…How God showed up in my dying moments
Johnbull had just returned from his weekly exercise, one Saturday morning. And was sitting down in his study room, relaxed. He was seeping a cup of coffee wondering what to do next. Actually, he was worried about his car that was down and he was calculating where the money to fix it would come from. He had learned from reliable sources that his agency would not give him anything on retirement unless the Executive Head was favorably disposed to it. Then a strange number called him. Up to then, Johnbull had been well-versed in Biblical affairs. Infact, he had read psalms 126 and 127 without soaking in the meaning. Because of the regular pattern, his problems had assumed, he was now used to expecting nothing new.
Those Bible verses no longer made sense to him. No matter how ‘powerful’ the church sermons for the day were, Johnbull would not be impressed. Such was his state of mind, that he read the Bible the way you read a novel! So, when the call came, he glanced at it and sneered—another useless call! He couldn’t remember that he had once read that ‘he shall come like a thief in the night…so take heed not to put out your candle…’ The phone rang and stopped. Even if Johnbull had a ‘true caller’ identifier, in his phone, he wouldn’t have recognized the caller. The call came again and was persistent. Reluctantly, he answered. Remember the Bible had admonished us to stay awake, for we know not the hour when he shall come…?
This was one of them. Johnbull picked up the call and a voice at the other end asked ‘please are you Mr. Johnbull? He corked his head to one side and listened carefully; this voice, he has never heard before; ‘yes, this is Johnbull’, he answered. ‘Ok, please come to Coza junction, in Guzape; I will be waiting for you in a black jeep by 2 pm’. Now, very curious, Johnbull asked to know who the caller was, and the man at the other end urged him to wait till the appointed time. Ah, Johnbull took a deep breath and stood up; he took a long look outside the window and tried to make sense of that phone call. He paced up and down his study, then walked out to the living room where two visitors sat discussing. He passed them and strolled outside the compound. He looked up to the skies, a surge of excitement running through him.
He turned to his old 406 jalopy parked by the entrance to his compound and decided to clean the interior; he ended up washing the whole car. Then he went to the bathroom and shaved. He didn’t know what to wear. You know, he was in a state of frenzy. He didn’t want to show his excitement openly in case of disappointment, there would be no stress. By 1.30 pm, he was dressed and ready to go. Beaming with smiles, he drove down to the meeting point where he found two security men waiting in a black Hilux van. They exchanged pleasantries and together they left for the ultimate destination. After three minute’s drive, they came to a mansion painted in all white colors where Johnbull’s old classmate –a former top figure—in the government, resides. ‘Oh, my God! Is that you?’, Johnbull shouted.
Smiling, his VIP old mate answered ‘Yes na…na me be this!’ They exchanged pleasantries, slapped each other’s hands, and proceeded to sit down to discuss. They went into a long session discussing the past and present and praised God for keeping them alive. Johnbull was so excited, he told his friend that he was happy to unite with him after such a long time—almost 22 years gone by! During this time, his friend had been head of a government financial establishment as well as head of a state. Johnbull, never got to see him all this while. It was like something banished him to the wilderness where he wallowed in continuous want, while his friends and those lucky to see him enjoyed blissful empowerment. This was incredible to Johnbull. He sat down, drowned in thoughts. Why would this happen? He couldn’t fathom it; he read newspapers and listened to news feeds; never for once did it cross his mind to go in search of this man.
If anything, this was proof of his inexplicable disconnect from reality! He may have been living in a fantasy—a world of make belief. This encounter may have brought him drastically down to earth. Now, while ruminating over the gap, he allowed his eyes to roam over the expansive sitting room. He was really impressed with the simple but exquisite furnishing. The air conditioners worked so efficiently making the environment feel like you are in the arctic region-very cold. Suddenly, his mood changed and his countenance dropped. For he remembered his status as a debtor before getting here. Funny thing was that the debts in question, were not of his own making, but due to some inexplicable developments that always popped up whenever he was about to ‘make’ it; something like a change in government policy that ends up bungling a well-prepared plan!
