Chaff and Ashes

He was a real hustler 
He couldn't sit idle for a minute 
He had to be up and about 
He had to be on the move 
She thought it was a good quality at first 
A man who does not sit down expecting 
things to fall on his laps 
A man of endeavor and activity 
A hardworking and caring man
The problem? 
It was all hustle without any result 
He would leave home very early and 
return home at night 
He would be on his feet like a donkey, 
doing all sorts but he always came 
home empty-handed 
Something always happened to rob him 
of his gains 
Once there was a fire incidence
It happened as soon as he set up his 
own phone accessory shop 
She had supported him with a loan that 
took her a year to payback 
He had also gotten some funds from his 
parents and the older brother who lived 
abroad in the form of investments 
He had taken the pains to draw up a
proposal and convinced everybody 
he would make a go of it 
He got over 5 Million Naira worth of goods 
Three days after stocking his shop, a 
mysterious fire came out of nowhere and 
razed everything down 
They paid for the shop in anticipation of 
the fund in January and they stocked
the shop in June 
The fire didn't happen during the six months 
of famine 
It waited until the goods arrived before 
happening 
The fire incidence returned them to level 
zero and plunged them into serious 
hardship 
The family investment only left a bitter 
taste in everybody's mouth but the loan 
she took left her with pittance at the 
end of the month 
She deliberately went for the maximum 
amount possible, hoping some proceeds 
from his sales would help cushion the 
effect of her decision 
That year, things were so bad that she 
started using needle and thread to sew
her undies 
He fasted and prayed almost every day 
of the week because it was wiser to 
convert hunger to fast than to be hungry 
for nothing 
He was like a walking skeleton, the one 
she saw in SuperTed cartoon as a child 
Nobody understood how anybody could 
be that unfortunate in life
It was a very slow year but it eventually 
passed, he returned to hustling in the 
market and helping others sell their products 
for little commissions 
For almost three years after the fire incidence, 
nobody would give him a dime for anything 
It was as if heaven was closed upon him
He started visiting prayer mountains 
"This cannot be ordinary" was his lamentation 
The prophets on the mountains were a 
hungry lot, they fed off him like Hyenas 
and pressured him to get bags of rice and oil 
and meat for the great man of God and his
 servants after praying for him
He sold their television and other properties 
to satisfy the prophets, he was afraid they 
would place a curse on him if they were 
not satisfied 
At a point, she began to wonder why she 
chose to be with him it was as if she 
deliberately chose to suffer when she 
had so many options before getting married 
She had four suitors 
He was her choice after praying and getting a 
strong confirmation from three different 
people He had a good life before they got 
married he had his own flat and a TV set 
He had all the material stuff a guy has 
before proposing to a girl
She often wondered if she was the one 
with the bad luck 
It was often said by her people that a 
woman with two left legs will ruin the 
destiny of any guy she got married to 
She had never enjoyed a day of bliss 
from the moment they got married 
Within three months of the wedding
they were forced to move into his parent's 
house because a heavy wind took off the 
roof of his apartment in the middle of 
the night 
It took her two years to raise the fund 
to rent them another apartment 
His parent's house was fine but she 
was not bonding with him and felt like
an outsider Sometimes they would be 
sleeping and his mother would call him 
to drive her somewhere or do a chore 
for her 
Sometimes he would return home from 
his hustles and stay with his family 
members in the sitting room while she 
was waiting for him in the room it was 
as if he was trying to form "I am not a 
woman wrapper" around his people 
He didn't want them to think she had 
any influence over him whatsoever 
He was forming macho-man by keeping 
her at arm's length 
When she protested, he said he was 
doing it for the two of them 
He said he didn't want to give his family 
members the impression that she was 
controlling him or that she was more 
important than them 
She was also required to relate with his 
mother and siblings, she had no problem 
with it but sometimes boundaries are 
breached and she was very sensitive 
about such things
Eventually, she raised the money and 
they moved out, by this time she had 
delivered her first child 
They named him "Igbaidera" meaning 
"Season of ease" but things didn't get 
any better 
The second attempt to set him up in 
business plunged them into fresh debts 
This time he took a loan from a microfinance 
bank 
His elder sister was working at the bank and 
mentioned his case to the manager 
They didn't have any collateral but he got 
the loan anyway 
They were given three months before 
they had to start paying back the loan 
The money was gone within a month
The funny thing was he couldn't account 
for it 
When the time was almost due to pay, 
he ran to Port-Harcourt to see if he 
could get some money from an old school 
mate 
The old school mate was working with an 
oil company and was willing to help but 
he didn't have much cash on him
The old school mate gave him one of the 
cars in his fleet 
The old school mate told him to sell the car 
and settle his debt 
He drove the car to Lagos and decided to 
start UBER business with it 
In order to avoid the bank officials, he started 
staying with another friend in Lagos 
His plan was to work with the car and start 
repaying the loan they were owing to the 
bank 
One week later, her husband was driving a 
man to Ibadan on a chartered ride when 
the car caught fire 
That was the last straw for him 
He attempted to jump in front of a truck
on the expressway but was held by some 
roadside mechanics who witnessed the 
accident 
When they narrated the incident to her, 
she cried bitterly 
