by Sr. Keresifon Ekanem MMM                            Nigeria          15.09.2024

I arrived at a new environment in Malawi for a two months’ program sometime last year, 2023.

It was a friendly environment with a beautiful landscape and a lot of green vegetation during dry season. A few days later, I saw on a flower along the corridor of the building, a chameleon. This corridor led to different places in the compound but the most significant place that made me see this God’s creature often was the dining hall. Each time I passed by, I stopped to say hello, and it will make some slight movements in response, but a few times no movement.

It remained there for days and then weeks and more than a month. How does it feed? I wondered since I never saw it moved in search of food. Or does it feed only at nights? I know chameleons to be insectivorous and insects were scarce around that environment. Or was this flower one of the leaves that they feed on too? I stopped by each time and other people noticed and whenever they are in front of me, they also stopped by and when they see it, they would say to me, “Your friend is here”.

At first, I was only concerned about how it fed and was even worried that it was losing weight. But no, it was not losing weight, it was all my imagination. Later, I saw it someday jumping up and catching small insects for its feeding. When I noticed this, my concern immediately shifted. One day, when I passed by and noticed it in its usual place, I asked myself, “Why has this animal been here for so long a time? Even though it does not find food so often, it was comfortable in its habitat.

Then, the question that came to my mind was, “What rather, are the lessons that this chameleon is teaching me?” When I reflected, I realized that it was reminding me about God’s providence and His ever-abiding presence with me at all times and in every situation. For the times it was not finding food, it remained there.

Then, I realized that God is the only provider who provides me with the grace that I need at all times and in every situation – a great lesson indeed! Do you know what? As soon as I came to this realization, the chameleon disappeared the following day. It is not as if I was unaware that God is our Provider and an ever-abiding presence. What was this supposed to mean for me at this time? I kept questioning. Not long, I got the sad news of my sister’s passing to eternal glory. A very sad news! I was overwhelmed, devastated and heartbroken, but God provided me with the grace I needed to follow through the program. Hmmm, so this was it! I heard Him say to me, “Hang in there, I’ve got your back!”