© Ayo Omolayo
“Can you imagine?”
“Imagine what?”
“What you just told me now!”
“Yes I know. It’s such a powerful revelation!”
“No! I’m talking about the fasting. Can you imagine that this week we are about to step into is our midterm break?”
“Really?”
“Yes!” Ope said with so much excitement.
“Wow! I can’t believe everything is falling into pleasant places.”
“Yes oooo! Broadway academy is for Jesus!” Ope announced.
“Hey! Please keep it down!” Romeo said.
“I am so excited! I feel like shouting!” She said and twirled around, dancing excitedly.
“Maybe that dance will end when you hear this other part of the instructions.” I said with a mischievous smile.
“Please tell her joor. I don’t like the way she’s becoming too noisy. At least she will become quiet when she hears it!” Romeo said grinning.
I chuckled and gave his arm a playful punch.
“Ouch! That’s true na!” He said wincing as he rubbed the spot I had punched.
“What news do you have for me that would make me calm?” Ope asked.
“It’s about the fasting and prayers. The fasting would last for 3 days.”
“Of course! 3 days with the Holy Ghost. I know that already.”
“It’s a marathon fast!”
“What’s a marathon fast?”
“It’s a fast where you don’t eat or drink anything for 3 days,” Romeo answered.
That was enough to calm the noisy Ope. She stared at is to be sure we were not joking and got the confirmation she needed.
“Haaaa! Aunty Juliet. So you mean for 3 days I will not drink a cup of water? Do you want me to die?”
“Yes and no!”
“What do you mean by yes and no?”
“Yes to the fact that I want you to die to the flesh. And no that I don’t want you to drop dead and your parents accuse me of murdering their daughter.”
She burst into laughter.
“And come to think of it, I have never met your parents. I think it’s time I do!”
“That’s true!” She nodded in affirmation.
“So Aunty Ope! You’re doing 3 days marathon fasting with me and Romeo and the rest of our sisters. Is that okay?”
“Haaaaa! Mummy pity your baby girl na!” She pleaded and tried to kneel down to me.
I quickly rushed and stopped her.
“No problem. Do whatever you want. The last thing I want to do is to force you to do something. But have it at the back of your mind that you’re disobeying your mama! But I have already forgiven you sha!”
“Haaa! Mummy! I won’t do it again! It’s just that I have…..”
“That’s enough! It’s behind us already. Feel free to join us in the prayers or you can do the fasting to any capacity your strength carries you. If it’s morning till 12pm or morning till 3pm or 6pm, no problem. But I’ll need to accompany you home to tell your parents you’ll be moving out to be with us for 3 days. I’m so grateful for the midterm break.”
“Robert! What about you? Are you going to be joining her in the 3 days marathon fasting?” Ope asked him.
He looked up and smiled.
“Of course! I’m a man! How can women fast for days and me that is a man is running away? Ko le possible!(It’s not possible). I must do the fasting. If I die, I die! At least if fasting kill me, na heaven I go go.”
We all burst into laughter.
“That’s the spirit Romeo!”
“Robert!” He corrected.
“Romeo jare!”
“Juliet you’re implicating me!”
“Na your wahala be that!” I replied and tucked my tongue at him in a playful scorn.
He smiled and shook his head.
“So! Can we start going now?” Ope asked.
“I’m waiting for Rita! I told her to meet me here when we close so we could talk briefly before we leave,” I replied.
“Then why keep waiting? Let me go and call her myself,” she replied and before I could approve or disapprove, she ran off.
Ope was a blessing to me. A gift from God. A friend and as she claims despite my disapproval, a spiritual daughter. I looked at Romeo and flashed a smile at him.
“What?” He asked.
“Thank you for saying yes to God. I couldn’t do this alone!”
“Do what?”
“All of this!” I replied and used my hands to signify the entire school.
