Shake it off

He went into the theatre at about 10 AM
He was a surgeon and had many cases
to deal with that day!
He left his wife and five-year-old daughter
at home
His wife was a doctor too
They were living in the Community Health
quarters
He had always wanted to be a doctor
He had a heart for the welfare of others
and a passion to see health restored
to failing bodies and fragile souls!
Immediately he walked into the 
theatre, he switched off his phone
That was the standard
The Staff quarters they were living
in was built in twos 
Flats separated only by a wall of 
demarcation
It was built as a low-cost housing solution
for the doctors resident in the hospital
The rent was deducted from their salaries
As far as he was concerned it was
just another day under the heaven
His wife was frying some fish
in the kitchen when she heard the patter
of footsteps behind her house
The time was about 6:30 pm
She wondered why there was a sudden
traffic behind her apartment
She wanted to ignore it but out
of curiosity, she opened the back door
She saw the fire!
Her neighbour's house was on fire
She remembered immediately that
she saw a vision of the dawn about
a week before that day!
In that vision, she saw herself and her
daughter running out of a building!
She also remembered that she had
a strong premonition that something 
ill was about to happen in her family
She had prayed and fasted!
She took communion that very morning
What was she seeing?
The fire hadn't gotten to their own
apartment 
But the fire was blazing and the 
smoke was spreading
She took her daughter by hand and
ran out of the house
When they got to a safe distance
She called their neighbour and told
him about the fire
The neighbour said she should go
into their flat and bring out any
important property!
What!
She considered it and told herself
it was not worth the risk
There was a gas cylinder just outside
her neighbour's kitchen
What if it exploded
What about smoke inhalation?
It would be unwise to leave safety
for peril because of properties that
could easily be replaced over time!
She told her neighbour that as far as
she was concerned the most important
property was her life and her daughter's 
life
One of the young men in their 
neighbourhood asked her where the 
car key was
The fire was still limited to her neighbour's
house
She ran into her flat and took the car keys
They moved the car away from the house
As soon as the car was safely parked
away from the house
Someone asked her where their credentials
were!
She told him they were in a box in their
room in the apartment
By this time the fire had crept into their 
own apartment
Somehow they were able to rush into
the apartment and grab the box containing
the credentials
She also picked her laptop and phone
from the dining table
Once she got safely away from the house
Her daughter remembered the fish she
was frying and asked her if she could
go in once more and get the fish and her 
slippers!
She told her daughter not to worry
There is plenty of fish in the market
They would also buy new slippers and 
clothes
The fire took over
She and her daughter drove to a friend's
house
She called her husband
His phone was switched off
She sent him a message
She knew if someone else broke the
news to him or if he sees it on the social
media, it could destabilize him
He needed to know they were safe!
Just as she was frantically trying to
get across to him through some other
colleagues of his
Someone posted the picture of the
house on their "Doctors WhatsaApp group"
with the caption " The House of Dr so and so 
in Community Health's House got burnt! #
Nothing was brought out of it!"
Someone saw it and showed it to her
husband
He called her immediately!
Once he was sure she and their daughter
were safe
He gave glory to God
People came around to commiserate with
them
Some sent them money
When they sat down to estimate how
people rallied around them and how
much people raised for them
They were shocked!
It was almost three million Naira!
They were not abandoned!
She came out of that house with
only the clothes on her back
Her daughter didn't even have her 
slippers on
Her husband had only his shirt
and trousers
But those were temporal things
Within two years they had been fully
restored!
The fire did the worst it could
But it was only a temporary setback
They started building again from 
ground zero
If they didnt tell anybody today that
they went through such an ordeal
Nobody would ever know!
There are days of adversity
Days that started so well and ended in 
an unexpected manner
They shouldn't affect the peace of 
believer
They shouldn't shake the faith
of a believer
They shouldn't keep a believer down
Such a day does not mean God has left
you
Or you committed a terrible sin and
God is punishing you
Stop saying "I must have done something
wrong, I am checking myself! 
I am checking myself! 
The gift of salvation does not require
your performance!
The way you handle adversity will either
prove you to be from beneath or from 
above!
After surviving a shipwreck, Apostle
Paul found himself and the other prisoners
ashore in Malta

(Acts 28 
Paul Ashore on Malta
28 Once safely on shore, we found out 
that the island was called Malta. 
2 The islanders showed us unusual 
kindness. They built a fire and welcomed 
us all because it was raining and cold. 
3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, 
as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven 
out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 
4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging 
from his hand, they said to each other, 
“This man must be a murderer; 
for though he escaped from the sea,
 the goddess Justice has not allowed 
him to live.” 5 
But Paul shook the snake off into the 
fire and suffered no ill effects. 
6 The people expected him to swell up 
or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting 
a long time and seeing nothing unusual 
happen to him, they changed their 
minds and said he was a god.)

Can you see how apostle Paul handled
adveristy?
He just shook off the beast into the fire
He didn't dwell on it or lose his stride
If it is any of the believers in today's
superstition attacked churches!
They will say it was witches from his father's
house, it was the Jews who wanted to kill him,
It must be the work of BarJesus, the 
sorcerer Apostle Paul once had a faceoff with
or it must be that he had committed a sin
or God had left him!
God can never leave a believer
He dwells in us through the Holy Spirit
When it seems as if you were having a
bad day
Shake off that beast
Chin up, raise your head high
You are a member of the assembly
of the saints in light!
Your life is eternal in Christ!
Hallelujah
This even happened in Sokoto State,
Nigeria in 2017