The 'Drunk' Prayer Warrior.

Welcome back! Let's start today's story with a question. Have you ever needed something from God so bad that whenever you pray with all fervidness (I just learnt this word hehehe) some people begin to wonder if you're drunk or mad?! Bible students probably know where I'm headed! We've all had such moments. Today we are travelling to the Hill country of Ephraim to talk about another love triangle. I promise you I'm not only about love triangles.

Yeah... That's one dashing young'ish man called Elkanah! He had two wives, Penninah and Hannah. Back in the day, it was culturally acceptable to marry more than one wife, but Jesus came and the rest is history. For those of you who wish you were born in that era, better luck next time. So, Elkanah had children but with his older wife Penninah. Hannah was barren, yet Elkanah loved her so much. He made sure she knew the measure of love he had for her. Those who frustrate their wives for not having kids after marriage, come and learn work from Elkanah my man! God is the giver of children, not man!

Yearly, Elkanah and his family went up to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty. Whenever it was time for the sacrifice, Elkanah would give one portion to Penninah and all her children, but to Hannah he would give double portion because he loved her and the Lord had closed her womb. "Chop meat and have peace of mind my darling wife. Pikin go come in due time. Eat suya!"

Let me quickly introduce you to the priest in the Holy Place at the time. His name was Eli and he had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. They were the 'Indaboskis' of the Hill country of Ephraim at the time. As priests, they did the exact opposite of what God asked them to do, yet Eli their Dad could not do anything to stop them. Was Eli a bad parent? Discussion for another day.

Back to Elkanah and his two wives Penninah and Hannah. Peninnah had children of her own and Hannah didn't. Every year, and days in-between, Penninah made it  point of duty to mock and torment Hannah because of her state of childlessness. Hannah would weep bitterly and fast involuntarily because she was too emotionally drained to eat Elkanah's Suya amongst other things. Poor Hannah.

Every time she wept, Elkanah was there to console her. See eh, some men will see you cry and just 'face front' and allow you deal with it on your own. Elkanah was very sensitive to Hannah's emotional needs at the time. " Babe, see calm down. Why are you wasting your tears? See the hot Suya I made for you, yet you are refusing to eat. Your heart is as heavy as a bag of Dangote cement and probably heavier. The Love I have for you should be enough now? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" I believe Hannah gave him an intense stare because that marked the end of the Q & A session between them. Anyway, it so happened that Hannah managed to eat a little before going to pray to God about her situation.

As Hannah was praying to God, Eli the priest was standing not too afar off. She was praying and weeping bitterly, asking God to take away her shame and bless her with the fruit of the womb. "Remember me oh  Lord," she wailed as she prayed to God. "Take this bitterness away from me! Please give me a son, and I will give him back to you to serve you all the days of his life. No razor will ever be used on his head!" The child would definitely have dreadlocks aka Dada. As Hannah prayed fervently, her lips began to move but her voice was not being heard. At that point Eli the priest concluded that she was drunk. Later you people will say only women jump into conclusion!

This is by the way...Moving on!

Eli after jumping into the ocean of conclusion decided to talk to Hannah about her state of 'drunkenness'. "How long are you going to stay drunk? E don do. Put your ogogoro away." Hannah quickly cleared his doubt as she saved him from drowning in the ocean of conclusion. "Oh no Sir. Far from it oh. I am not drunk. In fact, I have not had any wine or beer. I am a woman who is deeply troubled and I was just pouring out my heart to God. Please, I am not a child of the world sir. I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief."

Eli, recovering from his few moments in the 'ocean', said to Hannah "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him". Maybe what he truly wanted to say was "thank you so much my daughter for saving me from drowning in the ocean of conclusion. You are truly my personal super hero". This is actually a lesson for all of us. Hannah replied and said "may your servant find favor in your eyes." So, she went away, had something to eat and then her heart was no longer as heavy as a bag of Dangote cement. 

