Why someone could be this obstinate is what I don’t understand. Covering Maxwell for the hundredth time, Faith hissed and his eyes flew open.
She looked at him, pity and anger mixing with her breath and the tenderness she once felt at every gaze was gradually being replaced with disgust for him.

Oh, she had prayed, but the victory lay in their hands; his hands as the head of the family.
She was determined to go against whatever rule he has set. If that would free her, free them all. She could smell the danger looming and knew what she had seen that morning was going to happen. They had wronged an innocent man and if they didn’t rectify it soon enough they would pay dearly for it. Unfortunately, she would too. That was part of the marriage covenant.

“I wish I don’t have to suffer any of these with you”, Faith barked, then waited as the cough that racked his body rocked him for some minutes.

“Look at you; you have turned to a shadow of your self.

Let me work, you say no, let me just give the go ahead to sign it the contract you say no.

“Now, right before your eyes the company you thought would keep you forever has given you 2 months recuperation without pay.

How do we feed? The two months is finished next week. Yet you held on to some stupid story of many years ago.

Don’t be surprised if you wake up one day and not find me. I will go with my children too. ”

Hissing loudly she left his bedside. If she stays any longer, she might just choke him to death.

“How did I get here?” Faith cried as she got into her childrens’ room. Her 8 months old son had been having nonstop diarrhea for one week. Her mom had to take complete care of him so that she could relieve Faith of the burden. After continuously crying in-front of her 3 year old daughter and 5 year old son, she finally agreed to allow her elder sister take them. She couldn’t bear another round of questions from them. How could she cope with the care of her sick child and husband at the same time?

After visiting her mom yesterday she couldn’t bear to look at her son. The once lively and happy boy was so emaciated. Receiving venous rehydration, his eyes just bulged out of their sockets. He stared at her unable to move. The Gala (beef pastry) she had bought to eat fell out of her hands the moment she saw her son.

“Mom, I can’t take this anymore, I can’t. Look at my baby. No, I can’t.”

“Faith my dear, be strong. Please eat even if it’s a little.”

“I can’t, I don’t have appetite to eat.”

Grabbing the gala and orange juice her mom fed her, practically shoving the food down her throat. You need some strength for the journey ahead.

Her phone rang, bringing her back to the present, she looked at the screen, and it was Jade.

She hissed and tossed her phone to the nearest settee. All her friends were settled and happy in their homes – all but her. She knew what Jade wanted to say. They wanted to come pray with her.
How many times had she turned down their offer? She had prayed too. What difference will it do when they pray for her? Besides, she didn’t want outsiders in her business.

She let the phone ring for the sixth time. With every ring, she cried, “Lord please have mercy on me”.

“Faith, is this not pride, she heard the gentle but firm rebuke. You cannot carry this burden alone and I have put people in your path to help you, yet you refuse.
Look at the apostles, one of the reasons they were fruitful and prospered was because they had oneness in prayer. In their persecution they bonded. In their pain they were united, in their blessing they praised together.”
“Who is united with you in this battle?
My mom and dad, Maxwell’s father, my pastor… she went on to list.”
“True, they are praying for you but you’re not united with them. Gradually bitterness has taken a hold of you, you’re carrying this load alone, let Me help you. Let them help you.They’re here to bear your burdens. Let go of your pride.”

Faith went on her knees.

“Lord, I’m sorry, I’m sorry for carrying my burdens on my shoulder instead of bringing them to You and leaving them. I’m sorry for barricading myself with prideful thoughts. As the prayer coordinator, I felt I could handle this alone and even when prayers were offered I rebuffed the request. Please forgive me “.
Take control of me, my thoughts, my actions, my life, my home.

Please Lord….

For 2 hours she was on her knees praying and asking for forgiveness and grace.

Lord let your mercy speak o,
Let your mercy speak o,
Let your mercy speak for me,
Let your mercy speak for me.

She sang with so much gusto and then she heard this;

...”I will give unto you the sure mercies of David”.