“And of course, I couldn’t fast alone too. Imagine if you had acted like your sister. I can’t force you to fast. I cannot drag food away from you and command you to stop eating for 3 days. You willingly surrendered yourself to God and I am so glad you did!”
He shook his head.
“Juliet, I would call this nothing but a privilege. If I had chosen to remain silent, God would have raised stones to take my place. I am not here because I am God’s best. It’s a privilege to serve God as one of his end time battalion. A privilege I will forever be grateful to him for.
I am not here because I was the only option God had. I am here because God decided that I should be the one. And if I misbehave and start feeling I am doing God a favour, he will dispose me and raise someone else. He can even do it the way he did it to Saul where right in his presence, God replaced him and he saw another person taking his place.
So Juliet, it’s a privilege being a servant of God”
The smiles on my cheeks appeared broader. I was so glad to find out that he was a humble soul.
Suddenly, someone covered my eyes from behind and blindfolded me with her palms. I laughed. I was about to tell Ope to take off her hands when daddy interrupted me and told me it was Rita and not Ope.
I was almost doubting it because Ope was usually the one who blindfolds me all the time.
“Rita! Please take off your hands!” I said and I was shocked to find out it was Rita. Both Rita and Ope were shocked.
“You told me she would not know!” Rita said to Ope.
“Me sef I’m shocked ooo!” Ope replied.
I was just laughing at how daddy had given me the expo and spoiled their prank.
“Daddy, I can’t believe you’re still interested in that little game my friends were playing. You are the President of all the nations. You are too busy to have interest in such minor things in my life!”
“I AM INTERESTED IN EVERYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH YOU.”
I smiled gorgeously.
“So daddy, do you play games?”
“I PLAYED GAMES WHEN I WAS ON EARTH. IT DOESN’T HARM YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE!”
“Mama!” Rita called.
“Yes!” I replied as I was brought back to this world.
“Sorry!”
“What were you thinking?” Rita asked.
“Don’t worry about that. Can you please remind me what we want to discuss?” I asked.
“I was asking if we could leave?”
“Sure! Why not?” I asked and stood up.
We all moved out of the school premises. Students looked at us as we passed and whispered among themselves.
I was still walking when suddenly a picture appeared before my eyes.
I saw Ope choking and fell on the ground and myself shaking her so called lifeless body on the ground and screaming her name in vain as there was no response. I began to cry and soon I heard someone laughing and telling me she told me she was coming for me and my spiritual children.
Soon, the whole scene left and I was back to reality. I looked beside me and saw Ope walking beside me peacefully. I looked at Romeo and he stared back at me. I looked at Rita as well to be sure everyone was okay.
Thank God nothing had happened to anyone. Why would something happen to Ope?
“Was that death I was seeing or fainting?”
“THE KIND OF ENEMY YOU’RE FIGHTING, DO THEY WANT YOU TO FAINT OR DIE? PICK ONE!”
“Hmmmm! Na die be that oooo!”
“YOU HAVE ANSWERED WELL!”
“Are you trying to say Ope will be killed?”
“THAT’S NOT MY HANDWORK! I ONLY EXPOSED TO YOU WHAT THE ENEMY HAS PLANNED. YOUR JOB IS TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL THROUGH YOUR BENDED KNEES.”
“But the enemy is wicked oooo. Why would they want to temper with my Ope?”
“THEY KNOW THE IMPACT IT WOULD CREATE ON YOU. YOU HAVE LOST FEJIRO, NOW YOU’RE LOSING OPE WHO WAS HER REPLACEMENT. THAT WOULD BE SPENDING THE REST OF YOUR LIFE IN REGRET.”
“Hmmmmm! I failed the first time. I won’t be failing again!”
“BY GOD’S GRACE!”
“Oh! Thank you for adding that!” I replied smiling.
“WHEN YOU GET HOME, PRAY FOR HER!”
We talked as we walked together until we all left to our different destinations. But I followed Ope to her house, because I had promised it was time I see her parents.
She lived in a mission house with her parents. The church and the house were built side by side.