Early the next morning, Elkanah and his entire family rose, worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home in Ramah. As soon as they got home, Elkanah could not resist the urge to sow a seed in the life of his wife Hannah. As the seed was sown, God remembered Hannah and it began to germinate. For those finding it hard to decode what I'm trying to say, Hannah got pregnant after meeting with her husband Elkannah. (Let's keep it clean for the sake of my little underage fans shall we? 😂 ) Hannah had a son for Elkanah and she named him Samuel which means 'because I asked the Lord for him.' In the turn of a new year, as Elkanah was preparing to bundle his family to Shiloh again,as was the family tradition, Hannah didn't go with him. She said "after the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always". Hannah remembered the promise she made to God and she was planning to keep it.

Let's digress a little bit. For those of us who attended ABU Zaria, we know where this place is. Dreams are fulfilled or shattered in this same building. You see, this paragraph is about me. I wasn't really a church goer in the University. I can count the number of times I went to the ECWA Good news church in Samaru. All the times I managed to go to church was when I was informed that results of a previous examination would be released within the week. I would go to church, pray and make promises to God about becoming a regular church goer if and only if I had a 2.1 with no carry over. I also promised to stand in church to testify about His goodness upon my life. Just because I didn't want my dreams to be shattered in the Senate Building. Every time, God answered me. No carry over, healthy 2.1 even smelling first class at some point, but as quick as the promises were made, they were broken even faster. Till I graduated, I didn't change. Don't be like me. I love being in God's presence now. It is always  a refreshing moment and I am learning not to make promises I cant keep.

As soon as Hannah weaned Samuel, she kept her promise to God and took him back to Eli  the priest where he would live and serve God till his dying day. What a sacrifice! Remember Eli had two irresponsible sons. How sure was Hannah that Samuel wouldn't turn out the same? Once the hand of God is upon a person, nothing or no one can derail such a person from fulfilling purpose. That was Samuel. When Hannah took him before Eli the Priest, she said "pardon me my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord". Simply put, "I was the woman who saved you from drowning in the ocean of conclusion not too long ago". (Me and my thoughts). Hannah continued, "I prayed for this child and the Lord granted me what I asked of Him. So now, I give him to the Lord. For his whole life, he will be given over to the Lord."

Elkanah and his family went back to Ramah, but the boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli the Priest.

#The End

Food for Thought:

-How often to you stay in the place of prayer? Do you only remember God when you need something? Don't be like the old me.

-How supportive are you to family and friends when they go through trying times? Do you try to make them think less about their issues by comforting them just like Elkanah?

-How about jumping into conclusions? Do you judge others based on what you see without knowing the facts about the situation at hand? Don't always jump into the ocean of conclusion like Eli.

-Do you mock people who don't have what you have just as Penninah mocked Hannah?

-Have you made a promise to God that you are yet to keep? How "big" is that promise? Is it as big as Hannah's?  She kept her promise of giving her child away to serve God. You can keep yours too.


Disclaimer: All photographs used in this article DO NOT belong to the writer. All culled from google images.

Bible Reference: 1 Samuel Chapter 1.

Rain, Rain Go Away 2

After God broke the news about the method of death to Noah, He made a pact to protect Noah and His family from imminent doom. "Just kuku carry your family members and enter the ark. You will sha have room mates. A pair of every animal, clean and unclean will have to share the ark with you". God explained that after the death of everyone and everything, life will start afresh! Hollup though, I thought God said He would destroy the entire earth and everything in it including the animals?! See how merciful our heavenly Daddy is right? Don't you just love Him?

To Noah's amazement, he didn't have to switch to hunter mode to find these animals. They came to him to be preserved. Who led them to the ark? How did they know there was impending doom and they needed a safe haven? Two by Two, Clean and Unclean, all these animals marched straight into the ark with a sense of entitlement (Eyes rolling to the east). It all made sense to Noah why God asked him to make the ark ginormous. To make room for the animal Nephilim version like the Hippo, Elephant, Bull, Rhino, you name it. Some of us will see ordinary snake, just one and we'll pick race with our heels touching the back of our head. Shame! Noah had to deal with the good, bad and ugly animals and here you are, running away from snake! Shame! Racheal Shame! Yeah, I'm describing my reaction! Moving on!

