Calamity

It started with his wife's health
A robust, ruddy, healthy beautiful woman
His friend and wife of over fifteen years
as suddenly afflicted with a mental challenge
It was very strange to him
She had never ever been ill before then
Her family members didn't take it lightly with him
They said when they went to pray
They were told he was the cause
To them, that automatically means he went to 
use for something diabolic 
Her Father, a renowned cleric of another faith 
told him point blank
"We have consulted the learned ones in our faith
They said my daughter was afflicted by you
Her brothers who are Christians like you 
went to pray
They said the Holy Spirit revealed to them
that you afflicted their sister
You stand there with your mouth hanging open
like a torn local drum
Do you think you can pretend?
Do you think you will use my own daughter for
voodoo money or other rituals and i will not'
come at you with all the Djinnis of war?
Release my daughter, undo the evil you have
done and I will leave the judgement for your sins to
her and God! Otherwise, you will dance naked in 
every market in this territory!"
He didn't know what he was supposed to do
He had prayed, he fasted, he pleaded for mercy
But it seemed as if God wasn't listening
It was a dark time
A season of wrath and blood!
He went to his pastor, "Please sir, pray with me
"My wife is not getting any better and her treatment
is draining all my resources"
Pastor prayed
The prayer team of the church prayed
He had a little peace after they had prayed
He thought things were turning around
BAM!
His house collapsed
He and his children slept in the house all night
They went to church in the morning
by the time they got back home from church
All they met were rubbles!
According to eyewitnesses,
It was as if the foundations of the house were 
rigged with dynamite!
One minute it was standing
The next it was Kaboom!
He became homeless!
That night, he and his children slept in 
the house of a neighbour
A government agency sealed off the site of the 
 building collapse pending further investigation
His neighbour gave them two weeks to find
another accommodation
The church came to his rescue!
They gave him the chalet meant for visiting preachers
At least until he could get back to his feet
He called his friends and relatives
Some people sent him money, others sent him food items
He had some respite!
Then he was sacked!
it was sudden!
He had always been a diligent worker
A poster boy for good behaviour and ethical conduct
His superiors always commend him for being a good
example
He got to his office and tried to "log in" with his fingerprint
The biometrics kept giving the error signal
He called the security guys to pay attention to it
They apologised and called in somebody from the HR
He was given his letter right there
The company's ID Card, official car keys,  laptop and 
other effects were taken from him by the security men
He didn't know why or what he did
The HR manager and the security men walked him out
of the office's nonstaff member's gate!
He cried all the way from his office to the church
He was a forty-two years old man whose feet were 
sinking terribly into the sand's of trial
He wondered if it was his wife's father that was
shooting the fiery darts at him
He wondered why?
His pastor told him to pray
But it was easier said than done
He had not been getting any result from praying for a while
He told his pastor as much
His pastor said "I will give you a phone number,
call the number and speak with the brother in Jeans and T-shirt"
They talked
He booked an appointment
They met!
As soon as they saw each other he started feeling uneasy
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt started laughing
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt said "You, Deacon, it was you!"
He: My brother, I didn't know you are the brother 
I was told to come and meet with
The Bother in Jeans and T-shirt: Did you come with the money?
You are talking about money, didn't you hear what happened to me?
My wife is sick, she has a mental health challenge 
My house collapsed and I lost my job
I am in so much debt now
I dont even have any other person to turn to for help
and I need serious help
My prayers seemed to be bouncing off the ceiling,
I have stopped praying altogether
Nothing is working in my life!
I have not denied owing you money but 
how do I pay it back in all this?
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt: I warned you
I warned you several times!
i called you until it seemed as if i was making a 
nuisance of myself
I sent you messages on WhatsApp until you blocked me
You kept lying to me, changing your excuses, updating your lies
Did you even understand the enormity of what you did?
He: May God not let us have problems that will challenge
our integrity
It was a problem!
I had a financial challenge at the time that needed attention
I believed I had explained it to you already
I used the money to pay my children's school fees
I only borrowed it and I will repay it soon
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt: I have forgotten
the money but I am not surprised that you are 
moving from calamity to calamity!
What you did was an obvious disregard for God and his church
It was never about the money
It was for the lack of reverence and regard
The Holy Spirit especially dislikes that attitude in believers!
Being too casual with the spirit of grace is dangerous
Remember Ananias and Saphirra?
Their story was told so that we can learn from their mistake!
He: I assure you, sir, it is not the money that is the
cause of this, it has to be something else
God cannot be this vindictive
Please pray for me
Help me ask the Holy Spirit why the whole world seems
to be collapsing on my head?
Please, forget what I did and help me
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt looked at him in shock!
The man was still arguing and full of excuses
Wow!
How come some people are so headstrong 
in the wrong direction!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt: I love you, my brother,
I will ask that you look for the money and pay it
so that you can at least eliminate that as one of
the sources of this strange turn in your reality!
He: Sir, even if you borrow me the money,
I will still use it for something else at the moment
There are more pressing needs I have to attend to!
Just pray for me sir!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt: I beg you to do the
right thing and your heavens will open once again!
He: Okay, I will try and do it before the end of the year!
He leaves!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt looked at him
steadfastly and shook his head!
Some believers assume the God we serve under grace,
is a God who can be treated anyhow!
Some do this because God is not real to them!
All they see is an abstract being!
All they know is what other people told them about God!
For others, it is as a result of familiarity!
2018 February, the denomination under which they all
worship compiled a list of ordainees!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt and this "calamity"
deacon were on the same team!
All the deacons agreed to contribute some money
and give it to the church
The total amount contributed was #480,000.00
This "Calamity deacon" was elected as the representative
of all the deacons being ordained that year
He was to give the money to the church
But he spent it!
Every dime!
After the ordination in August, he called the Brother in Jeans 
and T-shirt and said "Please, I want to confide in you!
 I don't want all the deacons and deaconesses to know that
 I spent all their money and I don't have a receipt to show that 
I have paid the money in! 
Kindly assist me in whatever way you can!
The brother in Jeans and T-shirt assisted him by paying
the money but on one condition! 
He must pay the money
to the church account before the end of that month! 
That way, they would have paid double 
what was initially contributed
and he would have a receipt to present 
as evidence of payment! 
He presented the receipt, got the accolades and slaps 
on the back
and promptly forgot that he was sitting on a keg of 
gunpowder on a boiling sea
How do you pray for someone who refused to make
amends for their errors?
You ask the Holy Spirit to open his or her eyes to see,
to speak to such in a language he or she will understand! 
March 2019! He was back!
One of his children fell into the soakaway at a construction 
site close to the church
The soakaway was still under construction but the 
11-year-old child had head injuries and was in a coma!
When he got to the hospital and held the child's hand
The child opened his eyes and said "Daddy, give God
his money! If you don't, you will lose everything!"
He came with the money!
He came with tears in his eyes and contrition in his heart
He had allowed the accuser to gain a foothold in his life
for far too long!
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt prayed for him!

PS: God restored him
He got a new job on April 1st
The job came with accommodation and a car
His wife was restored also in the first week of April
The seal on his land was lifted
He can start work on the site and rebuild
Today he is saying thank you
Sending messages and singing praises
Please, do not treat God with disdain
Don't become casual with God and His stuff
Don't assume Grace means Sin!
If it a hard thing to fall into the hands of God!