Focus

The woman of God had so much to 
say that morning, she was the pastor 
of a thriving parish of a pentecostal 
church
Her husband was a big shot, an Army 
General
They were as rich as the sea
The church she was heading was in the
 middle of a crisis
The usual church member's unrest 
People are difficult to lead
Sometimes they act as if they know 
what they want even when they had 
no clue
The church had been under the 
leadership of another pastor before 
she was transferred to the church
The church members were used to 
the way the previous pastor handled 
the church
She understood that but she was 
not going to handle the church the 
same way
The church members wanted to pray
Pray about everything, even the things 
that needed the application of 
common sense
She felt that was a bit unwise
Why pray when you can act?
She spoke with some 
friends who owned their own companies
She tried to get jobs for church members
It was a pragmatic approach in her 
opinion
The church members that got the 
jobs stopped coming to church
She felt she had been taken advantage 
of and stopped the recruitment drive
Church members were still restless
Some left
Those who didn't leave kept spreading 
rumors
"Mama is not spirit-filled"
"Mama does not speak in tongues"
"Mama does not fast"
"Mama listens to secular songs"
"Mama still drinks wine with her 
husband"
The accusations went from foolish 
to ridiculous 
Eventually, she got tired and decided 
to resign as the church pastor
She had tried everything she was 
taught and more
She cooked rice for the members 
every Sunday because she felt many of 
them were poor and they would be 
grateful
They ate her rice and still complained
Some would come to her secretly 
begging for financial support to pay rent, 
school fees and all
She always did her best to help them
She singlehandedly bought about 200 
plastic chairs for the church
Nothing she did changed their opinion 
of her
It was depressing
She called the previous pastor of the 
church and explained her predicament
He counseled her
He told her to find vibrant young 
ministers who can do the things the 
church members wanted
He told her the church members 
really didn't care who led them as 
long as they were being led properly
She felt it was a good idea
She drove to the ministry's Bible college 
and recruited four ministers
She chose prayerful and vibrant 
young men and women and brought 
them to church on a thanksgiving 
Sunday
When she made the announcement, 
the people cheered
Their cheering got to her
Nobody was bothered about her feelings
Their cheer felt to her like a total rejection
The new pastors took over the leadership 
of the church
Weekly services, vigils, and counseling 
sessions resumed in earnest
Church members were happy
She felt she had been relegated to 
the position of the church administrator
Overseeing the payment of salaries 
and remittance, as if the oil on her head 
was a joke
She was not comfortable with it
Whenever they made a ministration roster, 
she ensured she was given the altar to 
preach on just one Sunday a month
That Sunday always recorded the 
least attendance
Even when she reintroduced the sharing 
of cooked food to members on that 
Sunday she was designated to minister, 
the attendance remained under one 
hundred
It was very frustrating
She had somehow for the first time 
achieved a form of stability as a leader 
of the church
That in itself was a miracle but a sense 
of personal inadequacy plagued her
She wanted to be their pastor, to be 
treated the same way other church 
members treated their pastors, not 
like some bimbo in a collar
The thought plagued her for several 
nights
It was like having children who wanted
nothing to do with you and yet expect 
you to pay their school fees, feed them 
and provide for all their needs
She was the one paying the salaries of
the four ministers from her pocket, 
she was the one practically paying the 
church rent from her pocket and despite 
everything she was doing, she was 
uncelebrated!
After a year, she told the four ministers 
they had to leave
Shee announced to the church that she 
could no longer afford to pay the church 
rent and the salaries of their beloved 
ministers
As she made the announcement, she saw 
the gloomy shadow descending upon the 
faces of the church members
She felt deeply satisfied
They had finally come to see that the 
pleasures they had been enjoying for 
free were paid for by one who could
take it away at will
That night, she wrote her letter of 
resignation and decided she would drop 
it at their headquarters the next day
She was right where she wanted to be 
emotionally
It was for her a form of victory
Nobody in the church will be able to 
despise her any longer
They will always remember that she 
sponsored the ride until she could no 
longer afford to do so 
That night, as she slept
The Holy Spirit walked into her room
She saw herself lying down on her bed, 
sleeping peacefully
The Holy Spirit came in and woke her up, 
he held her hand and led her into an office
He told her he wanted to mark her script 
and pointed to a safe in the office
Excitedly, she opened the safe and 
started searching for her script
She searched and searched to no avail
She started to cry
She felt the gulf deep in the core of 
her heart
She had failed at something important
After a while the Holy Spirit lifted her 
up from her knees and told her to sit 
down
He said "Do you remember that I called
 you to lead the welfare committee, and 
you said yes. For how long were you the 
head of the welfare committee?" Asked 
the Holy Spirit
She said "Six years sir"
"Did I promote and celebrate you?" 