She heard it clearly. That is a bible verse, picking up her bible she frantically searched for the verse. Her phone rang again. It was Jade. This time she connected the call.

“You know I wanted to be angry at you for not picking my calls all these days, sometimes you would disconnect and switch off your phone, but the Holy Spirit has been telling me to help you through this period, that you will see the sure mercies of David. So, I have with me here Joy, Osagie and Dele. Together we’re headed to your house. I don’t need your opinion anymore. We’re 10 minutes away. Just sha come and open the door”.

That was Jade; she’s always straight to the point. But her heart is all covered in gold. I know she’s on her way, once she sets her mind to do something she accomplishes it to the letter.

“But what about your kids, I mean all of you?” I asked, feeling better but somewhat sad for dragging them out of their houses.

They’re fine. They’ll be with our spouses while we take turns. Faith, we cannot forget how God used you for us and as friends, we won’t leave you alone to fight this battle”.

“Jade, where can I find the verse that talks about the sure mercies of David in the bible?” Faith asked.
“It’s Isaiah 55 vs 3, Why do you ask?” Jade was inquisitive. Hmm, I will tell you when I get here.
“Ok darling, see you in a few minutes.”

Faith looked around her house, the place was an eyesore. She could not possibly host visitors in this environment. The kitchen was a mess too. Thankfully, her sink was clean. She never liked dirty dishes anyway.
Still deciding where to start her cleaning the bell chimed. It was not the door bell or the gate bell. It was the bell she gave Maxwell to press on anytime he needed her. She ran all the way to the bedroom. The whole room reeked of urine, she had to change him again, all by herself.
Tears, were in his eyes. Faith, he called, please is today August 19? Yes, why do you ask?
He suddenly had his coughing spell again. One would think he had whopping cough with the way he coughed.
She sat him up and gave him some water.

Meanwhile…
Few minutes to Faith’s house, Jade’s phone rang, It was her sister Lara.

“Sister mi, where are you? It’s Mimi, (referring to Jade’s 2 year old daughter). She started vomiting like 15 minutes ago and her temperature is rising, I just checked it and it is 104.8 F, . What should I do?”
Jade was alarmed, that is 40.4 degrees Celsius, she knew what it meant for a young child to have such high fever it could cause brain damage. As a pediatrician it was not a good sign. Here she was, almost at Faith’s home. She had already promised Faith.

What will she do now?
“I’ll call you back Lara.” Jade turned to the others in the car explaining what Lara just told her.
“Wait,” Jade suddenly stopped,
Jade, Dele called, “what do you have to do with the date August 19”?
“Oh no, don’t tell me today is August 19,”
“Yes, it is” Joy answered. “Today is August 19.”
“Oh no…”

To be continued.

Photo Credit: Binti M (Pexels)

If you are new here or haven’t heard of this movie, look on Damilola-Mike Bamiloye’s YouTube channel to watch the entire season 1.

This movie ticked all the boxes for me. Suspense, style, clear video, action and the most important a breath of fire. I mean it is inspired and you can see the Holy Spirit at work in the movie. The movie highlights the believers walk and the plot of Satan against every child of God. The bible verse “walk out your salvation with fear and trembling became very evident in it”. That we are saved is not enough, but as Colossians 2 vs 6 puts it, “seeing then that you have received Jesus Christ, continue to live your lives in him”. With the carefulness that the devil is seeking for every opportunity to bring us down. Watch out for those things that drew you to the Cross, for therein can lie the loophole to take you far from the cross. As I look at the characters in the movie, I’ll share six lessons;

1. Forgiveness is a choice but also a necessary commandment. –

Martins is a great man, conversant with the Word of God, but the loophole of unforgiveness was strong enough to keep him traceable and penetrable. I am not here to tell you that sometimes forgiveness is easy. Infact, if you have not struggled to forgive, I bless God for your life. Because one way or the other you will face situations that demands forgiveness. Forgiveness frees us. Seals us and heals us. One bible verse that I love is this “ that the wicked one comes and finds nothing in me”. And for many forgiveness has left them vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. One funny thing about unforgiveness is that you may be the one carrying that load, the other party may not care, not be sensitive enough to care, might have already asked for forgiveness and moved on or have not realized they owe you anything. So, let go, free yourself and receive freedom today