It was the last straw for her too 
She was tired of the marriage 
She was tired of suffering 
She was tired of living from hands to 
mouth
She was paying off his debts to the 
bank every month out of her salary 
Once she paid that and took out her 
transportation cost to and from the 
office for the month, they barely had 
enough to feed She had not worn a 
new cloth in five years 
It was far too much for her to bear 
She wanted out 
She spoke with her parents about it 
They had been a pillar of support to 
her family throughout the desert storm 
They had supported with foodstuff, 
money (They handled her son and 
daughter's school fees and clothing) 
She couldn't even ask anybody to do 
more for them they were like an abyss 
that keeps taking and wasting 
Her parents said No 
Her father said "Though sorrow lasts 
for the night, joy comes in the morning" 
It seems everybody saw something 
she didn't see or just wanted her to 
suffer on
Later that night, she saw him arrive
He came back home in tears and he 
met her in tears!
They had no words to say to each other
She was still standing by the window
when he came in
He collapsed on the old sofa in their
sitting room
She married him when she was 27
Apart from her children, he had nothing
to show for it
Two were supposed to chase ten thousand
She had a better quality of life as a
spinster
She had seen what marriage did to
many of her friends
It made them more beautiful, happier,
richer, stronger and more confident
She was weary from her soul
She didn't need to say it
Everything in her had stopped responding
to him
She couldn't even sympathize with him
anymore
She was sure he was under a curse or
the marriage was cursed
She was very sure of it
Something needed to give
His mother arrived at their house
very early the next morning
She brought some foodstuff and a
lot of words
She had become numb to the sorry's
and the commiserations
They were not supposed to be an 
everyday thing
Other people get "well done" and
"congratulations!" and "Hallelujah"
often, not "Sorry" and "It is well"
The next day, she took a stroll
She needed to clear her head
The atmosphere at the house
was choking her
She needed to sort out her life
She had a good job and could
take good care of herself and
her children comfortably without
him
His debts kept dragging her down
pulling her into his misfortune
She was really tired
She wanted to end the sham of a 
marriage and move on
She started mentally preparing herself
for it
She knew he would take it badly
She steeled herself for whatever
stunt he might try to pull
He was a sinking ship and it was
time to wise up and jump off
Her walk took about two hours,
when she got back to their house
She met her husband, his mother
and the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
Her husband's mother was worried
her son might commit suicide and
invited the Brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt to encourage him
They were doing that when she came
And then the unexpected happened
She fell flat on her face and began
to scream
Her husband and his mother rushed
towards her out of concern
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt just
watched the drama
They tried to pull her up to no avail
She tried to stand up to no avail
her bones felt like a jelly but she
could see everything going on
The Brother in jeans and T-shirt
approached her
She started to scream fearfully
She wanted to control her reaction
but she couldn't 
When he got to her, the Brother in
Jeans and T-shirt touched her 
head and said "In the name of Jesus"
That was all she heard
She sat up and said "I made a covenant
to live a hard and difficult life with
my first husband! 
No matter what he does he wouldn't
prosper and we would be so poor that
we would see paper and call it money!
I swore an oath with my peers that
I will have two children and leave my
marriage after the first seven years,
then i will remarry into wealth and 
enjoy for another seven years before 
dying suddenly and returning to them"
She heard herself say the words,
she was as shocked as the others
in the room
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
said "You foul spirit, I rebuke you in
the name of Jesus! Get out of her!"
She screamed and went limp
When she opened her eyes a few
minutes later, she felt like a brand new
person
the Brother in Jeans
and T-shirt explained to her that
she had been possessed by an evil
spirit that takes pleasure in 
manipulating the destiny of its victims
he asked her if she would like to give
her life to Jesus
She screamed YES!
He led her to Christ and got her baptized
in the Holy Spirit
He told them things have changed!
She knew that to be a fact!

PS: This event happened in Ifako-Ijaye
area of Lagos in 2017
There was a very heavy change in their
circumstances after
She said she often had strange dreams
and all but she never counted such as
anything serious because all she did was
dance and mingle with some female folks
(Remember she is not a born again Christian,
and the dreams were demonic activities
she was participating in consciously)
They relocated to Texas, USA in 2018 and
are doing very well

GSW's Notes: Had she been attending a
church led by the Holy Spirit 
The problem would have been detected
very early and solved
She didn't need any dramatic deliverance
Accepting Jesus as Lord and saviour and
getting filled with the Holy Spirit would
have settled the issue but she had never
been a "church" person all her life
Extreme poverty, suffering, hardship, sickness
calamities and/or disasters are usually a 
result of  ignorance or proof of demonic 
activity
A sister reached out to me yesterday
with a similar situation
She had a lot of questions
Unfortunately, her husband died
recently after suffering almost all 
his life in pursuit of chaff and ashes
His wife said the Holy Spirit told her
to warn him not to go out that day
But his father sent for him and he
couldn't say no
A stray bullet cut him down on the
road
I am pained to the marrow
It was a needless loss, the type
that makes my skin crawl
I have blessed his wife with corn
and choice wine
There is a season of abundance for her
and her family