Daily Manna – February 23, 2016
Topic: The day after
Scripture: Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. (Psalms 37:1)
Note: It was at dawn, with the night of a tiring Sunday after a busy day of preaching and post-church counselling of people, just barely merging into Monday. A 3-hour rest time late afternoon earlier on had unknowingly prepared me for an experience that I normally read with horror in the daily newspapers or heard of from the electronic media. This experience was going to leave me sleepless for the next 24 hours. It was an armed robbery attack on my household.
What was even more fascinating was the fact that quite a number of us were wide awake in the house, with no hint of a slumber. A sudden noise boomed from the front door leading to the house. It was unusual, yet incessant. The noise kept coming with rapidity. Some folks thought it was a noise from gun shot closer to us. We were getting blessed from a preaching on Daystar Television at the time. When I felt that the noise was coming from the house, I boomed angrily with a question, “Who is hitting on the door?” Then appeared a man behind the window of the living room dressed like a masquerade. Unbelievable! An armed robber in my house? This is quite shocking, considering that I had all along thought that I’m insulated from such attacks, considering the modest effort I’d put into fencing the wall with barbed wire, and reinforced burglar proof and alarm system.
Another shocker that added to my repertoire of shocks that early dawn was the insolence from the intruder ordering me to open the door for them. He was obviously getting frustrated with trying to break down the door. But we realised he was armed with a gun. I immediately ordered everyone awake to follow me to my bedroom, which to my modest estimation is quite a fortress until we could get ready help from the security forces. Several interactions with the security operatives left me frustrated, considering that I was only a kilometre away from the nearest police station. The failure to respond in time, infact 2 hours after the call for help was to prove costly to us. No lives were lost but the robbers managed to breach the burglar proof system, entering gun first. They had all the time in the world, with no help from the security operatives as well as our neighbours.
The result was quite some ransacking of all phones, over 10 of them, 5 laptops, 4 Ipads, some money, jewelry, DSTV mobile, video camera and documents. The good news was that God gave me the boldness to preach the Gospel to them, admonishing them to accept Jesus Christ as Lord, if they desire a true change in their lives. It seemed an impossible task, considering that I was lying prostrate on the floor with two gun wielding robbers who were high on drugs and operating under demonic influence. God’s mercy didn’t fail us, and no one was even molested. We give glory to God.
Food for thought: God’s compassion does not fail. Great is His faithfulness.
Declaration: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalms 23:6)
© Author: Rev Fred Aboe
