We live in a time of height­ened ten­sion, a time when our na­tion’s ge­o­graph­ic lo­ca­tion, prox­im­i­ty to Venezuela, and the ris­ing pres­ence of for­eign mil­i­tary forces de­mand clear vi­sion, wise cal­cu­la­tion, and pa­tient faith. Re­cent de­vel­op­ments re­mind us that we must both count the cost and cast our cares up­ward.

In Luke 14:28-29, Je­sus said, “Sup­pose one of you wants to build a tow­er. Won’t you first sit down and es­ti­mate the cost to see if you have enough mon­ey to com­plete it? For if you lay the foun­da­tion and are not able to fin­ish it, every­one who sees it will ridicule you.”

Again, in vers­es 31-32: “Or sup­pose a king is about to go to war … won’t he first sit down and con­sid­er whether he is able with ten thou­sand men to op­pose the one com­ing against him with twen­ty thou­sand? If he is not able, he will send a del­e­ga­tion … and ask for terms of peace.”

These words chal­lenge both the cit­i­zen and the state. As a na­tion, we must cal­cu­late our re­sources, al­liances, se­cu­ri­ty, and diplo­ma­cy. We must ask, “Do we have the ca­pac­i­ty to en­gage in the di­rec­tion we are head­ed? Are we sure of the foun­da­tion, or will we be un­able to com­plete what has be­gun and open our­selves to harm?”

We trust that our Prime Min­is­ter and Gov­ern­ment have count­ed the cost be­fore tak­ing this de­ci­sive path. Every leader must con­sid­er what is worth los­ing to gain, and the true price of progress. We pray that this ad­min­is­tra­tion is guid­ed not by haste or pres­sure, but by vi­sion, pru­dence, and fore­sight. There must be a clear plan, de­fined out­come, and an un­der­stand­ing of the bur­dens or ben­e­fits this path may bring to our peo­ple and re­gion.

Lead­er­ship, while bold, must be ac­count­able. The Op­po­si­tion al­so has a du­ty to be con­struc­tive and ro­bust, not for pho­to ops and po­lit­i­cal scor­ing, but for na­tion­al bal­ance. When the na­tion’s di­rec­tion may al­ter al­liances or risk peace, both sides of the House must en­gage trans­par­ent­ly. Our democ­ra­cy is strength­ened when the Gov­ern­ment and Op­po­si­tion act not as en­e­mies but as guardians of our col­lec­tive des­tiny, es­pe­cial­ly in times of test­ing.

Our ac­tions rip­ple be­yond our shores. Ter­ri­to­ries such as Cu­raçao and Puer­to Ri­co now serve as op­er­a­tional hubs for US de­ploy­ments. Any align­ment or ten­sion we ex­pe­ri­ence af­fects our Caribbean broth­ers and sis­ters.

Our Prime Min­is­ter’s stance must, there­fore, be weighed against the del­i­cate uni­ty of Cari­com, lest this rift widen, cre­at­ing di­vi­sion where sol­i­dar­i­ty once stood. The re­gion watch­es, con­cerned that the storm brew­ing be­tween ma­jor pow­ers could sweep across our small­er is­lands.

T&T must re­main a voice of calm wis­dom, nei­ther silent nor reck­less, sub­servient nor de­fi­ant, but an­chored in dis­cern­ment, diplo­ma­cy, and the di­vine coun­sel of Almighty God.

Our neigh­bour Venezuela, al­ready strained in its re­la­tion­ship with the Unit­ed States and now with us, has ac­cused us of “mil­i­tary provo­ca­tion” due to the US war­ship dock­ing in Port-of-Spain and joint de­fence train­ing. The US has al­so de­ployed sig­nif­i­cant as­sets in the south­ern Caribbean, sug­gest­ing some­thing be­yond stan­dard coun­ternar­cotics op­er­a­tions. Venezuela has re­spond­ed by sus­pend­ing en­er­gy agree­ments with us.

So, to the peo­ple, I say, do not be con­sumed by fear, but be sober. We an­chor our hope in the One who nev­er fails. In 1 Pe­ter 5:7-9, we are re­mind­ed, “Cast all your anx­i­ety on Him be­cause He cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your en­e­my the dev­il … is like a roar­ing li­on … Re­sist him, stand­ing firm in the faith.”

