Solomon looked at his sister, Bami. It took a lot to convince her to relocate with him to the city where their father lives. What made it easier for her was because she had just had a very ugly break-up in her relationship hence she willingly followed him.
Their mother certainly was against it but she did not have much say over their lives anymore. They were both adults. Beyond that, she has grown to look up to Solomon who was in every way a matured man who not only feared God but was also not the type to make rash decisions.
Solomon would always tell his mother, ‘Mum, I have thought it through, I have laid it before the Lord, the Lord has refined my thoughts and this is what I am going to do.’ He remembered the day his mum told him that she gave her life to Jesus because of the relationship she saw He had with her son, Solomon.
His mum said, ‘I saw at first I was so jealous of an invisible God who had more sway over my son than I did. But that mother’s day when you came to me and told me you loved me and your main prayer everyday for me was that I should come to an experience of true joy and satisfaction here on earth.
Then you said you told Jesus about it and He assured you that He would do it, it made me wonder what exactly you meant and who this Jesus was to think He had a say over my life.
So I went to buy my Bible and the first thing I laid my eyes on was Matthew 11:28-19. At that time, I was so burdened with how to pay your fees and your sister’s. I really didn’t want you both changing your schools and I had nowhere to turn to. Since both my parents died in a car accident, life became more difficult. My father used to cater for all our needs.
My job was not paying well and we were barely surviving. I was still in so much grief. I considered accepting the marriage offer from a wealthy man but I will be his third wife. I did not want to pull you both into that mess. So the world seemed to be crumbling down on me.
Going to your father was not an option because I do not know exactly where he was and how was I to explain myself that he had two children from me?
Right there, I fell on my knees and wept harder than any other time I could remember. I told Jesus that He should take my burdens and my load and give me joy and satisfaction in return.
Solomon, it was that day I understood why you made that a constant prayer for me. The joy that filled my heart that day knew no bounds. And Jesus, I was content with His presence such that I forgot that I needed to pay your fees unfailingly the next day.
It was when you returned from school that I broke fellowship with Him. You may not remember that day but you said something to me and I think you perceived the change. You said, ‘You are a really joyful mum.’ I only laughed and did not tell you I had just met Jesus because I was a little ashamed that I did not lead you to Jesus but you found Him and led me to Him.’
The very next day, I was told that my father’s gratuity was ready for collection. That was our breakthrough and I knew that Jesus did it. God made it so. So the day he told his mother that he would be relocating to the town their father lived in, she did not hinder him.
She had eventually found out one time she came to visit her cousin, Mummy Dayo. They were in mummy Dayo’s vehicle and the radio was on to a station. A preacher was talking about not letting faith remain as a mustard seed but letting it grow into a mustard tree.
His mum said that she felt the voice was familiar but she just dismissed it until at the end of the 15 minutes programme, the pastor mentioned his name. Her heart dropped. She did not realise she was holding her breath until she started to say ‘that’s him, that’s him.’
Mummy Dayo parked by the nearest stop and Solomon’s mum shared everything with her cousin. His mum’s cousin wanted them to go look for him but she vehemently said no that she could not destroy his ministry or his marriage.
Even after his mum had returned home, mummy Dayo would keep calling just to persuade her to at least let the man know he had two grown up children but she would say no. It would disrupt his ministry, his marriage even though it was all in the past. Churches can be very strict and firm on such things…
Two years later was when he felt ready to go seek out his father and he shared with his mum and sister, the latter was indifferent until she received her heartbreak and here they were in mummy Dayo’s house. There’s still one prayer that he has been trusting God to answer, the salvation of his sister.
Yes, Bami is a very good lady, kind hearted, soft spoken and easy going but, none of that qualified for true salvation through believing in Jesus Christ. She went with Church with them but the kind of relationships she had been jumping into certainly had no Jesus hand in it.
Sometimes he feels it’s because they have missed a father figure for the most of their lives. Their grandfather died when they were age ten thereabout and their mother never married till date.
Hence, it feels like Bami is always looking for a man to look up to and he seems he does not make the cut. He had told her time and time again that Jesus was all she needed but it feels she has never really come to an understanding or spiritual awakening of that reality.
Looking at her now, almost completely asleep, she looks so much like their mother, a whole lot. His mum had told him once in passing that he took after his father in many ways even though he is not a spitting image of him, but on a closer look, there is some sort of facial resemblance.
As he turned to leave Bami to rest for the night, she called him, ‘SM, do you think it will really be okay to meet our father? Don’t you think it has already been a long while? I mean, we are already twenty-seven years old… Is it really worth it?’
At first, Solomon did not want to say anything about that matter with her that day since she needed all the rest she could get but since she brought it up, he chose to just tell her.
‘I met him today but he does not know who I am. I did not know him at first until he gave me his introductory card and I saw his name. I met him at the place I said I was going to check out. It was not coincidental. It was God orchestrated. I knew it deep within me because what are the odds?’
Bami was already seated on her bed. She looked surprised and had a mix of emotions on her face at the same time. ‘What does he look like?’ she finally asked.
‘Our big brother, actually’, Solomon said laughing but soon felt silent.
Neither spoke for a while until Solomon asked, ‘Did you get the contact of the woman who brought you home?’
‘That woman, God bless her! She was my good samaritan today. But all the pains I was going through did not allow me to interact with her or her girls very well. But she gave me their church flyer so that I can visit them when I am up for it.
She reached for her handbag by the bedstand and fished out the flyer and handed it over to Solomon. Solomon looked at it then at her in disbelief!
Still holding the flyer in his hand, he dashed to the room he was sharing with Dayo, picked up the book he had been reading that day, Ablaze for God, then he was back in Bami’s room. He handed both the flyer Vera had given Bami and the introductory card that Pastor Dave had given him to Bami to look for herself.
Bami, still wondering what had happened to her brother to have warranted such reactions from him, collected both items and it dawned on her that what was happening was no more coincidental. It seemed like someone was directing a script and they were acting in it. ‘Wait a minute Solomon, it is either that woman, Sister Vera, as she introduced herself to me, is a church member or she is related to our father.’
Retracing his memory of their brief contact, the woman definitely was graceful and reserved. And there is the possibility that she was a pastor’s wife. She had that aura and charisma.
‘Hmm, there’s only one way to find out. We go to this church as soon as you are up for it.’
Solomon wished he could take some time with his sister to seriously pray on the matter together but he knew that any prayer longer than five minutes was going to be a bore for her and she would complain. ‘I will pray about it on my own tonight’ he said to himself.
‘Let me leave you to rest.’
‘Haha, won’t we pray about it ni?’
Surprise was written all over his face. ‘You are willing to pray with me about this?’
Bami shrugged her shoulder and stretched her hands over for his. ‘Just don’t start a revival, SM’ she warned.
Letting out a laugh, Solomon took her hand and he prayed with short precise words. ‘Father, we need Your guidance on how to go about this whole issue. We want to meet our father formally, and also not create havoc in his life, ministry, and family. Please guide us that in all, your name may be glorified, in Jesus name, Amen.’
‘Amen!’ Goodnight SM, please switch off the light on your way out.
And so he did…
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Wheeeeew!
How do you show to those who are dear to you that the Father in heaven is worth more than many fathers here on earth?
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Checkmate Episode 31
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