Jonah

It started like a cruel joke
Adversity hurled itself at him with full force
He was not only shaken
He was knocked off his feet
He drove directly to his baby's creche from the
office, after picking up the child, he drove
to his wife's office to pick her up
They got home around 5 pm
He parked his car in front of the house
There were four flats in the house
He lived right in the one upstairs
But the house was not fenced!
He parked right beside his neighbour's car!
His neighbour an elderly wise man secured his car 
with a metal steering lock!
The steering lock looked so funny and complicated
He wondered why the man was so archaic
Cars have modern security systems 
Using such contraptions spoke volumes about
the level of the faith the man had in God
The man was attending an Orthodox church
Those churches where the Holy Spirit was a footnote
It was understandable to assume the man does
not trust God enough to protect his property
Though they were both believers
He had seen the Lord!
He understood beyond words and arguments what
his tithe does for him
He walked in the reality of the revelatory word
of God
No evil can befall him without God warning him first
He knew he had the ears of God
And God speaks to him expressly!
He carried the baby while his wife
carried the baby's bags and her own
They got home and settled in
A friend of his came to pay the family a visit 
at around 6 pm
The Friend got a contract to write a biography
But he knew nothing about writing
He was just at the right place at the right time
After securing the contract, the friend started
shopping around for a good writer
Then the friend remembered him and decided they
needed to discuss terms
That was the essence of the meeting!
The meeting went well
In all the friend spent like an hour with him
and his family
When the friend was leaving, he walked with the
friend to the street
The friend had just purchased a car too
They both discussed cars for a moment
His friend left
He returned home and had a great night
The next morning, the family was set for the 
day by 7:30 AM
He carried the baby, five months old at the time
His wife carried the baby's bag
They got downstairs and their car was gone!
It had been stolen over the night!
They searched everywhere!
The street, the drainage, at a point he went
upstairs and started searching the kitchen cabinet!
It was a crazy day!
The funniest thing was, he took a loan from the'
office to buy the car
The loan was being deducted from his salary
He had just made the payment for the fourth month
He ran to the Police Station
The police said he should get 20,000
They needed transport money to get to central
a command where they would send out a radio
signal!
He couldn't believe it
He was fleeced by the police! 
He started to pray, and then he stopped!
What sort of God would allow this to happen to him?
People will look at him and say "But he calls
himself a Pastor, someone who hears from God,
why didn't God tell him not to park the car
at home that day? Why did God allow his car
to be stolen? Why would God be so unconcerned
and uncaring about the situation of his own
children?
Maybe it was all a lie!
His heart was extremely troubled!
He called his boss and explained the situation
His wife was practically in tears
How could they be the victim of such a calamity?
The sun was practically shinning darkness
He encouraged his wife to go to her office
As he walked home wondering what he must
do to recover the car
He passed by a beer parlour!
Hmmmm!
He was a drunk long before he became a born again
Christian
He needed some dose of forgetfulness
He walked into the bar
He drank and smoked as if he never stopped!
By the time he got home around 2 pm, he slept!
Later in the evening, his wife arrived with their baby
She didn't notice he was oozing alcohol 
Because she was engulfed in her own grief
They had both been robbed!
The first month after the loss was hell!
Church members came around to encourage them
He reluctantly went to church to stop them from flooding
his house
He was a preacher after all and they expect him to
practise what he preached
But the drinking had sneaked back into his life!
Every evening, like clockwork, he would sneak to
a place far away from his house and drink
Three bottles at the most and he would smoke two 
sticks of cigarettes
He made new friends there
Played scrabbles, chess and watched LIVE football matches
After four months of mourning his stolen car
He was given another car by his Father-in-law
It was an old car but it was a good car
He was encouraged and started going to church more often
But the drink had now become a permanent fixture
He doesn't drink to get drunk
Just three bottles of cold beer
What harm would that do?
Ten months after his car was stolen, he bought another car
Debt free!
God provided him with the raw hard cash
It was a better car than the stolen one
God proved himself as the restorer
But the drinking persisted!
He wanted to stop but he couldn't
The nicotine addiction he fought for many
years as an unbeliever had returned with a vengeance!
The pull of the alcohol was stronger than ever
One night, the Holy Spirit appeared to him
The Holy Spirit said, "Son, what are you doing?"
He didn't answer, he was just looking at the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit said: My voice is becoming strange to you
You are getting lost
He didn't say a word
The Holy SPirit looked at him and said: Remember, I love you!
When he woke up, he smiled
While he was at the office that day
He promised himself he would stop drinking and smoking
But while driving home from work that evening
He found himself driving to the bar
He had been totally taken over by the addiction
He couldn't even help himself
When he got to the bar
He ordered a bottle of beer
He drank it
His phone rang, it was a woman in distress
He ignored the call, then he saw the message
"Please pick your call, wrote the woman
The woman's  said her son was playing, suddenly 
the screamed and died!
Just like that
The boy was seven years old
He was the only child of his parent
He was the one who prophesied to the woman
about having a son and the Holy Spirit made it happen
The woman called again
He ignored the call!
He was drinking and couldn't pray, even for himself!
He called the waitress
"Give me another bottle"
When the waitress got close to him
The waitress suddenly stumbled and fell with the bottle
The bottle broke
The second waitress rushed to help the waitress
She fell down beside the first waitress
The barman wanted to assist them
He fell down beside the two waitresses
Two customers seated at the table about ten meters
away from him fell on their knees
It was like reading a page of Stephen King's 
horror novel!
The atmosphere of the bar changed totally
He felt goose pimples all over him!
He was already feeling tipsy
The angel walked in!
He saw him clearly, the alcohol flew out of his system
The angel said "The voice of that weeping
mother has been heard, pick your phone and
command the restoration of her son"
The angel stood there watching him
A strange fear took over his heart
His phone rang again!
He picked!
Woman: Thank you, Jesus! Please, he is on my laps
The doctor said He was dead
But I know what the word of God said
I remember your prophecy
You said "I should never deny him the right to
marry a wife of his choice!"
That means He will get married!
SO he cannot die at the age of seven!
Just wake him up, sir!
He told her to lay her hand on the boy's heart
He said "I command life to jump from you into
that boy! Heart, start beating now"
The boy stirred immediately
The noise in the hospital room was overwhelming
He knew something had happened!
Eventually, the woman confirmed that the boy had 
been brought back to life
The woman thanked him!
He cut the call!
The angel said "Stand up and leave and do not
leave your duty post again"
He stood up and ran out of the bar!
He could barely drive himself back home!
The addiction died that day!

