to and fro seeking for solutions. So bereft of ideas have we become that even senior government officials have come to put faith in spiritual leaders much to the chagrin of the masses.

Now, where exactly am I going with this article? Well, I am simply saying this: we may go into history to try and cast blame for the gargantuan scandals that have rocked the country since 1980. We may dig deeper and try to throw the blame on the enormous amounts spent on the DRC war. We may take a stroll into the archives and find corruption of elephantine proportions steaming within higher offices. We may again visit recent developments on the political scene and want to apportion blame on the perceived underperformance of the inclusive government. We may again try and blame, on the spiritual side, some mythical demons of poverty stalking the country.

The level of our desperation has reached alarming levels. Indeed we have been plagued by economic stagnation for years. It becomes only natural to want to shift blame and seek all manner of solutions but, my friends, does the solution to Zimbabwe’s economic malaise really lie in individuals or political parties? Why have we placed all hope in mortals? Is it really the politics that will change the tide? Is it really some miracle-worker who will bail out the country? Will vicious criticism of government policies shift our fortunes? Who will really bail-out Zimbabwe?

In our desperation, it would appear, we are rushing everywhere for solutions without posing to think there is One who is able to bring the Zimbabwe we all want. The Zimbabwean situation lies bare before God. At times, God is unable to intervene in our situations as long as we see other saviours that are not him. It would only take him a few moments to change the current embittering scenario into an enviable scenario. God knows best when our fortunes will change and under what leadership. However, as the citizenry, we are well within our earthly rights to rant and rave about the present difficulties but there is nothing in this world that happens outside God’s will.

Only God can change our economic fortunes and only he can bail out Zimbabwe? As much as many have reservations on the leadership of this country, our hope is not in individuals or medicine-men for that matter. The answer lies with the Man above himself. He wields all manner of power whether atheists believe it or not. Zimbabwe is not forsaken before the Lord for, he says, “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 sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Now, am I saying people mustn’t voice their political concerns or condemn corporate misconduct? Far from it; the central point of this article is this: Let’s remove trust in individuals whether political or religious. Our hope should be in God. Only he can make Zimbabwe come right. Even our individual difficulties are known before him and in the fullness of time Zimbabwe shall be well.