The Potter’s Hands
Written by Sonia Okehie
Episode 8
You have never known disappointment or pain until something promising is being taken away from you just before it fully manifest, after a very long time of waiting and toiling for that particular thing. It’s just like being jobless for a long time and have a loved one take care of you during those trying times, only to finally get a job and want to repay that person back, just for them to unfortunately pass away. There are levels to pain and I assure you that this kind of pain is on top of the hierarchy. Just when Maya had succeeded in bringing out the best version of Terry and an admirable one too, he was now faced with a jail term of over 5 years. This unfortunate thing didn’t happen when the young man was swimming in sin, but rather happening now he had changed into a totally different person. This just confirms the saying that “our past always has a way of catching up with the future”; this is the exact reason we should live our lives consciously and not waywardly.
After the sad jail-term revelation, the once happy atmosphere died down and everyone had a sad countenance. Maya felt more heartbroken and devastated than Terry did. It broke her heart to imagine that he had come this far only to be taken back to a past he didn’t want to have anything to do with. The fact that the case didn’t just fade into thin air after all their prayers, made her wonder if God was aware of the new development.
In this life, one thing people don’t know is that God is aways a hundred steps ahead of us in any situation we find ourselves in; both good or bad. There’s a reason for everything that happens in our lives but most often, we might be too occupied with our emotions to be able to see what God is doing. If you can be calm in times of great storms and search your heart to know what God is saying concerning any situation you find yourself in, you wouldn’t have to panic or worry no matter the direction the storm goes.
In as much as it was a bad situation that was before Terry, God wanted to show himself so that he would never again in his life doubt him or go back to his past ways. Forever is a long time for someone to stay rooted in God and not waver. If Terry’s faith is shallow as the seeds that were thrown on the road side in the parable of the sower, it’s just a matter of time before the birds eats it. If his faith is like the seed thrown amongst thorn bushes, it’s just a matter of time before the thorns grow and chokes it. If his faith doesn’t have much depths like the seeds thrown on rocky grounds, it might do fine just for a while before it eventually dies down due to lack of soil. God needed Terry’s faith to be rooted on fertile ground; where it would stand the test of time and weather any storm he might encounter in life as time went on. At this point, all we can do is fold our hands and watch what God was up to.
That evening was quite sober for Terry and Maya. They talked about a lot of things and planned ahead in order not to be taken by surprise no matter what happens. “We are fasting from now till Monday, we have to table this matter to God in prayer and ask him to take the wheel. You are not going to any jail and that’s final” she bluntly said. They both agreed to fast and table the matter before God and after three sober hours, they finally retired home.
All through that night, Maya prayed and prayed and prayed without ceasing. She took it upon herself to call on God like never before. It wasn’t a joking matter but rather a serious issue that needed a radical prayer approach.
Just as agreed, the fasting started the next day and both of them keyed into it with one request to God. They prayed that Terry finds favour from whoever was in charge of judging his case and also, they assigned angels to seal the persecutor’s lips and turn his wisdom into foolishness. Maya reminded God that the heart of Kings are in his hands and that he should stir the Judge’s heart towards their favour. It wasn’t a small warfare at all because they brought down fire.
As the day assigned for Terry’s court hearing drew near, he began to feel peace within and wasn’t too scared anymore. Despite the fact that they didn’t know what the court outcome would be, they were confident because their knees where sore from kneeing before God; knowing that he who knees before God can stand before any man. The situation was scary indeed but it didn’t bother them anymore.
Finally, the D-day for Terry’s court hearing came. Maya took permission from her work place and was present in the court room to support her friend. Whenever Terry was nervous, he would look towards her direction and she will wink at him. Whenever she did that, the tension disappeared.
Few minutes into the court session, the judge arrived and everyone stood up as he walked to his chambers. Terry’s case was called upon and the battle between his lawyer and the persecutor began. They went back and forth for over 30 minutes and the persecutor was scoring some high points.