“Is your Dad the general overseer of this great church?” I asked immediately we entered the compound.
“Assistant pastor!” She answered.
“Wow! This is a huge building!” I said, taken by the tall beautiful building staring at me.
“That’s true. Imagine how Satan was ready to rubbish the reputation of my father when he was fighting me with lesbianism and masturbation!” She replied smiling.
“JULIET, ASK HER WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME SHE FOUGHT THE URGE TO MASTURBATE?”
I paused.
“Masturbate? Daddy! Ope has grown passed that! We have bigger assignments now in our hands. We don’t have any masturbator in our midst.”
“I NEVER SAID SHE WAS A MASTURBATOR. I ONLY GAVE YOU A QUESTION TO ASK HER AND DO THAT QUICKLY BEFORE YOU LOSE THE OPPORTUNITY.”
“But daddy, what are you hiding from me? You’re not telling me everything and I don’t like it. What is going on with Ope? Why am I seeing strange things about her and now you’re telling me to ask strange questions. Please what is going on?”
“I GAVE YOU A SIMPLE INSTRUCTION, ASK HER!” That was what daddy was saying when the door opened and Ope’s younger sister came and gave me a hug.
“Does she know me?” I asked, taken by the familiarity the girl was displaying.
“We all know you very well in this house!”
“Really? What’s your name?”
“Ola!”
“That’s a pretty name!” I said grinning.
“So how did you know me so well?” I asked.
“Yes oooo! There is no day Sister will not mention your name in this house. Any small thing, mummy Juliet! My mentor! My spiritual mother! My sweet Julie angel! That’s how she usually says she will one day bring you here to come and visit us.
So immediately I looked through the window and saw someone coming with her. I quickly knew it was sister’s mentor,” the girl said.
“Wow! Ope, I have told you to stop calling me mummy na!”
“Aunty Juliet! Can you be my mummy too?” The girl asked still holding on to me.
“Haaaaa! We are still trying to solve the one Ope started, you want to start another one?”
Ope burst into laughter.
Her dad was not around, but her mum cane to meet me in the living room. Ope was just a photocopy or should I say a younger version of her. They looked so much alike.
She was a friendly and cheerful person. I so much enjoyed her company.
But as we gisted and laughed together, I began to feel uneasy in my spirit. Something was wrong. Does it has anything to do with my visit to this place.
“NO!”
“What could be wrong?”
“YOU NEED TO INTERCEED FOR A SOUL RIGHT NOW!”
“Who?”
“OPE!”
“Haaaaa! What’s going on?”
“JULIET, I DON’T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN. LEAVE NOW!”
“Can’t I pray here in the living room? It would be so wrong of me to leave them without a definite reason!”
There was no response.
I bowed my head and whispered.
“Daddy, I don’t know what is wrong, bit protect Ope from the claws of darkness. Don’t allow anything to happen to her in Jesus name, amen!”
I raised my face and smiled. The uneasiness was still there. I remembered mummy saying that when you are feeling uneasy or having a burden in the place of prayers, don’t stop the prayers until the burden is taken away. Keep praying until you have peace in your heart.
I wanted to leave when suddenly, Ola tuned the TV station to a cartoon network. Kung Fu Panda’s Dragon knight was the movie playing on the screen.
I was so excited, I had seriously longed to watch this movie. I adjusted my position on the sofa and watched the movie with rapt attention.
Soon, I remembered there was a conversation with God where he told me to stop watching cartoons. I wanted to stop, but I told myself that after today, I would stop watching cartoons. I wanted to leave, but I was taken away by the movie and stayed.
To be continued……..
Many of us need to understand that in Spiritual warfare, you don’t play with instructions from the Commander.
When the commander says, turn left, you better do it immediately.
Many of the problems we are saying God why? Is a result of a disobeyed instruction.
You need to pray and tell God to give you an obedient and submissive heart.
Watch out for the next episode.
Is Juliet going to lose?