Asked the Holy Spirit 
She nodded
She was made the Director of Global 
Missions of the ministry at the age of 41
She was the inaugural head and she 
had to deal with missionaries of the 
ministry from all over the world.
"Why did you leave that position?" 
Asked the Holy Spirit
She kept quiet
The position she held attracted a lot of 
envy and side talks from members of 
the church
Some said she was sleeping with the 
General Overseer, others said the money 
they were using to sponsor the missionaries 
was stolen by her husband from the 
government purse and she was the one 
overseeing the money laundering process
Some said she was the financial backer of 
the General Overseer and gets to demand 
where she wanted to be placed in the
 ministry willy nilly
Some even said she was the one controlling
the General Overseer because she was the
one financing the ministry
None of the accusations were true but the 
spiteful words kept getting to her
One day she got tired of it all and
decided to leave the limelight so that the 
rumors can rest
She went to the office of the General 
Overseer to inform him of her decision 
and he felt very disturbed by her decision
He told her to disregard the noise and 
face her assignment
She had handled the work excellently well 
and used her influence when necessary 
to get things done
(Their work involved sending missionaries
overseas and getting supplies and 
materials to them. Sometimes they face
a lot of hurdles with the government but
her position helps to smoothen the
process because people respect her 
husband so much)
He had no substitute for her at that time 
but she was adamant that she wanted 
to leave the position
The General overseer asked her what 
she wanted to do after leaving
She told him she wanted to be a pastor 
at a small parish 
A church where she can serve in 
anonymity and have her peace
The General Overseer said okay and 
anointed her as a pastor
He then posted her to a parish to 
serve as the assistant pastor
That was how she found herself 
at the church
The same church she was about 
to resign from because of her feelings
The Holy Spirit said "You were led 
until you started leading yourself. 
Like Moses, you allowed the voice 
of the untaught and the unbridled 
to determine the course of your life. 
You chose to satisfy the negative 
whims of men!
How then should I grade your 
script?"
That was when she came out of 
the vision
She cried awake from her sleep
She was 55 when she saw the 
vision
She knew she must do better
She started fasting and praying
"Correct my course o Lord, order 
my footsteps, lead me aright!!"
Two weeks later, she met the Brother in 
Jeans and T-shirt
They met at an open-air crusade
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
ministered and his ministration 
resonated with her
They got talking
She invited him to her church
The church was filled to the brim, he 
taught the church members the topic 
"Perils of followership" 
The Holy Spirit took over
Her heart and that of the church 
members melted
Another pastor was posted to her 
church a week later
She was transferred back to the 
headquarters to serve as the Assistant 
Director of Africa missions
The Lord restored her to her ministry
Glory
Hallelujah 

PS: People can be malicious with words
Most times without cause
When you hear some things that are 
being said about you as a minister of 
God, you will feel like crawling under a 
rock and not seeing the sun again
It is tough leading God's people
You must do it as unto the Lord
There are some who delight in peddling
all sorts of rumors about you
They are members of the household
of faith
Some are even close to you
Their relevance to others lie in the
amount of information they have to
give about you
So they talk on and on and on
Sometimes they guess or make up
things just for relevance
At other times they won't agree with
your decision and they will decide
to talk it out with some other members
in a despicable way
You must wear a coat of armor
You must learn how to ignore their
wicked mouths and face your
assignment in peace
Remember, you have an audience
of one