 So, God asked Noah, "My guy, shebi your 600th birthday is in seven days?" Noah responded in the affirmative and God said the flood waters would start to fall on his 600th birthday. As such, he should ensure that his family members stay in the ark with the animals for safety. God also reminded him to take enough food for the human and animal occupants of the ark, before Mr Elephant will go in looking like Mr Elephant and come out looking like Mr Giraffe. Slim with long neck! Not good!

Before his 600th birthday, Noah probably tried to warn the Nephilim and regular human 'black hearted' community to change their ways and come into the ark with him to save themselves from death. They mocked him, laughed at him and probably called him a moving mad man building a useless big kom-kom (container) for his fellow mad children and himself. They called his bluff and  didn't listen.

It so happened that the D-Day came! The sky thickened as the dark clouds gathered. Noah, nicely tucked in with his human and animal ark mates, waited patiently for the rains to start falling. On February Seventeenth, 'something something' BC, when Noah turned 600, the rains started. In fact, God opened all the chambers of water underground and above ground to flood the earth mercilessly so that no black heart would make it out alive.

The flood was so intense because the rains fell for forty days and forty nights. One Whole month plus a few more days on top! The extermination was legit. God had to wipe out every evil from the face of the earth. In fact the water level kept on increasing and lifting the ark high above mountains. Remember, that ark heavy gan gan! Yet it was going up! God really mean  am o. No wonder He said He honors His word more than His name. He talk say He go wipe out, and He wipe out true true.

God was so into the wiping out that He forgot our 600 year old grandpa and his travel companions floating on water. "Ehen! No more black heart again! Kimon! Ewo, I forgot my people inside ark oh!" What I'm trying to say is, God remembered Noah and all his travel buddies so the rains stopped. It's safe to say that the rains stopped on the Twenty Ninth day of March, 'something something' BC. God released the wind to blow over the waters, and the waters gradually receded. But there was a longer wait ahead of them.

Noah and his travel buddies were stuck in the ark and couldn't see any form of dry land. They were still surrounded by water. In fact, it was on the First Day of October, 'something something' BC (Nigeria's Independence Day dey for Bible! Aren't we a special bunch?) that they could see the top of some mountains around them. You think you are tired of staying at home because of Corona Virus? Ask Noah how market and then wait for his response!

After another forty days from First October, on the Tenth of November, Noah sent out a Raven to go and see how far the water had receded. But I imagine the Raven saying "Na me dey see freedom like this? This man think say I go wan come back this lock down ark? No way! Au revoir ma cherie!" And the Raven flew away, Never to be seen again! No wonder Ravens are black! Moving on!

Seeing that the Raven was not a loyalist, Noah sent out a Dove to see if the water had receded below the ground. This dove on the other hand was different. "Oga Noah don try for us. I will come back with whatever I find". So as the dove flew above the waters, it didn't see any dry land to perch on. Did it return? We'll find out in the next paragraph!

Aha! The dove was a loyalist. It returned, but with bad news. No visible dry land just yet. Then, Noah reached out his arm so the dove could perch on it. "Well done my boy! You came back". They went back into the ark. Noah waited for another seven days, and then he sent the dove back out to check. This time however, it came back bearing good news!

The dove came back to Noah in the evening of the same day it was sent out with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak. That was when Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. But did he rush out of the ark? No.

Noah waited another seven days and then he sent the dove out one more time! This time though the dove probably said, "Oga, I don try for you! This time na goodbye o. Eez like I wont be coming back this way again! Forward ever, backward neverrrrrrrrrrrrrr"... And so it happened, that the most loyal dove you'll ever hear about flew away into the sunlight, never to be seen again! But, did Noah and his travel buddies leave the ark? Was it finally time to get out of this ginormous box?! No!

So, Freedom finally came! On New year's Day, First January, 'something something' BC almost a full year later, God asked Noah, his wife Naamah  and everyone else in the ark to come back out into the earth. He also instructed that they be fruitful and multiply in order to fill up all the vacancies created by the extermination of all those black hearts. I've wondered though, was there a smell of decaying flesh in the air or did God take care of that while they were in the ark? I believe He took care of it. Anyway, they all came out of the ark rejoicing I presume. Then on the Twenty Seventh day of February that same year, the earth was completely dry! How wonderful it must have felt!

