HE SAID NO
EPISODE 19
Mrs. Akinwale could not hold it in any longer, she burst into fresh tears. She had told Grace all about her husband, how they met, and how much she had been through staying with him. They talked all through the night, Grace figured that she just needed someone to listen to her at that point and that she did, listening closely and catching the slightest detail. At a point, she became emotional and started crying, Grace lent her a shoulder to lean on, and soon enough she found herself crying along,
“You have been through so much, I can’t begin to imagine.” Grace said as she wiped the tears of Mrs. Akinwale face with her hands, “I’m so so sorry about this,” she continued,
The rest of the night was a silent one at Grace’s place, the only audible sound was that of Mrs. Akinwale’s intermittent sobs which were finally fading off into the night.
The loud claps of thunder enveloped the whole room accompanied by brief flashes of lightning. Grace caressed her short and lustrous loosened hair as she watched her drift off into the night, her dark brown face had a lot of dark spots and pimples, even at that she looked beautiful. Grace could not help but imagine how much more beautiful she would have been without them. Her eyes spoke of so much pain and anguish, Mrs. Akinwale was younger than her but she looked twice her age. Her heart welled up in compassion for this woman who was resting on her shoulder all the more, she doesn’t deserve all that she had been through, no one does, she sighed,
“Father, please help me to find the right words to say to her,” she prayed, then a verse of the scripture that she knew too well dropped on her heart,
“The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.” It was quoted from Isaiah 50 vs 4. She picked up her bible and read it to herself a couple of times before she spent time praying. She decided to sleep, after all, God would wake her up the next morning with the right words to say.
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“Grace, thank you so much for your hospitality, I do not take it for granted,” Mrs. Akinwale said beaming with smiles, Grace and her guest were having a meal of sliced bread, scrambled eggs, and tea. All thanks to worker’s day, and complementing cold weather, Grace was at home on a cold Wednesday morning. As for Mrs. Akinwale, she looked better than she did the previous day,
“Its fine ma, I hope it’s manageable?” she asked all smiles.
“Grace, please can you do me a favor?” she asked, ignoring her question.
“Okay…”
“Please call me Grace, stop all this ma, ma. “ She said, Grace smiled as she took a sip of her tea, “After all, you know my age,”
“It doesn’t matter Mrs. Grace, Respect does not have to do with age, moreover you are married, you even have a son and I have neither “ Grace answered,
“You seem to be a very obstinate person ma,” Mrs. Akinwale said as they both laughed,
“Is that how we want to be doing it now?”
“You called the shots ma,” Mrs. Akinwale continued, as they finished their meals while chatting happily,
Grace was quite in a fix, Mrs. Akinwale seemed so happier and she didn’t want to destroy her mood by bringing up the discussion they had the previous night, just as she was wondering when it was best to come in…
“Grace, I am sorry for putting you through any form of inconvenience,” Mrs. Akinwale said as Grace packed their plates to the kitchen,
“No no no, of course not. I am glad to have you here,” she said as she took her seat beside her on the bed, “What’s the plan now? “
“I have not exactly figured anything out, I know I will, with time but what I do know is that I am done with Wale. All I ask for is a little time to plan things out and I’ll leave,
“Please stop talking about leaving, left to me, I don’t mind having you around for as long as can be, but I know you can’t stay here forever,” Grace said, she paused a little to watch Grace countenance, so she could tell if it was ideal to continue, it seemed it was because she continued, “You said something yesterday about God punishing you, what makes you think he is the one punishing you?”
“Grace, you won’t understand, I have been a rebel, I won’t even dare call myself a child of God. I have been a liar, a cheat, and a thief, ever since I got married, I haven’t stepped a foot in a church. When things began to turn sore in my marriage, it occurred to me to go to a nearby church around where we lived but I have been away for too long, I don’t even know how to go back. God must really be mad at me, I know that for sure. ” Mrs. Akinwale said as she gave Grace a light tap at the back before she continued,
” I and God are not on good terms and that is what makes my condition worse, I have no one to turn to for comfort, no one to come to my rescue. The only one that might have helped is not happy with me, ” Mrs. Akinwale sulked,
“Uhmm… What if I told you that you were mistaken? ” Grace asked,
“I don’t understand,”
“What if I told you that God isn’t angry with you?” she continued,
“God isn’t angry with me? But I am a sinner and God does not roll with sinners, does he?”
“Yes, he does, God hates sin and not the sinner, that was why he sent Jesus to die for us,”
“My sins are many Grace, very very much,”
“Not too much for Jesus to handle,”
“Do you think God can by any chance want anything to do with me?”
“Of course he does, if he could have anything to do with me with all of my dirty pasts and escapades then he sure will want every other person. God loves you Mrs. Grace, and his love for you is unconditional. Nothing you have done or will do can make him change his mind about you, Listen, John 3 vs 16 says that For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever will believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Salvation is God’s gift, packaged in the person of his son Jesus and it is available and free for as many as would believe, anyone who believes Jesus becomes God’s child, he receives forgiveness for all his sins and he becomes righteous by faith in what Jesus has done, ”
“All these? For me?”
“Yes, sis, all for you, courtesy of Jesus, ” Grace smiled,
” This is different from all I have thought about God all my life and If this is true, I want this Jesus, I want forgiveness for my sins, I need peace again, my soul has been in bondage for so long, ” Mrs. Akinwale sobbed, Grace hurriedly took her Bible from the table and flipped it over,
“The Bible says in the book of Romans chapter 10 verses 9 to 10 that if you would believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and confess with your mouth that God raised him up from the dead, you would be saved, for with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation, ” she read, “Please repeat after me, I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and I confess that God raised him up from the dead, ” Grace said and as Mrs. Akinwale repeated after her, she felt the peace of God flood her heart,
“Now you are new, whatever has happened in your past does not matter anymore because you are now new, God holds nothing against you, you are now God’s child and he is your father, ” Grace continued. She spent half of the day teaching her a little on who she was in Christ Jesus, she quoted from Romans 5 vs 1, 2 Corinthians 5 vs 17, Hebrews 8 vs 10 to 12, and a host of other bible verses, she went on to get her filled with the holy ghost.
It was an incredible experience for Mrs. Grace as she discovered that God accepted her irrespective of all that she had done. She had lived a life of regrets believing the lie that God was punishing her for going astray but now she had met with Jesus and she knew the truth. Her slate has been wiped clean and life for her is never going to be the same again.
No more condemnation!
To be continued…
Written by Sodamade Olamide Tolulope.
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