PS: The event happened in Lagos, Nigeria
The child is fourteen years old today
He never left his duty post again
He was very grateful for the second chance
The jolt that crashed his delusion
There are so many things about God one can
never fully understand!
Why didn't God answer the prayer of that woman
directly?
Why must it be him, and not anyone else
Why did God send an angel to a bar
And why all the drama?
If it was to scare him to his senses, It worked!
This event happened in 2012

In 2018, I was in a bus one early morning
we were on the Lagos-Abeokuta road
Suddenly I started praying in tongues
on top of my voice
It was uncharacteristic of me
I pray but i do not make a nuisance
of myself while doing so
Everybody in the bus kept quiet
Suddenly there was an accident ahead of us
A young lady hawking bread was hit by a car
that just overtook us
The lady was flung through the air and landed 
awkwardly
The driver of the car rushed out of the car to
with his two hands on his head to see the extent 
of the damage
People on the road rushed towards her
She was supposed to be dead or seriously wounded
She was neither!
She got on her feet and picked up her wares
as if nothing happened
People started clapping, it started from the 
bus i was in
Then the people at the scene started clapping
They had all witnessed a miracle!
The Holy Spirit said to me that day "If you had
not responded to the stirring of your spirit
to intercede for her, she would have died!
Miracles will always need a man wield it
Such a man would have joined himself to the 
revealed word of God!
He would have become one with the vision
of the gospel
He or she has Paralambano (ed)!

- Brother in Jeans and T-shirt