When Man Slept

We were at the Church's Day out 
when the symptoms hit me for the 
first time
The church organized a games, fun, 
and mingling event at CMD complex
I was there in official capacity with 
my boss (I was his Personal Assistant)
It was supposed to be a very good day
One of those days you look forward 
to
I had promised my wife and children 
that I would come home to pick them 
once we settle down at the event
As the PA to the pastor of the church, 
I had a duty to be at the venue and 
be part of the "setting up activities
We had food vendors, canopy, chairs, 
and tables suppliers children 
entertainment providers setting up
bouncing castles, trains, and so on 
Mobile toilet suppliers, and church
volunteers to instruct and work with 
in order to make the event a success
I left home very early for the venue
People started arriving at about 
10 am that morning
By 11 am, the event was in full swing
It was a glorious event
I had planned to play scrabbles 
(I was a two-time gold medalist at 
the Nigeria Private University Games) 
and chess
Suddenly I felt this searing pain in 
my belly
It came with chills in my bone and 
a general weakness all over
I felt seriously pressed so I ran into 
one of the mobile toilets
I took off my jeans and there was 
blood all over
My Jeans had been soaking in a lot 
of blood seeping out of my body
I put the toilet roll to work immediately 
so that i could at least feel comfortable
My wife's HMO covered the entire family
I had my HMO card in my wallet 
I told my boss's driver that I was sick
I drove myself down to the hospital and 
got myself admitted immediately
By this time, my stomach was on fire
A slow-burning, crippling, and chilling 
pain that rises to climax every five 
minutes and then drops a little before
repeating the cycle again
The doctor had no idea what it was
She asked me how the pain started
I tried my best to explain
She said it must be an ulcer
I said No
I was sure it wasn't an ulcer, I can't 
even say why I was so sure
She later said she was suspecting 
appendicitis because the pain
was coming from the right side of
the belly button
At another point she said it must be 
a disorder, an allergy, an immune 
system issue
It was a whole bag of guesses and 
uncertainty
I had called my wife and told her 
where I was
She arrived with a lot of energy
(If you have my wife by your side in 
the time of trouble, you need not 
fight again. She is an absolute 
asset)
She started asking questions
Why has he not been given anything 
for the pain?
I want to talk to the most superior 
person here
After about fifteen minutes with my 
wife, the doctor brought an injection
The syringe was full of a substance 
like Mist Mag
It was shot into my veins and another 
pack was given to me
I was discharged with "Once you 
sleep it will calm down"
It didn't
I drank the Mist Mag religiously, 
hoping somehow that the more of it 
I drank, the better I would feel
Well, it didn't work
On Wednesday (four days after I got ill) 
the stomach pain stopped
I was elated
Finally, I was normal again
I felt pressed and went to the toilet
I found myself pushing out blood
Hmmm
I went back to the hospital
I was sent off to a specialist hospital 
to do a colonoscopy test
The test was done on Friday
I was told I had holes in my intestine
I was told there were five holes
I was told I needed surgery for the 
holes to be plugged or I would die 
within a short time
(They told me six months)
My options were to get the surgery 
done in Nigeria for about 3 million 
Naira or to travel to India and get 
it done for a cost of 13 million Naira
(Those were the conservative estimates)
I didn't have 30,000 Naira in my account
Ideas started coming up from all over
Appeal to friends and family
Use my wife's TV personality status
as a platform to solicit for funds and
 get some public emotional appeal
Write to the church I was working with
(It is a rich church and they will  most 
likely give me some support)
Crowdfunding or corporate begging
It was a problem well beyond my
human ability and I had to gridgingly
conclude that I needed God's help
It was funny how i was willing to 
depend on doctors when I thought 
the illness was minor and how 
quickly I decided I had to depend 
on God when I realized the sickness 
was major
It was unreal, almost pathetic
Moving from "I can do this by myself" 
to " God, please do this for me"
It made me feel like one of those 
who were serving a god of the gaps!
A god who is useful only when they 
get to problems or questions that 
they cannot provide solutions or 
answers to for themselves
So they fill that gap with god
because they dont have a better
answer
That was not the faith I was born 
into by the Holy Spirit in 2007
I knew who I have believed
I knew the power that was at work 
in me
I had seen crazy miracles happening 
all around me and through me since 
I was 27
This was happening to me when I was 
36
Life had somehow happened in between
I had settled down into marriage and
providing for my family the natural way
I had put God and my supernatural
abilities aside
I had faced reality
Though i was still attending church
it had become more of a formality
I wasn't even ministering again
I was doing administrative work and
i was getting paid for it
I tell myself i was working for God
but i was actually working for Naira
I had practically lost my way
My faith had gone belly up
My confession was weak and weary
I was on the Christianity autopilot
Keeping up appearances and all
I couldn't even to stop the pity party
the sickness dragged me into
I know i needed help but it was not 
help to raise funds
Even if I was really going to die, it 
is a pathetic thing to die like a 
faithless dog
I should make my exit with boldness, 
with my head raised high and my 
voice booming and echoing of life 
and the reality the Holy Spirit at work 
in me
I will not die with my head drooping 
like a mango fruit hanging from a tree
I am strong and bold and able
My spirit is not sick and my soul is 
not weary
I am confident that God is able to 
rescue my body from the hole it had 
dug itself into but even if God didn't, 
I am still not godless!