This one has to do with their company acting as an intermediary for prospective house owners for civil servants. They would liaise with the relevant government agency, help source loans for the civil servant, and process and deliver to him for a fee. The prospects looked good until the government began to default on payment—which affected developers badly! That’s how they lost out and became indebted to their sponsoring bank up to the tune of N5.2 million! Horrible! And now having to find himself in this cozy environment after all the brutal struggles preceding this meeting! He allowed his eyes to sweep the sitting room once more. Instinctively, he knew that he had been in prison! He has been a captive all this while—held down by an unknown force! Johnbull closed his eyes and felt like fainting; he tried to search for the appropriate verse in the Bible depicting his current travails—the one that referred to people in prison and those living in the region of darkness!
What was that verse in the Bible again? oh yes, Isaiah 42 v 7. “to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” Like hell! Johnbull reasoned that he must have been groping in the darkness to suffer this terrible blow—for that is what it is. Nothing else can explain it. His knowledge from the Bible school was deep enough. Johnbull had read widely including the works of ‘demonology’ and ‘Spiritism’. He also read ‘In the light of the Truth’-the three available volumes. None explains that wealth cannot be gotten via hard work. But he did remember some scriptures referring to ‘not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit….says the Lord’ or the one that says ‘the race is not for the swiftest…. but according as it pertains to my ….’ Johnbull doesn’t want to be confused. He is only trying to make sense of the situation, but the setbacks are too much.
Was he not doing enough? Or was he such a sinner that cannot be forgiven? Whichever way he pondered, he would not be persuaded. He didn’t even know which of the enemy he is fighting. He understood from his Biblical studies that several types of enemies abound. There is the house Hold enemy, (Jephthah and his brothers, Joseph, and his brothers), the Friendly enemy, (Delilah and Samson), the Royal enemy, (Saul and David), the Competitive enemy (Adonijah and Solomon), the Destiny enemy (Balak and Balaam), Night enemy (When men sleep, the enemy come to sow tares) Enemy of progress (Shamballa and Tobias, Devourers), etc. He knew that some of these enemies are so powerful, they deliberately attack to destroy. Some wait for their victims to initiate a move, then they slip in and destroy!
The Midianites represent that spirit that waits for you to start your business, then they come in and destroy. In the book of 2nd Kings 6 (1-7), reference is made to Elisha and his workmen who wanted to expand to a bigger place from where they were. The Axe they were to use for that purpose –which was borrowed–chose that period to fall into the water! They said, “master, at last, the axe was borrowed!” That’s what happens when you try to progress in life; some unseen forces would choose that precise moment to strike! This is a mystery that some men of God have not been able to unravel. Which one held Johnbull hostage? He tried to think.
A case in point was a deal he had worked so hard to seal from overseas with his brother. The deal involved importing some pharmaceutical products from North Africa. For 2 years, tried as hard as they did, yet, something terrific happened on the verge of success; the source of the importation suddenly became hostile and refused to cooperate anymore. This alarmed Johnbull and the people who initiated the move. It was a most frustrating experience. After all the calculations, the business never saw the light of day! More than $4,000 was lost in the process. It was a shocking experience that reeled Johnbull. After all his effort, he had only regrets to show.
The same applies to several other ventures he had tried his hands at, including the car importation business, oil trading concern, and not least the training consulting firm, he established with his brother; they went the same tragic way. These were companies that followed the due registration process; nothing was wrong, except that there was no patronage. From what Johnbull understood during a crusade he had attended long ago, the pastor had preached about failure on the edge of success; some others call it ‘rise and fall’. it is controlled by a destructive spirit. He said once the spirit gets hold of a family, everyone toils seriously year-round without any success; simply put, bad things happen to victims of this evil spirit! Worse, they never go to sleep! This spirit as he learned on that day is associated with high-level witchcraft and occult practice.
