It
was one of those days I was home alone and recuperating. I had just been
discharged from the hospital and had been receiving visitors. A duo from work had just left and suddenly I
was bored and restless, hoping another guest will come in soon enough as it
appeared that the pain in my back subsided when I had people around.
As
I sat motionless on the floor, I could feel the pain in my back increase
steadily from a 5 to 6, 7 to 8 and then I heard a wicked laughter, a continuous
laughter, I looked around , I felt a presence but saw no one and then I heard
him say; ‘It is time! God was good enough to make you have your two kids on the
birthdays of your sisters …’ and he continued to laugh. I started to pant as I
tried to shift my bosom on the floor in other to reach for my phone. By this
time, the pain was beyond excruciating, and I was frustrated cause I couldn’t
stand to reach my phone.
For a few
seconds I processed his words as he laughed while I cried and then, all of a sudden, I
started to shout: ´You lie! I am not going anywhere! You are a liar! I reached my phone and made a call through…
Only
those that saw me in the hours that followed can explain what happened next and
next and next.
Rewind
to that conversation…hmm… I cannot pen down all of it but I can say that
indeed, the devil is one smart fella. Please take a moment to Check out his
conversation with Jesus in the book of Matthew Chapter 4 and gain some insight.
The devil often uses subject matters that will interest you. For me, it’s Family, Life and Death. Yes Death.
You see, I have never really feared to die.
Since I was a child, I had reasoned that death was better than pain. Especially
the pain from sickle cell crisis. Honestly, the height of that pain is higher
than what I felt when pushing out my two kids. I wrote out my Epitaph at 16 and
for each crisis after that, I happily imagine my tomb, my burial, my
death. All that changed when I started
to have children. It’s like there’s more reason to fight…
On
that day, the devil tried to mess with me and for a moment it appeared he had
succeeded. But by the time I snapped back (Thanks to all the amazing people
constantly praying for me) he knew he had messed with the wrong woman!
What
has the devil told you? Did it sound reasonable? Do you believe it? Have you
been thinking about it? In my case, I kept thinking about his words while on my
sick bed, I thought he might be right, I even started to vocalize my last
wishes, I called my loved ones, I wanted to
prepare them too…But somewhere along the line, I started to remember
God’s promises. Indeed, he alone knows the thoughts that he has for me,
thoughts of good and not of evil, to give me an expected end( Jeremiah 29:11)
Are
you living with a medical, occupational or judicial death sentence? Or perhaps you are just a
proactive fella who has taken the words in Ecclesiastes 7:4 to heart. Whichever
the case, life is indeed short so put your best foot forward and live your best
life today.
Be good, do good and love God for the only way to live your best
life is to please God.
I
tell you; God wants us to think of our death day more than our birthdays- See Ecclesiastes
7: 2- Do not wait till you are on a sick bed before you start thinking about
death. Not everyone has a sick bed experience, your death might just be sudden.
So, do the needful, TODAY.
As for Mr Devil, he will always come around
but just ignore him. Don’t dwell on his words. As the saying goes, you can’t
stop a bird from flying over your head but you can prevent it from nesting
there. Like a bird, shoo his thoughts away and focus on God’s word. Whether we
die today, tomorrow or in years to come, let’s be eternity minded…
Shalom!