Whenever it seemed as though the battle was going in favour of the persecutor, Terry would look towards Maya and she will wink at him to boost his faith. It was such a tough one but all hope were still alive because God is too faithful to fail.
While things seemed like it was going against Terry, the judge looked at him in a strange manner. He tried his best to avoid eye contacts with the judge but it was almost impossible because his seat was facing the judge’s chambers. After the lawyers were done presenting their case, the judge began to talk. “You say most of the evidence you have are theory based?” he asked the persecutor, “Not really your honour, we have testimonies from his Ex Con-mates that were jailed recently for kidnap. We also have some illegal bank transaction records of money in foreign currencies. This man here don’t have any business abroad or one that fetches him money in foreign currencies, so how can he explain these transactions except the simple fact that he is a Yahoo boy” the prosecutor said.
The whole atmosphere was quiet for a while, as everyone was waiting on the Judge’s reply. He looked at Terry for a long time and asked out of nowhere; “Mr man, what do you have to say?”. Terry took a deep breath and replied; “Your honour, I lived a horrible lifestyle in the past but that isn’t who I am anymore. I’m a new man in Christ Jesus that died on the cross and took away all my sins. I can’t remember the past because this life I live now is a new one so all old things are passed away. Whatever is in your heart to do sir, I totally understand but it would never define who I am”.
That response from Terry was a mighty one indeed that needed a while to digest. The judge suddenly became speechless and couldn’t say a word again. Time was already far spent so they had to adjourn the case till the following week.
What a blessing indeed it was for God to step in like that. Terry had to be detained afterwards but that didn’t stop the smiles beaming on his face and that of Maya’s. His family members that were present in the court room quickly went to greet him before the police took him away. Maya wasn’t happy that he was detained but thanked God because she could already feel his move.
While Terry was in the police custody, he never stopped praying and fasting. His parents and Maya visited him everyday and brought food for him. They all kept their fingers crossed for the next court hearing. The fasting still continued as they kept praying to God to finish what be had already started.
The day before the next court hearing, Maya came to visit Terry and they had just few minutes to talk. “How are you feeling?” she calmly asked, “Great, but just a bit tired” he replied. She stretched forth her hands and touched his hands that were on the table. “Listen, whatever happens tomorrow, I just want to let you know that you are the greatest project of my life. I want you to know something, God is the Potter and we are the clay. When you surrendered your life to him to mould you, he did a great job by making you this awesome person that you are today. God never makes mistakes in his craft and knew that a day would come when you would be in this condition. He designed you perfectly well for today and already equipped you with everything you need to face this trying times. Tomorrow is the day we have been fasting and paying for and I know God wouldn’t disappoint us. Whatever happens, I want you to know that I love you so much and can’t wait to officially be yours; that’s if you want me too. We will get through this I promise, and will have lots of reasons to praise God” she calmly said.
Those words from Maya’s were like honey to Terry’s soul. He wanted to kiss her so bad but knew it wasn’t the right time for such display of affection. Before he could say something, an officer came and escorted Maya out because visiting time was over. Their hearts were heavy and fingers were crossed as they anticipated the final day to all their tension.
The next morning, Terry said a brief prayer before heading out to court, while Maya prayed all night. She kept calling the Judge’s name in her prayers as she brought down heaven. Everyone arrived in court early before the judge came in.
As Terry’s lawyer and the persecutor began presenting their cases again, the judge just sat quietly. As he looked at them, he occasionally stole glances at Terry and couldn’t figure out why there was something about him. After both lawyers were done pleading their cases, the judge didn’t say much and just went straight to the point. “Due to inadequate provision of evidence to support the case that this man is guilty, I thereby sentence him to just 12 months in prison with fair labour”.
Immediately Terry heard that final verdict, he couldn’t hold back his excitement and gently muttered; “Oh My God”.
Written by Sonia Okehie
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@Sonia Okehie
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