My status in Christ remains unchanged, 
my reality is unsullied, I am full of 
eternal life and I cannot be broken by 
some holes in my intestine
I stirred up my spirit so much that my 
entire body began to tingle with the
pulsating power of the Holy Spirit
The doctor had advised that I must 
be eating a lot of beans and vegetables
In fact, she ordered it
No sugar and no carbohydrate of any kind
She said the beans have enough 
carbohydrate to help me in that season
I had to stop wearing a waist belt
It was hell tightening one
I had to settle for suspenders
I disliked beans naturally but I learned 
to love it
Ewa Iganyin, (a special beans delicacy) 
became my favourite meal
I refused to carry the weight of the 
sickness in my spirit
I was playful, jovial, happy, enthusiastic 
and joyful
The only challenge I had was sitting for 
a long time, driving for a long time, not 
eating on time, and occasional pain 
that would hit me from the core of 
my being and leave me doubling over 
in pain
What's that compared to the joy of 
the Lord that is bubbling through my 
spirit every day
I cried but only in my flesh
The pain was actually excruciating
Most times I talk orlaugh at myself
I will say "Gbenga, you're stronger 
than this, stop being such a 
namby-pamby"
I was determined that if I was going 
to go out, I will not go out like a wimp
I have every right to determine the 
course of my life and how my story 
ends
I refuse to be remembered as a broken
and weary soul
I have the life of God in me
Sickness will not rob me of my dignity
Every night, I will read the scriptures 
out loud, pray in tongues for one hour 
(Sometimes i will be so stirred that I 
won't be able to sit)
I will be pacing and roaring 
(Not making noise outwardly and 
disturbing everybody) but 
making a lot of hullabaloo in my spirit
A stirred spirit is a joyful habitation
I'd find myself waking up sometimes 
in the middle of the night only to 
discover I had slept off on the chair
 or in my sitting room while 
fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit
I didn't beg for my healing 
I was not afraid of death
I have never been afraid of anything or 
anyone since I gave my life to Christ
It was the pain I hated
I didn't like being uncomfortable, so I 
was fine as long as I was not feeling 
the discomfort
My spirit was ebullient too, contagiously so
I started ministering to the sick and weary in 
the weekly fellowship of a teens church
close to my office
The intensity of my fellowship with the 
Holy Spirit left me with so much energy 
and light that I cannot keep all to myself
I changed churches too
The church where I was a PA was not
 allowing me the room to fulfill my 
ministry
I started attending another church where 
I was allowed to teach Sunday School 
and minister on weekdays
One day, while I was preparing to minister 
on a Tuesday
(I was in my office, preparing for the 
service)
I came across this verse of the scripture
1 John 4:4 
It says "Little Children, you are from God
and has overcome them, for He who is
in you is greater than he who is in the
world"
I personalized it and started saying it
over and over 
"I am from God and I have
overcome for greater is He that is 
in me, than He that is in the world"
I began to apply it to my teaching, 
trying to make my hearers see that 
whatever challenge they are facing 
at that moment was nothing!
And it struck me
Greater is He that is in me!
Greater is the One in my Spirit!
Greater is the Word of God in my 
bones!
Greater is the one in my flesh
Greater is the one in my intestines
Greater is the one who I hail from
Greater is the eternal life that I 
received when I gave my life to Jesus
Greater is the Holy Spirit that came 
upon me than the Human Spirit I 
received from my parents
The Greater one lives in me
Hallelujah!"
I was so stirred by this reality
I got to church and set the whole 
atmosphere on fire
We prayed in tongues and declared 
Him to be greater
Something happened in that service 
that day
Two ladies who had been waiting on 
the Lord for the fruit of the womb 
got pregnant a few days later
I wasn't sure if that was the day I 
was healed but I was healed! 
A few Saturdays later, I was going 
to church for Sunday School preview 
when my wife shouted "Honey, why 
are you wearing a belt?
Wow. 
I had worn the same jeans I wore to 
work the previous day
I had worn a belt instinctively the 
previous day without feeling any 
pain 
I was wearing a belt again that afternoon
It was well tightened and I felt no pain 
or discomfort
That was how the whole sickness saga 
ended
I never went back to the hospital to 
confirm anything
The blood thing and pain thing stopped
The beans thing ended
I was healed
I have been healthy for over five years
Greater is He that is in me"
Hallelujah 

PS: I learned to live from my Spirit
from that period
I do not live from the flesh or from 
the Human Spirit
I live from the Holy Spirit
I dwell in Him and my entire being
is made alive by Him
I did not make the mistake of
allowing life to happen to me
again
The Holy Spirit is the one who sets
the agenda of my life
He orders my step and my life is
wholly lived in Him
Hallelujah