Paraclete

She knew right from her childhood that
life was spiritual
Her father was an atheist
Atheism for his father was a part of the
enlightenment ideology he bought when he
was schooling at the University of Heidelberg,
Germany!
Her father grew up in a strong Baptist family
But jettisoned his faith in the face of
intellectual relevance and popular opinion
while he was abroad
When he relocated with his wife and three
children back home
He saw religious people as local and lacking
intellectually
Her mother followed his lead
Her mother was a British citizen who also
schooled in Germany
Life for the two of them was based on systems
and ideologies that are prevalent at a particular
point in time!
His father was also a banker
One morning, around five AM in the morning
Some visitors came to their house
They were six in number
They wanted her father to do something
for them
Something involving a lot of money
She was very young at the time but she knew
the meeting was weird and offish!
The people spoke in hushed tones
They brought with them an atmosphere
of fear and dread
The air was choking and the tension was coiled
They had a friend who died
The friend had a lot of money in her father's bank
The friend's family knew nothing about the money
It was a secret account the deceased kept
for a business investment he wanted to venture into
while he was alive
He was supposed to go into the business with 
some very close associates
 He had a meeting with the associates and 
told them about the account, he also showed 
them proof!
He died a few days later
They waited a year!
Then they had a meeting and decided it is best
to claim the money and share it amongst 
themselves!
The amount involved was huge
His father was the manager of the branch
where the money was deposited
Apart from their knowledge that the money
was deposited in the bank, they didn't have
any claim to the money
But they were determined to have the money
that was why they came to see her father
They wanted her father to release the funds
They promise to give her father and other
colleagues of his that might be involved
in the deal forty per cent of the loot
All they wanted was sixty per cent
Her father said NO!
They tried to reason with her father
"This money is not yours, it is also not ours
but it can benefit us all and there will be
no questions asked if you release it! Please
be reasonable, this is a win-win for everybody"
The lawyer to the deceased pleaded
Her father shook his head
The others also tried to persuade her father
to shift his stance
Her father listened to them and politely
told them he would never be a party to
such an arrangement!
When they realised her father would not budge
They got angry!
Their tone switched from conciliatory to
challenging and even outright rudeness
Her father kept his calm
After almost two hours of harassment
and threats, they left!
Her mother had listened to the discussion
through the curtain
Her mother was very scared!
Her father told her mother not to worry
He had faced down worse threats
Later that morning, when her father got to
the office, he told one of his elderly friends
what happened
The friend told her father not to sleep with
his two eyes closed
Her father shrugged and laughed it off
Two days later they saw the first snake
in their sitting room
It was a strange-looking black snake!
It was coiled around the metal bed of
the children's room
They had all gone for a vigil
When they got home in the morning
She was already fast asleep in the car
Her father carried her on his shoulder
and took her to the room
When he switched on the light, the first
thing her father saw was the snake!
Her father called their security man
Together they killed the snake!
It was a wonder how a snake got to their
house
They were living on the ninth floor of a
sixteen stories building!
Two days later, her mother was going
to ease herself in the middle of the night
She got out of bed and wore her slippers
She didn't know a scorpion was inside
the slippers
She got stung and had to be rushed to
the hospital in the middle of the night!
The following day, one of the visitors
went to see his father at his office
The man told her Father he was the one
reasoning with his other friends not to 
launch an outright war!
"What you are seeing is a tip of the 
iceberg! We are willing to turn everything
in our path to dust including you and your
family" The man reiterated
Her father told the man to give him two
weeks to put all the documents in order!
Her father convinced the man he was willing
to play ball!
The next day, her father went to visit the widow
of the deceased
He gave her all the necessary documents
That same day her father and mother had
a meeting with the children
Her father explained that he had always
wanted to relocate the family abroad
They usually travel for summer holidays
and all
But it was time to move permanently
All the children were citizens of the 
United States of America
Their mother was also a citizen
They relocated a few days later!
She was eleven years old when the
family moved to Chicago!
But the trouble did not stop!