Victims need to pray hard for God to reverse every spell of hard luck and calamity trailing their life! If the solution requires only prayers, then, Johnbull would have bailed himself out long ago, for he was a prayer addict—one desperate for results. He would pray from 12 midnight to 5 am. At times, he would gaze into the empty air and wish that a direct message from God comes to him as it did to Samuel. They have told him that God talks to people through dreams, visions, and signs. But where are the signs in his own case? True, God had sent the Raven to feed Elisha by the brook of Cheerith; yes, Jesus had fed thousands with just 5 loaves of bread; what about his own miracle? Time was running out, he reasoned. But whenever he raised the issue with men of God, they always tell him to be patient, that no one can outrun God! So, Johnbull, reluctantly waited.
There can be no better sacrifice to make. He has become tired of riding the storm and going through turbulence. He would have wished to be on the other side of rich life where prayers worked for him, the way it does for others. Now, here he was with his big friend who just returned back to the living room. He sat down and switched on the big screen television in the expansive parlor; it was 4.30 pm and European Cup was on; Real Madrid was up against Juventus and Johnbull’s friend loves football. Juventus was being thrashed 3-1 and Johnbull’s friend was excited pumping his hands every now and then as if he was the one on the pitch. Then the steward walked in and announced that launch was ready. Together, they shifted to the dining where another huge television was on. They ate quietly and drank fruit juice and after 30 minutes were done.
The time was crawling to 6 pm when the doorbell rang and another visitor walked in. The man was a former head of government in one of the northern states. He stayed for 30 minutes and left. Then, as they sipped Red Wine, Johnbull’s friend suddenly asked him about life. When this question came, Johnbull did not have anything particular to say; he was caught unawares and unsure how to respond. At last, he managed to say that life was fair. ‘Do you have a good car?’ was the next question; Johnbull, who was visibly shocked, replied no. ‘What about your wife’, his friend asked again. ‘She has but not a good one’, he replied. ‘What about the house?’, came the next question. ‘We are on rented property’, Johnbull replied. ‘So you will need land somewhere?’ Johnbull, shaking his legs, replied yes.
The man then inquired what is their preference for cars and where can he find land to buy urgently. He replied to all questions smoothly, and because he was afraid, he mentioned moderately fairly used Toyota brands—Corolla and Camry. ‘Are you owing anybody?’, came the next question. By this time. Johnbull had become very alert. His eyes opened and he realized that God had arrived and was indeed the one talking! So, he sat very attentively. Johnbull had not serviced his weather-beaten cars for weeks, and somebody was asking about his debt status. ‘Yes sir’, he answered, ‘I am owing my bankers’. ‘How much?’, came the next question. ‘About 4 million naira’, he replied. ‘Ok, I will liquidate that for you right away and ask my aides to get you and your wife both cars tomorrow!’ Gbam! Just like that!
And without a word, Johnbull’s friend left the sitting room, went upstairs, and moments later returned with an envelope containing $7,000! ‘If you change that, you will have roughly N4, 200,000; pay off the 4 million naira and pocket the rest’. ‘And tomorrow, I will ask someone to credit your account with N5 million so you can get a good land somewhere to start with’. Johnbull was speechless. He was in a state of shock-wondering if this was real. ‘The jinx surrounding you is broken’, his big friend added. Still, Johnbull could not utter a word. Suddenly, psalms 126 and 127 came into his mind. One said ‘unless the Lord builds the house… they labor in vain’, and the said explained that ‘when the captivity of the children of Isreal was changed…it was to them like a dream…then was there laughter in their mouth’ How true those verses turned out to be?
In a flash, something dropped from his eyes; he rubbed his face with his hands and shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was too heavy—or so it seemed. When eventually he found his voice, it was hoarse, it sounded like gravel, like someone hiding something inside his mouth. ‘Oh, well, where do I start from’, he began. Feeling satisfied, his big friend looked at him and said warmly…’ don’t worry, Johnbull, this is your time!’
