Checkmate Episode 1 (By Adeyoola Ojemola)

Daniella couldn’t believe her ears. ‘Joshua, what are you saying?’ She asked. No, he had to be joking. What an atrocious statement! She couldn’t believe such a thing could ever come into her ears. No, not from Joshua! 

If Joshua had come to her saying the Lord told him to resign from his job and move their family to some remote village, she would have definitely had no problem with it. Afterall, they both knew the Lord and wanted to live for Him and do His will. However, Daniella seriously doubted that the Lord would have told him that. She pulled herself together , brimming with a type of anger she had never felt before, yet, willing to let him repeat what he had said so she could be sure she had heard him right. ‘Joshua, what did you say?’ She asked again, looking at him unblinking. 

Joshua had had the Lord lay this upon his heart for over two months and at first, he had pretended it wasn’t the Lord who was speaking to him. But he could not pretend for too long that the voice of God had reached him in an undeniable way and He had confirmed His will on three separate occasions. 

One time was the Church Pastor, the second time, the bus conductor and the third time, his very wife standing before him! These past three months had driven him crazy! He had been present in body and absent in mind so much that his boss asked if he needed a week off work. He had sought the Lord since the beginning of the week, fasting, praying, studying that this cup would pass over his family. But the Lord had seemed so quiet and Joshua knew why- The Lord had spoken four times already!

Even King David said the Lord spoke to Him once and he heard it twice. But graciously, his Father in heaven had spoken to him four times. He knew any attempt to ignore would translate to rebellion even though his delayed obedience in itself was sin. Why add sin to sin? He loved the Lord too much to do that. 

‘Lord, is there no other way out?’ He had wailed from the depths of his insides to the Lord. . So, he knew that whatever he would have to say would meet with some form of resistance from Daniella.

‘Joshua, what did you say?’ Her voice came again, drawing him back to reality. ‘Daniella, I did not say it, God did and we have to start on it soonest because we are short on time. You are almost due.’ Joshua said. Daniella screamed as though she had been sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray. 

‘So, you actually said so! How would God say that? Will my loving Father do this to me? To us? this baby, my baby is due in seven weeks, less than two months and you said God says we should give her away? To whom? For what? Is she money, clothing, or some material thing to give away?’ She screamed again, running out of their bedroom.

Joshua heard the main entrance door slam shut very hard and knew she had gone out. If only Daniella knew how much of his inner peace has been consumed in the last two months . 

It all started with her. She had come home with the sonogram for their daughter, their first child. They weren’t exactly a new couple. They were almost three years into their marriage but they had decided to wait for two years before having a baby and praying about it, they believed God gave His consent. They didn’t even try to work it their own way by using contraceptives and somehow, it all worked out. The baby was conceived just about two months before their second wedding anniversary- unexpected- but they knew it was time. 

They had started immediately to prepare for her coming. They were even more thrilled to know it was a little princess their Father had sent to them. They lived many kilometers from family who could have helped to make the period easier but they had been coping just fine by themselves especially in the first trimester. Daniella could barely go a moment without having to spew out the spittle that gathered in her mouth almost as soon as she spewed out the former- plus she couldn’t retain any food in her tummy. Almost as soon as the food landed, they would be forced out immediately.

She grew leaner, almost anemic every day and prayed any time she was able to catch her breath that the whole rigour would end- and soon. Thankfully, the second trimester came and with it came some ease. She grew rounder each month and her husband simply loved every bit of her transformation.  

The fateful day she had come home with the sonogram, they were both excited. They had both knelt to thank God for the healthy growth of the baby. Later that night during his time alone with God, he held the sonogram and was praising God and blessing the child. Then He heard God say, ‘She is not yours to keep’.

A chill went down his spine. His first thought was: ‘Is some evil going to befall Little-P?’ as he fondly referred to her. He was about to bind and cast all the ‘cast-ables’ and ‘bind-ables’ when he heard God say it again, exactly as the first. Then he pretended that was not God and considered it a pigment of his imagination. He became silent and God didn’t say anything any further.  

The following Sunday, the pastor preached from the story of Hannah and he kept repeating that ‘Samuel wasn’t Hannah’s to keep’. He started going crazy on that Sunday. In fact, he still prayed to God but he made sure never prayed to talk to him about Little-P anymore. 

Some two weeks later, he had to go to work via public transport as Daniella had to use the car for some errands. The bus conductor was so chatty with him as though they had been long lost friends. The bus conductor then began to share unsolicited information about his neighbor’s boss who had just adopted a baby.

The boss of the bus conductor’s neighbor had been waiting for the fruit of the womb for twenty years and they had suddenly received a call that a baby was up for adoption. That was how they got a baby girl amazingly. At the mention of the baby girl, a sudden distance sprouted up from nowhere between Joshua and the bus conductor that he had to alight before he got to his main bus stop. 

The third confirmation came through Daniella herself and that day,he lost it completely. Daniella was sharing with him from her time with God that day. She had studied the crucifixion story of Jesus in the Gospel of John where the Lord Jesus handed Mary, His mother to John Zebedee . She shared that the Lord made her see that though Mary was Jesus’ mother, she still didn’t own Him. So, when it was time to give Him up, she just had to. ‘Jesus was not Mary’s to keep’ She had emphatically shared with her dumbfounded husband She then said she prayed that God would help her to be a giver like Jesus was and to be willing to let go when He needs what He had entrusted into her care. If only she knew what she had prayed for!

‘Oh my! Oh my!’ Joshua mourned, wondering what situation he had, or maybe erm…God…erm… had got him into.

He stood up, his head aching so badly as he started walking towards the door to go look for his wife. As weird as it was, they both had an unfinished business with the Lord!

Wheew!

Can you imagine being in Daniella’s position? What would you do? Let’s discuss in the comments! And don’t forget—Episode 2 is on the way. You can try the link below to see if it has dropped.

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Checkmate Episode 2