Her mother started experiencing nightmares
and night terrors
Psychologists and Psychiatrists couldn't
help
Sleeping pills failed!
Her father also started suffering from a
strange migraine headache
Doctors recommended a pair of glasses
and a lot of drugs
Nothing helped
Her father had to cave in and invite a pastor
to their home to pray for their mother
That was how the malady stopped!
Her father became a believer after then
The ideologies and medicines didn't save
him from the fiery storm of wickedness
Jesus did!
That was how they all became Christians!
Her Father embraced the cross tighter than
his previous beliefs
He became a pastor and also started walking
in miracles, signs and wonders
That was how she also became conscious
of the Holy Spirit at the age of fourteen
They were at a Christian camp meeting when
she encountered the Holy Spirit for the first
time
It was awesome!
She saw visions and prophesied
She also walked in revelational gifts
She loved that life until she fell in love for the first
time
Love does strange things to the mind
it renders every other thing useless in its wake
The relationship lasted for a year
It took her away from the church and God
It took her away from everything she ever knew
It was like a whirlwind
She got carried away and didn't return as intact
as she was when she left
She was an undergraduate at the time
The season of the relationship and the 
heartbreak was about two years
Her Father was compelled to return home to
become the royal king of their town
She had graduated by that time and had the option
of staying back in Chicago
She didn't take it
She returned home with her parents
She got a job in the city
She met a very handsome young man
She fell in love again 
They got married
Her husband was a banker
Somebody committed fraud at her husband's
office and fled the country
Somehow her husband and six others were 
implicated
The Bank's internal investigation revealed that
her husband's stamp and signature were
used on some of the documents used to perpetrate
the fraud
Her husband claimed he never signed or
stamped any of the documents presented
as evidence
Beyond the documents and signature, 
there were no other links traceable to her 
husband!
The others, on the other hand, were neck-deep
 in fraud! 
They all had funds they couldn't account for, 
were engaged in a lot of illegal banking practices
operated a lot of illegal accounts  and their criminal
activities were proven and established.
The lawyer told her that her husband was looking 
at at least fourteen years of in prison absent of
a miracle
She was pregnant at the time
She prayed and fasted, begged and pleaded
Her husband insisted he didn't know anything
She reached out to the Brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt
She told him the whole story over the phone
He told her he would like to talk to her
husband over the phone
She went to see her husband in jail the following
day
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt asked her 
husband to tell him truthfully what he knew
about the fraud
Her husband insisted on his innocence
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told him
the Holy Spirit is a stirrer of conscience,
that is why He is our Paraclete! 
"When the Holy Spirit is invited into a matter
like this, he seeks to relieve the burden of
a troubled soul by showing such the lifting
power of truth and transparency"
Then he prayed for her husband
She didn't understand what the Brother in 
Jeans and T-shirt said
But she believed
On their next court date, one of the others
suddenly started crying in the dock
He confessed that he was the one that
used her husband's stamp and forged
his signature
He said her husband had nothing to do with the
crime and his conscience had troubled 
him seriously about roping in an innocent
man who has a pregnant wife!
None of the others objected to the confession
some of them even nodded in agreement!
When the judge asked them directly if her
husband was innocent of the crime
They all said "Yes"
She was shocked! 
After almost seven months of running from
pillar to post, seeking help!
The Holy Spirit came through over a phone call!
Two weeks later, her husband was released
and restored to his former position at his 
place of work!

PS: This event happened in Abuja, 
August 2018
Many of us take the things of the spirit
for granted until we are in dire need of a 
miracle
Then we throw ourselves into fasting 
and prayer
We try to manipulate God to do our will
in time of trouble when we have refused
to do his will in times of ease
We try to use God
We try to take advantage of God
When it works we give a "thank you"
and return to our normal godless life
When it didn't work, we become bitter
and claim God failed us in times of
trouble
We must do better from today!
You cannot live in the flesh and claim
spiritual gains
You can either be carnal or spiritual
You cannot be both
Walking with the Holy Spirit is the reality
of the new believer
When you refuse to walk with him
You open yourself up to be affected by
the elements of this world