In these perilous times, life is so full of struggles and hard labour that do not always result in success. All around the world, people invest precious time and money into obtaining high school and college education, only to graduate and discover that jobs are nonexistent. In some case, people invest years into specialized training in various crafts and trades, only to graduate and begin to source for financial backing and start-up capital without success. There are some who manage to gain employment with private companies or who succeed in starting small scale businesses, but some years down the line, they find themselves back in the labour market due to harsh economic realities. These hardships have made the availability of ready-made provision very attractive to the average person, especially in developing countries like we have in Africa. The dire economic situation in different parts of the world has led some Christians to wrongly assume that every opportunity that comes their why is Gods providence, not realizing their error until contrary events begin to happen to them in the process of exploiting these ‘’ opportunities’’. I pray that no matter the prevailing conditions in your community, the Lord will divinely open doors of genuine opportunities to you in Jesus’ name.

In Africa and several developing countries, the difficult political and economic situation coupled with security challenges has led a lot of people, especially youths, into traps that initially appeared like ready-made provision. These traps could come in form of employment with very attractive pay packages, ’juicy' marriage offers, 'fantastic’ business opportunities or even invitations to travel abroad. Hidden behind these seemingly great offers are terrible vices like prostitution, drug trafficking, criminal syndicates, fraud, occultism and the like. For example, many young people have honored invitations to travel abroad only to get get trapped in sex trafficking or being used as drug couriers. Some people have entered neck deep into what they thought was an ordinary business relationship, only for them to later discover that they have been initiated into powerful occult groups. Many vulnerable youths are enticed into armed gangs which eventually result in untimely death for so many. As seen in Proverbs 7:6-23, you must recognize that the devil’s ready-made provisions are nothing but deadly traps. God has assured you that He will provide for all your needs and settle all your problems (Hebrews 13:5, 1st Peter 5:7). Therefore, beware of the devil’s traps.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.