2. Bitterness blindfolds –

When Martins, drove Baba Gbenro out of his house that dark night I shuddered. I shuddered at the covering of darkness that has overcome Martins, to send out the one man who would risk his convenience to come look for him, the one man who still showed him true love. You see that matter that you have said in your heart “ it is death that will separate me and this person”, may be the reason the enemy is having constant access to you. It may be the reason why light has not shone in the darkness that seems to be gaining grounds on you. When the matter is still fresh in your heart each time you think and you ruminate over the possible ways you could have made the other person feel the pain you are feeling, you have created a darkness of bitterness. Let it go.

3. Neglecting God’s word is dangerous-

If you have not realized already, the word of God is the bread that every believer needs to eat, digest and get powered on daily. If you neglect the power inside the word of God, you end up getting drained by the problems of life. Let me borrow a line from Baba Gbenro “ a lot of Christians have been stranded because they have not been charged by the power from the word of God. They have light but no oil, very soon their light is out and they’ve got no oil to relight their lamps”. Let me ask you, how important is the word of God to you. Do you sit down with it or you breeze through it like a deserted drive through. Let me tell you, the devil is not seeking to just drive through any one’s life. So why should we drive through the weapon that we have against him?
4. If discernment is lacking, then there is fire on the mountain.- I cannot imagine how many times, I have been frustrated at Martins, “ how can he not just see, how can he not just understand that they are after him? Why would he just swallow every line hook, line and sinker?, then it dawned on me. Martins lacked discernment. Oh, the dangers we put our selves through because of the lack of discernment. We are not aware of the collaborations of hell against us, so subtly the enemy creeps up and mingles with others and because we cannot sense it, he strikes before we can realize it. That you are running your masters program and you need someone to watch your kids doesn’t mean that you accept every help you can get. That you have the offer is not a good enough reason to accept it. Not all open doors are meant for you to walk in. discernment will help you when you badly need advice, who do you go to? You cannot afford to let down your guard, the enemy is not letting his down. He is taking meticulous steps, so why won’t you?

5. If your prayer life is gone, fan it back to blazing hot –

There are no defeated man than a man whose prayer altar is cool and breezing. Prayers will keep you covered, get you victory, expose the agenda of the devil and draw heaven’s attention. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers against rulers of darkness, against spiritual wickedness in high places”. The devil is not afraid of your money in the bank or your PHD or your affluence. He is only afraid of a righteous, word-abiding, prayerful man. Infact, your entire world and assets are in trouble if you don’t know how to command things and attention on your knees. Prayer will fan your discernment, study of God’s word will keep it, obedience to God will secure it. We live in a fallen world so we just cannot but pray

6. This is more like a prayer than a lesson –

We need mentors like Baba Gbenro. – that a man will be looked in the face and told “ get out of my house, don’t call me, don’t text me, don’t visit “ and sent out into the dark night in a city he knows no one, yet he is still filled with compassion and prayed for Martins. he saw the devil at work and knew I cannot let the enemy win over Martins. Dear mentors, are you saying “ if they need help they know where to come”? what if the devil gets them before they come to you. Maybe the reason you’re not seeing any revelation about your mentees is because you still have terms and conditions, with less compassion. Dear mentee, you too don’t wait to be babied, seek for mentors through prayers, mentors who will lead you well and keep you in the narrow path, they may not be tush or polished as you are but they know their place in the realms of the Spirit, so set your pride aside and pray with me “ Lord I need a mentor like Baba Gbenro”.

There are many things I have learned but this six will suffice for now. Have you watched the movie? What have you learned from it? Please let me know your thoughts and lessons in the comment box.

Photo Credit – DMB Youtube