Living on God’s own terms 2

Grace and honour be unto the Most High for all that He’s done in my life and in the life of every man. I woke up with all the confidence I never thought I had. “This week’s going to be great”, I thought.

Upon getting to my primary place of assignment, Warri Refinery and Petrochemical company, The secretary informed me that there was no space anymore for corp members to take in the department. I was still confident, for in God will I trust.

I found out there were openings in another section of the refinery, Department of Petroleum resources.
I applied there and waited two days for a reply. There was no reply but I was confident. My purpose was to serve God and get joy only in Him. Nothing was going to take away my joy, not again.

As I walked into the office, I met the Secretary to Mr Bala, the registrar. She was the one who collected our application letters earlier and asked that we wait for two days. I greeted her and offered a smile which she returned with a half baked smile. She later told me to stop wasting my time and check elsewhere but this guy wasn’t going to break. No, He wasn’t.

I was going to pray for God’s favour at this moment but praises came to heart instead. I began to sing quietly. The songs flowed like a river with an unending source.
I was lost in worship that I didn’t even notice Mr Bala pass by me.
When he returned, I was still deep in worship. He tapped me and said, “Follow me”. The joy that moved round me was unexplainable. I walked in highly expectant. He didn’t ask that I sit and I didn’t. He stood and said, “Continue waiting on the Lord, He’ll renew your strength”. The songs were still playing at the background of my mind. I hummed. Silly me hummed when this man was staring at me, expecting a response.
“Okay” was the word that crossed my mind and I said it, accompanied by a “Sir”. He smiled and offered me a letter tagged DO NOT READ TILL YOU’RE OUT OF THE ORGANISATION.
Thank you very much sir and I was out as fast as a cheetah would run.

Service year was a great one. Mum would visit once in a month and share stories of various personalities she had encountered. She was gradually getting over Dad’s death. But I know she could never forget him. I just continued to pray for strength to handle all these responsibilities that were becoming evident as the days went by and to achieve purpose (ultimate goal).

Upon opening the letter, I found that I was accepted into the organisation but I’d have to work at Kaduna for some months. I wasn’t happy. I was joyous. I screamed in my head and sang loudly (thank God, I was outdoor). I went back in to thank Mr Bala but he left already. I was going to wait for him to return when his secretary walked across the room, swaying her hips like one dancing to Bata. I quickly asked when he would be back and she said He wouldn’t. He was going to Mecca for Hajj and to Australia for a professional course. He would be back in about a year and a half. All along, I thought he was a Christian. This meant we might not meet again. I’ll definitely find him and appreciate him in person.

Work at home seemed to distract me from life as a whole. But the sixth month was rocky for me. As the assistant to the auditor who was quite lazy, I had to make and organise all the reports of the organisation’s finances. It was tasking. Something happened and I was invited by the disciplinary committee. There was financial misappropriation. This must have involved the auditor, accountant and a clerical officer so I understood why I was being investigated but the issue at hand was what I didn’t understand. How did this happen? How? I always checked. Anyways, I’m innocent is what I can declare. As investigations continued, I was stressed out that I didn’t remember my extra copies at home. After two weeks of lost reputation and tiredness, Mum called. She was really ill. All appropriate medications didn’t seem to have any effect. Double wahala. I asked for permission to travel to Lagos from Kaduna to be with mum but they wouldn’t budge. They thought I was trying to run away.

The next week was worse. The report from Das Engineering Company came in. How does a business wither within a month? How?

Das was Dad’s business before he died. An auditor can never be an engineer but he could read financial reports and from what I was reading, Das was dying. I asked the manager to go ahead with the payment of salaries and prayed that the next month would be better.

These 4 weeks changed the way, manner and timing of prayer. I still studied but every verse seemed like God was saying “stay in it”. This burden is too much for a 20 year old guy. I’m still a young guy. I shouldn’t go through this, yet?

Two days later, I got a call.