It didn't end there though. Noah built an alter and sacrificed some of the clean animals that had started multiplying in the ark during their year of isolation. The Lord smelled the aroma! It must have been really good because after perceiving the aroma, God made a promise immediately and sealed the promise with a sign. He didn't even have to eat what Noah had sacrificed. The way to God's heart though, is it through His stomach? I doubt it! Make Him happy by willingly giving Him ALL of you and you'll have His heart.

So, God set a rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant He made with Noah and all living creatures. "Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And that was how the rain finally went away. Each time you see a rainbow, be reminded about God's covenant with mankind. He can still destroy mankind with something else if we don't set our lives straight! We all need to be guided. Change that heart from jet black to crimson fluffy red!

#The End!

Food for thought:

-Has anyone ever warned you about the consequences of your actions and you refused to listen? How did you feel when the consequences of these actions finally caught up with you?

- How are you feeling during this lock down period? Has Noah's situation encouraged you?

- Do you think you can be as patient as Noah? Or do you relate more with the disloyal raven?

-When God does something for you, what kind of gratitude do you give Him in return? Does it move Him to make a pact with you or release blessings upon you?

- How are you living your life? What color is your heart? Will it motivate God to save mankind or destroy all of humanity?

Thanks once again for following this story through! Stay safe, wash your hands, be responsible and Pray!

Love, Racheal.
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Disclaimer: 
All Photos used in this article DO NOT  belong to the writer. All culled from Google images! 

Rain, Rain Go Away (Just Because It's Rainy Season)

When God created man, everything was perfect until the snake came and the apple was eaten, and then Adam and Eve realized they were naked (oops) before God kicked them out of His perfect garden. That was after He cursed them and the curse still affects us today (sigh). Thank you Adam and Eve. Clap for yourselves. Anyway, I'll tell this story another day.

You see, after Adam and Eve got kicked out of the perfect garden because of the sin of disobedience, they began to multiply. I mean, they started having babies and the bed space had to keep increasing. Well, technically God's plan was for man to multiply, and multiply they sure did! As they grew in number, so did the towns and villages. One of the many "fruits" that came out from this multiplication was a gentleman called Noah!

Noah was a righteous man. In fact everyone else was so terrible in character and behavior at the time but Noah stood out. He was a friend of God too. 

                                             

I don't know why but Noah didn't start having children until he was Five Hundred years old. I mean, if I don't close my mouth right now, I'll probably choke on a mosquito. Five Hundred years was a long time. Noah and his gorgeous wife Naamah gave birth to three studs I imagine; Shem, Ham and Japhet. 

This is where it gets a little crazy to imagine. During Noah's time, angels were allowed to come down to planet earth and pick pretty chicks that they liked. Nine months later, something beautiful in form of a baby or babies, (that is if the Angel had it in him to make twins or more.They are supernatural after all) materialize from the union. These babies were called Nephilims because they were offsprings from the Sons of God and Daughters of Men. They were said to be Huge physically. Maybe I could be a Nephilim. How Fantastic! 

I'm busy standing beside the point. This story is not about Nephilims. Pardon me. I just felt the need to create a jaw dropping background to this story. Let's get right into it. 

You see, during my days as a Nephilim... Well, technically even my ancestors from fifty generations ago or more weren't born so scratch that. In the days of Noah, while Nephilims were still in existence, there was a lot of evil and decay in the land. Fighting, Killing, Stealing, Immorality, all sorts. Every heart beating at the time was beating a drum of evil. Pushing people to think up the next mayhem to cause. It is safe to say that every heart beating in those days was black as tar, except Noah's. It was still red, pumping normal blood and nursing righteous thoughts. 

The colorful and comfortable display of wickedness by mankind deeply troubled God. "Just look at. No be me create una? I will wipe all of you from the face of the earth. Even all these animals, I go kill all of una troway. I regret ever creating you"! God was truly angry at mankind. I never want to push God to this type of limit. Ever! Now, even in God's anger with the number of 'black hearts' spread across the planet, He spotted Noah's beautiful red beating heart, and Noah found favor with God. "See fine heart abeg, I'll keep this one"!

