Preordained Pathways

I remember the first time my Dad saw 
me ministering at a crusade
I was holding a Bible in one hand and a 
microphone in the other
The location was at Ojota motor park
Someone took pictures and posted them 
on Facebook
My dad almost had a heart attack
He knew some of his folks and friends 
in Nigeria are on Facebook
He had told all of them I was a successful 
journalist (I was and that I sometimes 
write movie scripts and also direct 
movies)
The last time he was in Nigeria before 
this time, he saw one of the movies 
I produced and even took some copies 
of the DVD to the USA to show off to 
his friends
He felt something had gone terribly wrong 
with me
He wrote me a message on Facebook 
and on Whatsapp
He said "What is this that I am seeing? 
Is this what you are now doing with 
your life? 
After millions worth of investment 
including a private university education?
You want to end up waiting for people to 
collect their salaries so that they can 
send you tithe and offering like a beggar?
You want to live from hands to mouth in 
the name of Jesus?
Look at your siblings, can you see how 
they are living their lives and making me 
proud?
I don't even know what to say to you but 
don't assume that I am not dissappointed
You are an adult, you have a wife and 
two boys, how do you propose to feed 
them and cater to their needs?
Are you one of those men whose wife
 would feed while grumbling and 
complaining until they find a better
option and move on?
How can you resort to this?
If you need any help you ought to have 
reached out to me or your siblings
We would have helped
I watch your wife on TV every day and 
I am very proud of her but this...
Junior, I beg you to please 
reconsider and get your life back on track"
I didn't even know how to reply to him
My parents are highly educated people
My Father is a PhD holder
Everyone expected me to at least turn 
out to be a professor
I was on track for that
It was my life ambition to win the 
Nobel Prize for literature but God had 
other plans
My mother had made a vow before I was 
born and God took that vow very seriously
The more I tried to do other things, the 
more frustrated and unproductive my life 
was
My mother didn't share my Father's 
opinion
She would always say "Do God's 
will, that is the only path that has been 
laid before you
The tithe and offering thing was a bit 
funny to me, at that time I wished my 
father was right, that I was called to 
be a pastor and that I was enabled to 
collect tithes, offerings, seed, firstfruits, 
and whatever else from people, but i 
was not!
My walk with the Holy Spirit is unique, 
he said "You must do this as I have 
sent you. 
Imitate no one, copy no one, walk with me 
and I will give you all things as your
inheritance"
That particular crusade that my dad saw 
me ministering at was not planned 
The church invited a speaker who canceled 
at the last minute
The pastor sent for me and said 
"You will be the one ministering at this 
crusade, go and prepare"
That was it
I was a worker under him (Not even a 
minister) and I couldn't argue
That was how I found myself on the 
podium 
The feedback from the crusade was 
so mighty that I was made a minister in 
the church the day after the crusade. 
Not only that, people from everywhere 
began to come for meetings where 
I was invited or named the minister
Our local parish had a youth Sunday 
that would be filled to overflow anytime 
they put my name on the flyer
My wandering soul found rest
I was a goldfish thrown from an aquarium 
into an ocean
This was my preordained path, of that 
I had no doubt
My dad made calls, several calls to those 
who could dissuade me from this path
He did it out of 
love and i understood
He felt i was throwing away my potential
He reminded me of all the letters I wrote 
to him as a teenager in which I promised 
to achieve mighty feats in his lifetime
I was a big disappointment to him at 
the time
This was 2017
Yesterday the Lord whispered to 
me while i was studying the scriptures
He said, "Do you remember how you 
got here?"
I began to cry
"Here" had many meanings but the 
most profound to me was the number 
of lives and destinies that the Holy Spirit 
has touched within that time
Strangers who are now my brothers and 
sisters in the faith
It wasn't a church but it has birthed many 
churches and ministries
It has changed the reality of thousands 
and my siblings are all walking in power 
and glory fearlessly
There had been no need that I ever slept 
on or asked to be met in prayer ever!
The stone that was not cut by hand had 
continued to grow and his reality is alive 
in me
I am one of the beneficiaries of the 
increase of His kingdom and the growth 
has been endless and glorious
Today, my father is my best fan
Whenever he calls me, he will bless me 
for hours, reminding me 
the days of yore and how in his lifetime 
I had fulfilled all the potentials he saw 
in me as a teenager
He said "One of these days you will get 
an honorary doctorate degree
I said, "I have turned down the offer of 
one already!"
He said you will soon be driving cars 
with your name on the number plate with 
sirens etc and i said "I had turned that 
down too"
Then he said "You are the first man of 
God who I truly believe knows God and 
is walking in his true power. 
Do you know that when I pray I ask God 
for grace to love and walk with Him as 
you do?"
I just kept quiet 
My father is no flatterer and I basked in 
the euphoria of that moment joyfully.
Ministry is not for the fickle or the lazy, it 
is not the easy way out for the unemployed 
and those with the gift of the garb
They may deceive a few but their light 
soon flickers out
Someone once told me that he can name 
the sponsors of the ministry I have been 
asked by the Lord to lead and I laughed 
at the person's ignorance
Today, the same person came to me 
saying "There is something you know 
that you didn't teach me and I will like 
to learn it"
No man can sponsor the gospel 
To do a work you have not been called 
to do because you saw others doing it 
will most likely lead you into frustration
The oil will not flow and the bread will 
be stale
This vineyard is the Lords, we must all 
be labourers in it and we will be rewarded 
as He so desires
Let us, therefore, work while it is yet day, 
for the night is coming when no man 
can work.
Take your eyes away from the gains and 
the affluence, young minister, the cloth 
does not the man make! 
Dig deep your wells of the living water 
and find true expression in the Holy Spirit's 
plan for your life
Be apt to teach, not the doctrine of men 
or of any church but the heart of the father
Spend time alone with him, let his love 
be the driving force of your life
You were born to produce the supernatural, 
ease into this reality by putting on Christ 
confidently
Soon, men will be testifying of your deeds 
in Christ while giving glory to God
Remember, the gospel is the seed of 
eternal life, preach it on every platform
If this is your preordained path, you will 
thrive without taking advantage of people 
as many have done to their peril. 

I love you