IMASUEN’S PLIGHT : CHAPTER 1 – THE END
By Temi Akintade
Chapter 12
“All I ever wanted from my husband was his permission that’s all! And at this stage, I will go ahead and do my father’s work! I don’t care about him.” I lamented.
I was currently seated with Morenikeji and three other women. We were having a heart-to-heart session like we normally did after bible studies at the Lekki wives prayer group.
“You said God told you to take more classes in music and violin. Did he tell you the location?” Morenikeji asked.
She was beginning to annoy me with her questions. What does she mean by that? “Must he tell me the location? Can’t I pick the best for my God? God has asked me to take more lessons in music. Please, where in Nigeria did you see a music school? I’m asking you?”
“Just calm down Imasuen, no one is trying to stop you from going for the best since you have the money. But the bible talks about submission. Submission to authority, submission to your husband who is your head according to leadership in the home is concerned.” The woman on low-cut said. This time, her hair was tinted in deep red color.
“I don’t still understand. Morenikeji we should be praying about my husband and casting out the spirit of stubbornness from him.
I have no issue with this at all. This is a case of a man trying to press down the glory of his wife. See, when I put this on social media now, you will understand what I’m saying.”
Morenikeji sighed. “Look, I understand what you are saying but I want you to look at this from this perspective.” She continued. “the Trinity is one right? God the father, son, and the Holy Spirit?”
“Yeah, three in one.” I nodded, wondering where she was headed with this analogy.
“Imagine that, Jesus when he was supposed to come down to earth in form of man to die for the sins of man, imagine he told God the Father and the Holy Spirit, I don’t want to go to earth because it’s not a palatable place? That means there would be no Christians and there would be no mathematics that equates 1 + 1= 1 right? Well, since the trinity is one in everything and submissive to one another, so does the Lord wants us to be submissive to our husbands. If you don’t like how your husband acts or you want him to make the decision that you think is best for you, then report your husband to his father.”
I was confused. “His father?” I was not really on talking terms with his family not to talk of his father.
“Not his physical father. Report him to God. Scriptures say, he owns the heart of the king in his hand and he turneth it to whichever way he wants. You do not need to exchange words with your husband. It’s not right. Remember, your assignment as a believing wife is to let him see Jesus Christ through your character and actions.”
I sighed. That night, I went home that day thinking over all that Morenikeji said. And indeed she was right. In the days that followed,
I began to surf the internet for music schools in Lagos. I finally saw one around Lekki.
Grudgingly, I went to enroll in the school. We were only eight students paying a whopping sum of five hundred thousand nairas for eight weeks.
Our teacher was also a choirmaster at one of the popular churches in Ajah. He even taught us a course titled the spirit of music.
At first, I was skeptical about attending the lectures for that course because I wasn’t sure if I have heard such a course title in my life. What did he mean by the spirit of the music?
“In life, everything has a spirit that backs it up. That is why life is hundred percent spiritual. You can’t do life without spirituality.
And if you begin to do music based on the fact that you just want to entertain people, one day, just before you attain the height of greatness, a spirit will always ask you what backing do you have?”
I got confused and I asked him to explain again.
“You see in life, you either belong to the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light. These two realms are real and the one you pick is the one that governs you.
These two kingdoms have fame, wealth, and honor attached to it but one gives short cut but both demand that you submit you’re all to them. One leads to eternal de.ath, and the other leads to eternal life.
And as Christians, our backing should be the Holy Spirit. We should pick the kingdom of light.” He adjusted his necktie. “I am telling you all these because, one day, you will be asked to pick one of these realms.
Of course, I knew what to pick. I would always pick the Holy Spirit, after all, he was my all.
Soon we graduated from music school and I became a master player in violin and keyboard.
Then God directed me to a small church that has about only a hundred members to join their choir. I was angry. This time around I went to Morenikeji’s house to see her.
She was counseling a woman when I got there. The woman had a swollen black eye and she kept weeping. She says her husband keeps beating her because she never pays the children’s fees. I felt like beating up her husband even though I didn’t know him.
It was after Morenikeji was done, that we sat in her garden to talk. We didn’t talk until I was done complaining about my new small church.
“The choirmaster thinks he knows it all! He keeps saying that I need to do as he says, I need to play hard if I want to remain at the top! Can you imagine?”
“Imasuen, this scripture just dropped in my heart.”
“What scripture?”
“God resists the proud and he gives grace to the humble.”
I frowned. I knew the meaning of the scripture but what was she insinuating? “What do you
mean ma?” my insides burned with anger.
“God told me to tell you that, the easiest way to walk with him, is to be like a child. Be humble and submissive because you command God’s attention that way.” What she was saying, made sense. “Remember the woman who broke an alabaster jar of oil and cleaned the feet of Jesus with her tears and hair?”
I nodded.
“She displayed her devotion to God through humility and submission. Maybe you should read that part in the scriptures to be familiar with that part and also to learn from it.”
I spent my night reading Mathew 26 verse 7. I wanted to see myself in that woman but the revelation wasn’t forthcoming. Later that night, when Ebube came back from one of his numerous business trips, after his dinner, he said something really strange.
“Can you please, play me the violin?”
My mouth dropped open in shock because a normal Nigerian man would never ask to listen to a sound with no lyrics.
He noticed my surprise and he spoke again.
“It’s just that, I have not really been able to do some thinking but whenever you play, I normally find out that I can think and relax properly.” He said.
Those were the longest words that Ebube has ever said to me ever since he permitted me to go to the music school in Lekki. It was then that I noticed for the first time in months, my husband’s face. he had dark circles beneath his eyes and his dark skin looked pale. I wanted to ask if he was okay but then, I didn’t want to bother him with my questions.
Excited, I rushed into my room and returned with one of my Violins. It was the one I bought from the music village somewhere around Lagos Island.
There was silence in our big house except for the sound of my violin. I kept playing the ‘oh the overwhelming never-ending reckless love of God’ tune. Suddenly, my husband busted into a loud cry. I stopped playing immediately and rose to my feet.
“What’s wrong?” I was confused. The last time I checked, I haven’t said anything wrong to upset him.
He rose swiftly to his feet and rushed into his room. since we didn’t share the same room, I retired into mine and began to pray for him. I didn’t know the reason for his sudden outburst but I was certain that something must have gone wrong.
But I wondered what was wrong with him……
IMASUEN’S PLIGHT : CHAPTER 1 – THE END
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