So, God came down to have a chat with Noah. They were such good friends that God could tell him anything. "I'm going to destroy the world and everything in it oh my guy". God explained to Noah that the black black hearts everywhere was so upsetting to see. Taking them out and the entire earth itself would make Him feel better. 

Noah, deeply troubled by this revelation didn't know what to say, so God asked him to make a VERY LARGE ark out of cypress wood. Noah was just ONE man, where would all the strength to make this ginormous ark come from? He was over 500 years old. Ask your 90 year old grandpa to carry four logs of bamboo at once. A thousand ways to die... I keep thinking out loud (facepalm).

It so happened that Noah and His family members started building the ark. Now, Noah Knew why he was building it, to exterminate all the black hearts roaming the streets. However, he didn't know how it would go down or when. While they were still in the process of building the ginormous ark, God intimated Noah on how the extermination would go down. 

"Guy, na flood waters I go carry come oh. I'm going to use the waters to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth would perish!" Death by drowning! Ghen Ghen!

#BreakTime

Food for thought:

- Have you ever dared to be different even when you are surrounded by people who are literally on the same bandwagon? Can you be a righteous Noah even in the midst of all the evil prevailing around you?

-Have you ever been clueless after receiving instructions from God to do something but yet you did it all the same? The Faith that God won't ask you to do anything that'll harm you, do you have it? 

-Ever wondered how the world would have turned out if Nephilims were still in existence? 

-Do you want God to share His plans with you, just as He did with Noah? It's very possible. Work on yourself and your relationship with Him. 

Will Release the sequel shortly. Before then, stay safe, wash your hands and pray!

Love, Racheal.

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Disclaimer:

None of the pictures used in this article belong to the writer. All culled from google images.

The First Love Triangle in Human History 2 (Based on True Events)

Welcome Back...  So, where were we?

Yeah, right! Sarah and her big blow out... Hagar got kicked out of the yard and was banished into the evil forest (so to speak).

It turns out, that Hagar found favor in God's eyes... He sent an Angel with a message for her. Before the eagle (message) landed however, Hagar had to report her Mistress Sarah to the Angel. Telling Him how she had been mistreated by her to the point where she intentionally ran into the evil forest to save her skin...She didn't exactly say it like that but you follow right?

The Angel spoke kindly to Hagar and asked her to return to her mistress in submission, more or less like restoring her back to factory settings and bringing her down from her high horse. Remember she was mean to Sarah first because she found out she was pregnant? Anyway, the Angel told her so many kind words, reassuring her that God had heard of her misery, thus she would give birth to a son who would be named Ishmael and would also birth so many descendants...

However, there was a twist! This is where I get confused. Let's jump into the ocean of mystery shall we?

Above is the picture of a wild donkey... Hold that thought for a minute. Just try to follow me.

You see, after the  Angel told Hagar all these nice things about her unborn child, he dropped a bomb. Literally! Word for word, it landed slowly but surely, and I quote:

"He will be a Wild Donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and every hand against him, and he will live in hostility towards all his brothers."

God only knows why this bomb was dropped, but it was dropped anyway. Ishmael was blessed and cursed. The complete package of good and bad. How did you feel when that High School teacher called you a Donkey for something you did wrong in class? Be honest!

Moving on, Hagar after hearing from the Angel decided to name God. She called Him 'Beer Lahai Roi', meaning "You are the God who sees me". So Hagar went back home and bore Abraham a son who was named Ishmael, just as the Angel had instructed. 

Talking about a heavily pregnant Hagar in the evil forest expecting a child who is both blessed and cursed can be emotionally draining (for me at least). Let's go back to Sarah shall we? Remember when the Angels visited and said Sarah would have a child in her old age and she laughed? Well, it turns out that the angels were there to destroy Abraham and Sarah's next door neighbors. The goons of Sodom and Gomorrah who were young and wild and incredibly free. Story for another day. The thing is, Sarah eventually got pregnant and had a son. 