The verse con­tin­ues, “Be­cause you know that the fam­i­ly of be­liev­ers through­out the world is un­der­go­ing the same kind of suf­fer­ings.”

This re­minds us that we are not alone. Around the world, wars are rag­ing, economies trem­bling, and peo­ple every­where are strug­gling with fear and un­cer­tain­ty. The shak­ing we feel in T&T is part of a larg­er storm across the na­tions. Yet the same God who watch­es over His peo­ple else­where watch­es over us too.

Across the Caribbean, many na­tions have faced sim­i­lar pres­sures, po­lit­i­cal ten­sion, eco­nom­ic strain, and the un­easy shad­ow of great pow­ers. Oth­ers have en­dured, and so must we, root­ed in faith and steady in prayer, know­ing God’s grace will sus­tain us. As the old Caribbean say­ing wise­ly re­minds us, “When your neigh­bour’s house is on fire, wet yours.”

This is a time for vig­i­lance, pre­pared­ness, and prayer, not pan­ic. What af­fects one Caribbean na­tion soon touch­es an­oth­er. Let us watch care­ful­ly, act wise­ly, and stay unit­ed, trust­ing that God is still in con­trol and that He will strength­en, es­tab­lish, and pro­tect us through every storm.

We cast our cares on God not as pas­sive sur­ren­der, but as the pos­ture of faith amid chal­lenge. We do not pan­ic, we pray, pre­pare, and live wise­ly. For many, the econ­o­my is al­ready strained, en­er­gy deals fal­ter, and our re­gion­al en­vi­ron­ment feels un­cer­tain. Yet we hold to the promise that God cares for us.

To the Gov­ern­ment and rulers of our land, this is a solemn word of re­spon­si­bil­i­ty. If you are build­ing the “tow­er” of na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty, en­er­gy sov­er­eign­ty, or diplo­ma­cy, first es­ti­mate the cost.

Build on a firm foun­da­tion. Are our al­liances se­cure? Are our en­er­gy deals di­ver­si­fied? Are we risk­ing over-de­pen­dence? Are we be­ing drawn in­to con­flicts not of our mak­ing? Luke’s metaphor of the king go­ing to war is in­struc­tive; if you are not able, send a del­e­ga­tion ear­ly and seek peace. Ne­go­ti­ate while the en­e­my is still far off. It is wis­er to use diplo­ma­cy than to rush in­to a sit­u­a­tion where you may be out­matched.

Neigh­bour­ing states such as Guyana face on­go­ing bor­der ten­sions with Venezuela. Our lead­er­ship must there­fore be firm but not reck­less.

Prac­ti­cal­ly, our na­tion­al en­er­gy strat­e­gy must be re­silient. With Venezuela sus­pend­ing deals, the cost to our econ­o­my may be re­al. Any for­eign mil­i­tary co­op­er­a­tion must be trans­par­ent, de­bat­ed and an­chored in our na­tion­al in­ter­est. Our diplo­mat­ic pos­ture must re­main firm yet flex­i­ble, main­tain­ing sov­er­eign­ty and sol­i­dar­i­ty with our Caribbean neigh­bours while man­ag­ing glob­al ten­sions.

We must in­form and pre­pare our cit­i­zens, not alarm them. Let the peo­ple know what risks ex­ist and what safe­guards are in place.

To cit­i­zens, this means stay in­formed, prayer­ful and en­gaged. Sup­port lead­er­ship but hold them ac­count­able.

To lead­ers, gov­ern with hu­mil­i­ty, fore­sight, and courage. You are shep­herds of a flock at strate­gic cross­roads. The cost of mis­cal­cu­la­tion is high: eco­nom­ic dis­rup­tion, re­gion­al in­sta­bil­i­ty, weak­ened sov­er­eign­ty. The re­ward of wise lead­er­ship is a safer, more pros­per­ous, more re­silient T&T.

Fi­nal­ly, let us not for­get our ul­ti­mate an­chor is the Lord Je­sus Christ. We cast our anx­i­eties on Him, stand firm in faith, and build with Him. Let us build the tow­er of our na­tion­al good with eyes open, feet steady, and hearts an­chored in faith.

May God grant us wis­dom, uni­ty, courage, and peace in this sea­son.