The child was named Isaac. The second seed of Father Abraham. Two stars from the great sky already named; Ishmael and Isaac. 

One would think that at this point, Sarah would mind her son and Hagar would mind hers as well... But that dark cloud didn't go away. At all!

I don't know how or why, but Ishmael was mocking Sarah and Isaac, and legendary Sarah was not having it. I've always wondered though, was Sarah insecure? Was she Jealous? Did she handle her emotions well? Anyway, like I said, Ishmael mocked Sarah and Sarah ran to you know who.

Yep. Right back to father Abraham Sarah went. She spat larva and venom, telling Abraham to finally, I mean FINALLY evict Hagar and Ishmael from their yard because she would rather DIE than have Ishmael "drag" her son's inheritance with him (like Ishmael just dropped from the sky- my opinion. Still doesn't count. I just want to add tension to the conflict 😔).

That look on Abraham's face, like God... Help me. I'm almost certain at this point God said "Finally! He's letting me in on his family troubles". After Sarah had vibrated and used her words to create "wahala", Abraham had a chat with God, telling Him how worried he was about the situation of things between his wife and concubine. God, who always, ALWAYS comes through for us came through for Abraham with an encouragement. 

"Look, guy, don't worry about the slave woman and your son. Listen to your wife and do what she says. You see, it is through Isaac that your descendants will be reckoned. However, I will still make Ishmael a great nation too". It wasn't the right time to add the Wild Donkey part of it so it wasn't brought up in this conversation. Maybe Abraham would have freaked out. God gave Abraham peace regarding the situation of things and it was final. Hagar and Ishmael were leaving for good. 

This time though, something was different. Abraham was involved in their exit from his yard back into the (pause) for lack of a better place to call it, evil forest. He gave them some food and water to see them through the trials and tribulations they'll face while going through the hills and the valleys and dry wastelands. I can imagine Sarah peeking through the tent, which is like a habit for her anyway and clucking her tongue like "good choice, else you'll find your mattress in the barn with the wild donkeys". Oh no... Why did I say wild donkey again?! Sorry Ishmael... 

This is where Hagar's story becomes emotional. They ran out of food and water, and Ishmael was literally on the verge of death. The wild donkey part of him wasn't unleashed yet because he was still a little boy so he could barely use any survival instinct he had in him. This broke Hagar's heart so she laid him down under some bushes to die because she couldn't bear to see her child die before her eyes. But, God asked Abraham to let her go, so He wasn't going to watch them suffer and die just like that. God's plans for us are always good and they lead us to an expected end all the time. 

As Hagar sat a stone shot away from her son sobbing, God heard her cry and sent an Angel to her. Miraculously her eyes were opened and she realized they weren't sitting too far from a well of water. She grabbed her son and ran to get water. I wonder though, did she run as fast as a Wild Donkey? Never mind. The story is almost coming to an end, but it gets better. 

Please, this is a HORSE, and that's Ishmael riding on it. Feel free to think what you want. You won't hear it from me. Wild Donkeys everywhere...Anyway, God promised to look after Ishmael and that was exactly what happened. Ishmael grew into a fine young man who enjoyed archery and riding horses and going wild into the west winds of the Paran Desert... But Hagar wanted a perfect life for her son, so to tame the wild donkey in him, she got him a beautiful Egyptian wife so they could start creating their own stars in the sky. 

So, Ishmael and His Egyptian wife and her mother in-law Hagar lived happily ever after (hopefully)...

#TheEnd

Food For Thought:

- Do you see a little bit of yourself in Sarah? Would you have handled the situation differently?

-How long do you  manage your predicament before bringing God into the picture? Abraham delayed but when he had that conversation with God, everything fell into place. Will you have that conversation with God today?

-Do you believe  that God loves you? Even when He seems silent? Did you see how He came through for Hagar even when she thought all hope was lost? 

Hagar named God. She realized that God saw her and felt her pain and came through for her. God can not and will never change. Whatever it is, Trust Him, call upon Him, He'll hear you and He'll come through for you because He is madly in love with you and me.

Thanks for borrowing this story your eyes for a moment.

Love, Racheal. 

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